Deep

 A very fun & aerobic deep snow day in Indiana Creek this morning!

"Deep is fun!" declares happy Jack & Rudy at a pause on the trail as
I try to determine which direction to go.

The forest service and county has spent the last 6ish years trying to reduce visitors to Indiana Creek as it had grown out of control due to being too popular. The last time we skijored Indiana Creek with any regularity was 2013. Well, the forest service has accomplished their goal as virtually no visitors/tourists know about Indiana Creek any longer and only local, serious backcountry skiers venture there any longer! All the tourists are now over in French Gulch and, thus, the reason we have abandoned skijoring French Gulch and reintroduced Indiana Creek to our trail set.

We started the day on a narrow single track:

Shoulder to shoulder in a narrow single track as we start trotting up
Indiana Creek.

But, after just a mile or 1.5 miles at most, all existing ski tracks ended (it's a lot of work to cross country ski 2-3 miles roundtrip in backcountry conditions :)  Once the existing tracks ended, we had our choice of three trails to continue on, all requiring serious breaking trail in 15-20 inches of powder. The first photo above is of us paused as I assess our trail choices. Well, apparently I took too long in my assessment:

"Wooooo - Let's Gooooo!" exclaims impatiently wooing Rudy :)
"Looks good to my left!" adds patient Jack.

Despite taking way too long to pick a direction, according to Rudy, my selection turned out to be perfect. We looped back to my left (not the direction Jack picked above) to break trail out in the sun and deep snow. What was so perfect about my decision? Well, only one animal had been on the trail before us: a moose!!!! 

Moose tracks to follow in front of Jack & Rudy!

A tall, long-legged moose does NOT make an easy, packed trail to follow in deep snow. Notice the deep snow Jack & Rudy are still plowing through above. This was quite the trail breaking exercise but had "moose juice" added to give them extra motivation and power :)

We broke trail in 15+ inches of snow, following the moose tracks, until the moose abandoned the main trail after 2ish miles:

Jack & Rudy off the main trail sitting in moose leg holes.
"Moose went this way! Can we too?" asks the moose seeking kids.

No, we didn't follow the moose off trail. Instead it was time to turnaround and head back. We did have the fun of now being able to run a little faster in the track we set on the way out. But, a single ski track in 15-20 inches of snow does not make for a packed return track (you need multiple passes to pack the trail):

Kicking up powder as we try to fit and run in the single ski track I
set on the way out. Wheeee!

Finally, well earned 'end of run' treats with Zorro at the trailhead:

Such focus as all three patiently await their end of run treats!

A fun return to Indiana Creek after many years off. We'll be going back to this trail for serious trail breaking exercise on/off this season. 5.8 (trail breaking) miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 17 days on the trails covering 126.6 miles with 11,500 feet of elevation climbed.