Good Time by Good Times

We had a good time skijoring to, by and past Good Times Adventures today. Good Times is the local outfit in Breckenridge that runs Dog Sled Tours for tourists in the area.

We took a quick break when we came out of the mountains towards Good Times.
I could hear the Good Times' Huskies howling when we stopped (we were not
within sight of the dog yard, just hearing distance). If I could hear 50+ Huskies
howling, you know Max & Zorro could too! Look at Zorro pointed and focused
in the direction of the howls - he's sooo intense when he locks on something!

This was a new route for us today - we were attempting to connect 2 known areas (French Gulch and Swan Valley) via a route never traveled before. Here's how the outing went...

(1) Start at French Gulch and go straight up a VERY steep Forest Road 567. This exhilarating section took us up 900 feet in under a mile. Phew, that's a workout for all.

(2) After cresting high above French Gulch, we continued on Forest Road 567 down into the Swan Valley area. This took us down about 1100 feet over 2.5 miles of snowmobile trails - "scary steep" for a few short sections, but mostly a gentle ride down.

(3) After connecting into Swan Valley, we took South Fork Swan Road up & out for a little jog (this road is closed to cars in the winter, but well traveled by snowmobiles). After doing about 400 feet of gentle up, we turned around and headed down towards Good Times.

(4) After taking a quick break to listen to the Good Times Howls, we started again towards Good Times and skijored to their front entrance and then down Tiger Road back towards civilization.

(5) A little ways past Good Times, it got interesting - we started running out of snow! I had no cellphone reception, so I could not text Nancy to pick us up. So, we got creative - we skijored the shoulders of the road, the middle of the road, basically anyplace with a little snow or ice until we got back into cell coverage. In total, we went about 2 miles on very sketchy terrain (going somewhat slow to make sure we avoided exposed rock & dirt).

Overall, a fun & successful time connecting French Gulch to Swan Valley; but a little disappointing terrain for the last 2 miles.

An old abandoned mining cabin on the route between French Gulch/Swan Valley.
I was checking the GPS for the correct route down - if I stop for too long, Zorro
always plants his butt in a statement of, "I'm dying standing still, can we go yet?!"

At another "check the GPS" break, Max decides to roll in the snow to cool off.

Zorro coming to inspect Max's snow angel. Every Siberian owner knows what
happened next (after they "locked eyes")... Yep, a Siberian wrestlefest broke
out in the middle of the trail.

Approaching the front entrance of Good Times. A "dog box trailer" with a
couple of dog sleds on top. We were never in sight of the actual dog yard, but
the howling was increasing - every Siberian sensed the presence of other Siberians
in the vicinity!

Vital Stats: 8.1 miles; 120m total time; 95m skijoring time (quite a few stops to check the GPS for route selection and then quite a few stops checking for cell reception); 17 MPH top speed; a nice 1300 feet of elevation climbed.