Wednesday, May 15, 2013

You Know It When...

You know we are reaching the "end of season" when...

The musher is wearing shorts on today's dog sled run!
Daily temperatures have been reaching the 50s and 60s. So, it is "dog sledding in shorts"
until the snow melts away...
The skis have been put away for the season, so all our runs are now on the dog sled. Two huskies with a human on the sled cannot go as fast & far as two huskies with a human on skis...

Our usual trails are down to dirt & mud in most places. It is only the trails on the Breckenridge Ski Resort that still have a usable base of snow (since the ski resort packs and grooms the snow during the ski season, this terrain has snow furthest into the Spring). But, a ski resort is designed for downhill skiing, so the trails are steep.

Sled instead of skis & steep terrain leads to short outings with lots of elevation. But, we are still on snow - wheeee!

Sprinting uphill near the beginning of the outing. Egad, look at all that exposed dirt in the
sun. But, still useable in the shade!
"Whoa - look at that huge pit that has opened over the fast running river below the snow!"
say Max & Zorro as they glance to the left as we jog by.
The conditions look so beautiful at first glance (especially for mid-May).
But, notice that deep cut in the snow to our right. The river is breaking through to
melt and steal our snow!
At our high point on Breckenridge Ski Resort, before starting a fast run back down.
Max, Zorro & I having fun discussing the day's activities :)
1000 feet up + 1000 feet down over 5.4 miles with a top speed of 17 MPH.

That puts us at a cool 1020.9 miles for the season with an impressive 137,200 feet of elevation climbed!

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