Nordic Zooming

I love this cool shot of Jack & Rudy catching air amidst my shadow as we break through the shade of trees into a blast of sun. 

Whee, these kids are so fun!!!

It was a wonderful day on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. The groomer had not been out since yesterday morning, but the conditions were still excellent this morning. When we got far from the trailhead, only a pair of skate skiers had been this far in the last 24 hours. Sweet!

A perfect groomed trail with existing marks of only 2 previous skate skiers.
Look at Jack & Rudy in a cool out-stretched sprint on the groomie zoomie.

Even when we were closer to the trailhead, the conditions were still pretty nice:

Zipping by the Hallelujah Warming Hut with still plenty of soft trail
for us to safely floor it!

At our furthest point of the outing, we zoom along a stretch which has been memorable for stunning view shots in years past. Well, this is our 4th or 5th skijor past this section this season. I'm now convinced the trees have just grown too much in the past year to get the stunning views we used to. Here's the best I got:

In years past, all the smaller trees to our right were much shorter and we'd
get a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains to our right. I guess those days
are over with the growing trees. Oh well, growing trees are a good thing :)

Since we didn't get the usual panoramic view shot in the prior photo, the kids decided to stop, drop and roll snow angels at another overlook to give us a view shot for the day. What polite kids :)

Stop, drop & roll with snow capped Rocky Mountain peaks in the foreground!

Now on to today's video highlight. Come along as we skijor to the completion of the day's outing. This final approach has three things to be aware of: 1) a few blind corners to zip around; 2) the possibility of loose dogs milling around as we are near a trailhead; and 3) the potential for slick and/or icy conditions as lots of traffic (ski, foot, snowshoe) has been on the trail. Well, today the conditions were good enough for me to feel comfortable letting Jack & Rudy go full throttle to the finish. Come along and watch fun. With no loose dogs appearing around any corner, this was about as perfect a finish we can get on this particular trail! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun, fun, fun, right guys?

"Oh, that was a blast! Zoom!" says the patient kids awaiting end of
run treats atop a little snow wall.

Today's milestone? Our top speed of the season! 9.3 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 142.4 miles with 17,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Dogstacle

Our first time on the narrow Trail of Tears single track this season! Whee!

There is finally enough snowpack for us to venture off the main trails and onto
the narrow, single track side trails. Fun!

As you see in the photo, Jack & Rudy have no problem squishing shoulder to shoulder to fit on single track trails. It's so fun to go winding through the forest on narrow trails like these with them!

In order to get to the narrow Trail of Tears, we have to initially climb to the historic Sallie Barber Mine. Well, as is almost always the case, the climb to the mine is celebrated by rolling snow angels to cool off :)

"Aaaahhh!" says the snow rolling sillies cooling off at the mine.

So, we skijored up to the mine, then went out & back on the Trail of Tears single track and then returned to the main trail to fly back to the trailhead. Wheeee!

The fun kids catching air on the fast & wide Sallie Barber Mine Trail.

This trail is very popular for people to ski with their dogs. Very few skijor, most just let Fluffy scurry about while they ski on their own - I know, what a silly concept, use the dog and skijor!!! :) Anyway, our loose dog encounters go one of two ways...

First (and most common), Fluffy is left to stand in the middle of the trail for us to deal with. Yes, the owners often try to call the loose dog out of the way - um, it RARELY listens. Oh well...

Nothing to do but slow down and interact with loose Fluffy in the middle of
the trail. Jack & Rudy would rather run on by, but I know from experience that
trying to run by a loose dog often gets the dog aggravated and lunging at you.
So, we slow, greet briefly and then go on by.

Second (and least common), an owner may decide to pull Fluffy to the side of the trail, hold it there and let us fly on by. This is Jack & Rudy's (and my) preferred interaction. None of us want to slow or stop for a boring dog:

Yay, the owner pulled Fluffy over and held it (the "hold" is often not done
successfully too). As you see, my pals have no use for Fluffy when you have
the option to keep running and fly on by instead!!!!!

But, back to the most common interaction - the loose dog obstacle in the middle of the trail: a dogstacle. Come along for today's dogstacle encounter. The clip starts with us flying along the beautiful wide trail. Then, we all see loose Fluffy in the middle of the trail. There's no option but to slow, greet briefly and then get on by. Watch how quickly Jack & Rudy discard Fluffy to return to fast, fun and pedal to the metal skijoring. Wheeee! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh we had a blast!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end of run treats.

Finally enough snow to extend the Sallie Barber Trail with the adjoining Trail of Tears single track: 6.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 22 days on the trails covering 133.1 miles with 16,200 feet of elevation climbed.

New Year, Same Fun

It might be a new year, but it was the same awesome skijor fun with Jack & Rudy this 2026 New Year's Day!

Can you feel the power behind the strong sled dogs in this shot?
Love the snow poofs behind them coming off their feet. Wheeee!

After a couple of days off, Jack & Rudy were in a real power running groove this morning.

As you see in the first photo, we were zipping up the higher elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning.

After a predominantly up first leg, it was time to turn around. Yep, turnaround, roll around....

"Rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling their jets after a
fast gallop on the initial up leg before flooring it back down.

Then, as expected, it was pedal to the metal on the predominantly down return leg. Whee!

The fun kids catching air on a beautiful & wide groomed nordic trail.

As I said, the kids were in a real running groove this morning. Come along for today's video glimpse into the fun to see for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

New year, same fun on the trails. New year, same fun receiving end of run treats atop a snow wall:

The happy, happy kids patiently awaiting end of run treats!

What a great New Year's fun run: 6.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 21 days on the trails covering 126.8 miles with 15,500 feet of elevation climbed.