Delay

 Did we really skijor Monday but not Tuesday? Nope...

"Pedal to the metal" brothers as we launch up Boreas Pass.

But, wait, today is Thursday. Ok, well we got busy :) 

We did follow up Monday's great skijor with another on Tuesday morning. Then, Rudy and I were busy executing (and passing) his final Therapy Dog Observation (yay RUDY!!!!). Then we lost track of Wednesday. So, here it is now Thursday and our update of Tuesday's early morning run.

With the great conditions on Boreas Monday, we returned early Tuesday. We knew the conditions would have deteriorated; but expected to still be good enough to get in a fun run. We were not disappointed. As you see above, we started on a pretty packed surface to go up, up, up Boreas Pass. Along the way you get to pass the historic Baker's Tank (from when this trail on Boreas was a railroad track)!

Trotting by Baker's Tank. Imagine a train pausing here
to refill water from this tank!

While the conditions were safe enough to go up Boreas, it was a little too thin coverage to come all the way back down. So, Jack, Rudy & I went up higher than Monday knowing that Nancy & Zorro would be driving up the pass to save us (or, me) from coming down too far on slick & rocky terrain. But, at the higher elevations, we were able to turn around and get some nice speed before meeting up with Nancy and Zorro:

Nice up high - FLOOR IT! Wheeee!

As I mentioned, we went far up Boreas until it was time to turnaround. Then we galloped back down quickly as far as the conditions would allow. Once it was unsafe for the human/skis to continue, we paused to wait for Nancy & Zorro. What to do while waiting? Jack & Rudy have never been at a loss for what to do when waiting in snow :)

"Waiting? No, rolling!!!" demonstrates the snow angel duo.

Finally, what should be our signature sign-off of every blog this year: reuniting with retired Zorro to have group "end of run" treats:

"Front & center and READY!" declares cool Zorro.
"Oh yeah, treats!" say distracted Jack & Rudy :)

We still are on very early season conditions, so the outings are short. But, believe me, Jack & Rudy get the MOST out of a 5-6 mile run! 5.5 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed.

2020/2010 Season to Date: 3 days on the trails covering 12 miles with 1150 feet of elevation climbed.

Unfortunately, we are back into a warm spell and will be off skis until it snows again...

Pray for Snow!

October Restart

 Back on Snow! Yay! Pray for Snow!!!

Jack & Rudy laying fresh tracks towing me up Boreas Pass.

After a record early start to the season in September, we've been waiting for the snow to return. Well, it finally came back last night. There was just enough snow for Jack, Rudy and I to get out and skijor up/down Boreas Pass. "No Zorro?" you ask. Well, at almost 12.5 years old, Zorro is now retired from skijoring. He's a very healthy 12.5 but he is 12.5. He still enjoys getting out for light walks and will even do some light downhill jogging; but he is retired from trying to keep pace with Jack & Rudy skijoring. He does come along (see last picture below) to participate in the family outing!

Anyway, back to this morning. We drove partway up Boreas Pass Road until the snow was deep enough to get out and start skijoring up the pass. Jack & Rudy towed me up a bit over 2 miles before it was time to turnaround. Why turnaround? Well, we were approaching treeline on Boreas and the snow was starting to thin due to the usual high winds above treeline on Boreas. A new skijor season, what do you think Jack & Rudy did at our turnaround point? Yep... Rolling snow angels! 3 year old Jack has now rolled at least one snow angel on EVERY outing of his young life! Rudy has had a handful of skijor without a snow angel roll, but he's rolled them on over 90% of his outings too :)

"Turnaround roll around!" declares the snow rolling goofs.

While Jack & Rudy are fast towing me uphill, they are "pedal to the metal" downhill. Once we turned around it was time to floor it back down Boreas. Come along for a short glimpse of the fun back down (the tracks you see to our left were our uphill track):

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Since the snow was somewhat thin, Nancy gave us a 30 minute head start and then she and Zorro drove up Boreas to find us. Typically in October I cannot make it down to where we started as we can start uphill on thinner snow than I can go downhill with my pulling partners. On the way down, we encountered Nancy and Zorro coming up to find us. But, the snow was still good enough to keep on going. So, I gave a "forward" call to Jack & Rudy and the gave Nancy a happy glance but continued on going :)

"Hi Mom! Bye Mom! We are still going! Wheeee!" says cute
Jack & Rudy giving Nancy a happy glance as we go on by.

Eventually the snow did get too thin to continue down, so we stopped and met up with Nancy & Zorro again. Here's the highlight of Zorro's retirement: he still gets "end of run" treats with the pack! What a retirement - come along for team support, hang with Mom, then join in the treat party! His treats are much smaller than Jack & Rudy's since we don't want him gaining weight (versus the kids who need to refuel); but he doesn't know that. All he knows is he still gets "end of run" treats!!!!

"Remember - me first!" says super focused Zorro.
"Then me, then me!" says cute Jack.
"Look at my patience!" demonstrates Rudy!!!

Second outing of the 2020/2021 Season. 6 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 6.5 miles traveled with 550 feet of elevation climbed. We are SOOO ready for the snow to stick and the season to REALLY start!!!

Pray for Snow!!!