Crust

Look who had the BEST time skijoring around Walton Peak this morning!

"We are having a BLAST!" exclaims the happy, happy kids!

Our original plan this morning was to go out & back on the main snowmobile trail on Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. The day started as planned as we went out for quite a distance when I paused at a trail junction to decide whether to go right or left. Well I stopped and...

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
But, look closely, Rudy is rolling off trail without sinking.

Big Rudy not sinking while rolling? Hmm, I thought, is the crust firm enough to hold us? The crust, you ask? Well, the one highlight of Spring is warm days yet nights below freezing. Each day the top of the snow softens and each night it refreezes. When this nights are cold enough, the refreeze will form a crust firm enough to support our weight. I did not expect the crust to be firm enough to support our weight today; but once I saw Rudy rolling without sinking, I started to rethink that. So, we did not turn right or left at the junction but turned around instead to go test the crust on some open areas behind us.

Along the way back to the openings to test the crust, we were riding the leftover groom on the right shoulder of the trail as the hover huskies came out to play :)

Catching air riding the leftover groom on the right shoulder.

Along the way, both Rudy and my right ski occasionally drifted off the groom and onto the crust to our right. I didn't sink! Rudy didn't sink! Could it be true, the crust was really firm enough to support us? Well, we took on short detour off trail to test the crust and SUCESS!

Whee! The Spring crust can support our weight today!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo and see that, sure enough, the crust was plenty firm to support our weight! What fun! As this clips ends, we reconnect with the main snowmobile trail.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

One of the great things about a firm crust is that you can abandon set trails and go any and every direction you want! While the prior video ends with us reconnecting with the set trail, that was only because we were testing the crust. Once established, we left the set trail quickly after the end of the video clip and proceeded to wander our own path through vast, crust covered meadows for the rest of the outing. Fun!

Yay for the crust as we zoom across vast, crust covered meadows!

What an unexpected crust surprise this morning, right guys?

"Yes, yes, yes, that was FUN!" says the handsome duo awaiting well earned
end of run treats.

What a Spring crust treat this morning: 9.7 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 136 days on the trails covering 1165.4 miles with 115,600 feet of elevation climbed.