Zorro & Rudy the flirts on the trail this morning.
All business Jack keeps us powering forward!
"Hi guys!" says flirtatious Zorro to the backcountry skiers who stepped aside
to let us trot on by.
"Hi!!! Aren't I cute?!?!?" adds flirtatious young Rudy.
"Guess I have to do all the work. On by I go!" adds all business Jack.
It was a gorgeous bluebird day in French Gulch this morning. We had a few inches of fresh snow overnight and then beautiful blue skies this morning. French Gulch had two set narrow tracks (the out & back track) with powder in between. Polite Jack and Rudy gave Zorro the narrow set track (at 10 3/4 years old, he gets the easy track :) while Jack took the deepest of the middle powder and Rudy took lesser powder just out of the set track. What polite youngsters!
Set track for Zorro. Powder track for Jack. Mini powder track for Rudy.
What a gorgeous morning!
Different part of the trail and the same politeness. Come along and watch as we have the set track for Zorro, the mid track for Rudy and the powder track for Jack. Jack got quite the workout today! But, that's ok: he's fully matured and in the prime of his life - he needs the extra exercise :)
Sometimes we flirt, sometimes we do a fast & impressive on by...
"Hi... bye as we go on by!" say the focused trio.
Once again, such politeness from the youngsters in our trail configuration.
At our turnaround point of the outing and...
"Phew, I've been doing a lot of work - need to roll a snow angel first!" says goofy Jack.
"This is FUN!" adds happy Rudy.
"Turnaround? Got it, here I come!" states leader Zorro.
Love the happy & focused trio as we share our end of run pork treats:
"We couldn't be any more focused!" state the fun trio!
Politeness from the youngsters all morning and flirting with the backcountry skiers: 4.7 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.
2018/2019 Season to Date: 59 days on the trails covering 320.5 miles with 28,550 feet of elevation climbed.
Young Jack & Rudy's first skijor by the historic Sally Barber Mine.
Veteran Zorro's 144th time skijoring by the mine :)
"Hi mine, bye mine!" say the trio trotting on by the historic Sally Barber Mine.
We made it from the trailhead to the mine in record time. We have started calling Jack the "buffalope" since he is the uphill force in our skijoring team this winter. As a puppy we called him the jackalope, so it is only fitting that he is now the buffalope with his strong back legs and uphill drive! We got up to the mine so fast, we skijored halfway down the other side before turning around and returning to the trailhead. Happy boys at our turnaround point:
"Proud to be a buffalope!" declares happy Jack.
"He really comes in handy uphill!" adds happy Zorro.
"Phew, gotta cool my belly after keeping pace with a buffalope!" adds cute Rudy.
We found ourselves laying fresh tracks in an inch or so of fresh snow for part of the outing:
Freshies! You can just barely make out a snow poof behind Jack.
Now the video counterpart of the prior photo. Come along as we lay fresh tracks high up near Sally Barber Mine. Wheeee!
Fun "shot from the front" of the happy sled dogs completing the days run:
"Hi mom!" says Zorro flashing a smile towards Nancy with the camera.
"Still going!" adds happy Jack focused forward.
"Yes, still going!" adds happy Rudy focused forward too.
Happy boys again as we gather for our end of run pork treats:
"We LOVE skijoring!!!!" declare the happy trio.
The first sally barber fun run for the youngsters: 5 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.
2018/2019 Season to Date: 58 days on the trails covering 315.8 miles with 28,150 feet of elevation climbed.
Young Jack & Rudy's first time topping 24 MPH skijoring this morning! Zoom!!!!
Flying Trio as we hit the youngsters top speed ever.
Two milestones this morning. It was the first time skijoring 6 days in a row for young Jack & Rudy. What did the 6th day in a row yield? The second milestone: topping 24 MPH for the first time for the two youngsters. I'd say "6 in a row" has got them into a real skijor groove!
There were two stretches on our outing where we most likely topped 24 (as clocked by the GPS shown in the photo above). The first zoom was the photo above. The second zoom is the video below. Come along as we are skijoring fast, then slow slightly into a hard left and then come out of the left like speed demons! 24 MPH coming out of the left? Likely...
The following photo is a great capture of our team personalities. If I (or my skis) ever make a new or concerning sound, Jack will immediately look back to check my status. Zorro will do the same, but as a 9 year skijor veteran, there are very few sounds he has not heard and cataloged. Rudy, on the other hand, is oblivious to any sounds. As long as we are making forward progress, Rudy could not care less what sounds are coming from behind him :)
"You ok back there?" asks happy & curious Jack wondering about the sound & placement of
my left ski (it is far 'out of track' to try and give me some speed control).
"He's fine, done this a million times!" declares Zorro.
"I don't care what he's doing if we are moving!" states all business Rudy.
This isn't to say that Rudy does not care about me. In fact, when I have fallen with the trio, Rudy shows the most concern for my well being as he will circle back to check on me quickly. It is just that if we are moving, Rudy is all for it and I can make whatever noises I want - just keep moving :)
At our turnaround point of the day's outing. Happy kids:
"Let's turn it around and get moving!" says happy Rudy.
"Turning around already? Well, ok." adds Zorro who wanted to keep going forward.
"Hey Z, what are you doing over there? You are usually first to listen and turn around!" adds
happy Jack wondering why Zorro is last to listen (a true rarity).
Celebrating 6 days in a row and topping 24 MPH at the end of the day's run:
"Ready for 'end of run' treats!" declares focused Zorro.
"Me too!" adds happy Jack.
"Hi mom!" says silly Rudy who is always last to remember we get 'end of run' treats.
6 days in a row + 24 MPH - will there be a 7th tomorrow? Unfortunately, no, Zorro & Jack are certified Therapy Dogs who read with kids at the local elementary school on Thursdays. I learned years ago that if you skijor and then go to school, you tend to fall asleep instead of listen to the kids read (not very exciting for the kids :)
So, we end our first long string at '6 in a row, topping 24': 5.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.
2018/2019 Season to Date: 57 days on the trails covering 310.8 miles with 27,650 feet of elevation climbed.
