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| Cruising up the mid section of Indiana Creek. No tracks, breaking trail, Zorro chest deep! Notice Max's back covered in snow - "Siberian cooling tactic ;-)" |
We had a couple of inches of snowfall in town Saturday night, so we decided to test the upper elevations of the Indiana Creek trail. Wow, were we in for an extreme trail breaking treat! We were fresh tracks the entire route and saw everything from 2 to 20+ inches of untouched powder:
1) First 1/4 mile: Indiana Creek winter trailhead heading up towards Boreas Pass - about 2 inches of fresh, untouched powder.
2) 1/4 - 1/2 mile: continuing up Indiana Creek - powder increasing to 2-4 inches.
3) 1/2 - 1 mile: in the lower open meadow of Indiana Creek before ascending into the trees (crossing the semi-exposed creek twice) - 4-6 inches of untouched powder.
4) 1 - 4.2 miles: ascending up the steep, heavily wooded (and rarely traveled) section of Indiana Creek to connect with Boreas Pass Rd - 8-20 inches of untouched powder. Most of the time spent breaking trail in the 12-16 inch range with occasional strings of 20+ inches to break through! Steep, Deep, Breaking Trail - Siberian power.
20+ inches - what, did I stop and put a yardstick in the snow, you ask? No, the definition of "20+ inches" is snow depth where Max & Zorro can no longer power forward with their shoulders but, instead, have to resort to "bunny hopping" (or "dolphin cresting") through the snow. An extreme workout for two fellas under 2 feet tall; but you should see the smiles as their heads with each crest above the snow!
5) 4.2 - 6.2 miles: cruising down Boreas Pass Rd in 4-6 inches of untouched powder to Bakers Tank.
6) 6.2 - 8.2 miles: continuing down Boreas Pass Rd in 2-4 inches of fresh powder.
7) 8.2 - 8.7 miles: lower, wind & sun beaten section of Boreas Pass Rd with too many exposed rocks to skijor. Shed the skis and hike over this terrain. BOOOOO!
8) 8.7 - 9.2 miles: re-engage the skis and cruise to the Boreas winter trailhead. Phew, what a workout...
Vital Stats: 9.2 miles; 140m total time, 100m skijoring time (20m hiking time, 20m stopped & equipment on/off/adjustment time); 16 MPH top speed; 1300 feet of elevation gain with 1000 of the elevation gain happening over just 3 miles breaking trail in up to 20 inches of powder!
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| A nice view of the untouched trail in front of us. Breaking trail in over 12 inches of powder at this point. Note Zorro's back left leg kicking out of the snow. Siberians powering me up this deep & steep trail! |
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| It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... Sorry, this shot of the "snow covered Christmas trees" just made me start to sing... |
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