On Your Left ... Oops...

Approaching the Indiana Creek
trailhead. Increasing snowfall with
big flakes - gonna have some good
powder tomorrow!

We were cruising down a narrow section of the Indiana Creek trail. As we came over a little hump we saw a solo skier in front of us. She was going downhill too, so we were closing fast on her from behind. This section of trail is "one pair of skis" wide, so we would be doing a tight pass.

As we got closer, but not too close, I called out, "On your left," to let her know we were coming and intended on passing on her left. She casually started to glance back and then was clearly shocked to see two Siberians closing fast. The shock of two charging Siberians was too much and she fell over on her right. Oops... We weren't that close, yet, but we were coming... I slowed Max & Zorro and guided them as far to the left as the trail would fit and we stopped to help the poor woman up. She was good natured and laughing at her shock & fall; I gave her a hand to help her up and Max & Zorro gave her some happy faces and accepted head pats once she got up. "Wasn't expecting to see that behind me!" was her first laughing comment once she was up. I suppose I might fall over if I ever looked behind myself and saw two Siberians charging fast :-)

Today's Route: (1) Start at the Indiana Creek winter trailhead and skijor out & up the trail towards Boreas Pass; (2) Stop about 1/3 the way to Boreas and turn around and sprint back down to Indiana Creek; (3) Hang a left and skijor out & up along Indiana Creek as far as the terrain allows; (4) Take a quick break and then sprint back down to the Indiana Creek trailhead.

Today's Obstacle: As we were approaching the finish at the Indiana Creek trailhead, we were suddenly closing fast on a couple of cross country skiers with 5 (yes FIVE) loose dogs. Two started barking at us and gave zero acknowledgement of the skiers calling "Come Fluffy". So, Max, Zorro & I just skied off the trail and stopped to share a few hotdog treats as we waited for this very slow and very poor behaving group to move onward. There was no chance of passing them given their dogs were barking feverishly and showed no sign of having any listening or obedience skills. Oh well, we'd rather wait than deal with such annoyances.

Vital Stats: 7.4 miles; 95m total time; 75m skijoring time (20m for a short break, helping the shocked skier up and waiting forever for the bad dogs to clear the trailhead); 23 MPH top speed; 900 feet of elevation gain.

Lower sections of Indiana Creek, before we started up toward Boreas Pass.

Taking a quick break before heading back to the trailhead. Zorro's idea of a
"break" is burying his head as deep in the snow as possible!

A look back from our break point. Snow starting to fall! Woo!