10 Miles at Vail Pass

A magnificent mid-October day to skijor 10+ miles at Vail Pass!

Flying along the top of the Shrine Pass Trail at Vail Pass.
Max & Zorro in a perfect "synchronized tuck" as they propel the human through the snow!

A nice snowstorm blew into Colorado on Sunday and that had us itching to hit the trails Monday morning. Since it is still October, the high "mountain pass" trails get the most & best quality snow from a storm. So, we got up early and were thrilled to be first tracks on the trails at Vail Pass!

Our second outing of the season and Max & Zorro already look to be in perfect midseason form. These two are definitely professional sled dogs :-)

Shoulder-to-shoulder in a synchronized airborne stretch as we sprint along the trails
as if the "summer layover" never happened.

Today's video highlight shows this midseason form as we were flying perfectly all day. Excellent conditions to uncork Max & Zorro in mid-October! Woo Hoo!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The network of trails at Vail Pass is virtually endless. But, eventually the human decides it is time to turnaround...

"Well, ok, if you say so! I am having SO much fun!" expresses happy & agreeable Max.
"Turnaround?!? Pfft - I could go for hours more!" demonstrates Zorro pointing in the
'continue forward' direction and pretending he did not hear me say time to turnaround.

Look at the great snow in the pictures and video and you must be thinking, "Go again tomorrow!" Unfortunately, though, the Vail Pass trails are not closed to vehicles for winter until late November. So, we encountered a few 4WD enthusiasts blasting up the trails after we hit our high point of the day and started back down. The Vail Pass trails will be trashed by the end of the day and unusable until the next snowstorm. Oh well, at least we were smart enough to get started at sunrise and enjoy laying fresh tracks for the majority of the day!

Todays outing: 10.1 miles with 1150 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 14.7 miles with 2000 feet of elevation climbed for 2 days on the trails.