Speeding and Moosing

Speeding on Sally Barber.

Moosing in French Gulch.

Speeding on French Gulch.

What a skijoring trifecta this morning!

Speeding along the Sally Barber Mine Trail - zoom!

After doing a fast up & over Sally Barber Mine, it was time to head out French Gulch on the search for the ever present moose this season....

"BINGO!!!!!" exclaim the professional moosers as they spotted a mother and calf to the right!
"I see them! I see them!" declares excited Max.
"Down in front! Oh, I see them too!" states short Zorro peeking in front of tall Max to see the moose.

Drifting off the trail a bit from the previous photo and pausing in the shoulder snow to watch the mother and child:

I have circled them since, as usual, the moose are always so camouflaged in the trees.
"What do you mean camouflaged? We see them RIGHT THERE!" declare the moose staring
Max & Zorro.

Done moosing in French Gulch, time to go speeding back to the trailhead:

Tight knit & sprinting skijor machine! Wheeee!

Speeding, moosing and then speeding - what a fun outing: 9.1 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 380.6 miles with 40200 feet of elevation climbed.

Wild

Catching air as we get wild skijoring Wilder Gulch this morning - wheeee!

Absolutely perfect conditions to uncork the skijoring machine!

Sometimes a video is a better way of showing the perfect outing than trying to describe it. Perfect conditions + perfect sled dogs = topping 25 MPH skijoring Wilder Gulch at Vail Pass.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

All kinds of snow machines were out enjoying the perfect morning...

Two types of snow machines - sled dogs and snowmobiles.
Slowing to a gentle trot to safely pass by the snowmobile (who always nicely slow to a
safe passing speed too).

Look at this role reversal at our turnaround point of the day:

"Rolling snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates silly Zorro.
"Really? I would never do such silly antics!" states somber Max (the one who typically
rolls snow angels :)

Back to the trailhead. How was the outing Max?

"Getting wild in Wilder Gulch - I LOVED it!" states ecstatic Max.

A day of perfect conditions: 9.2 miles traveled with 1050 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 44 days on the trails covering 371.5 miles with 39250 feet of elevation climbed.

Birthday

For my birthday today, Max & Zorro gave me "flying Siberians" on the trails this morning.

What a great present!

Flying along the fast terrain on the Middle Fork trail at Swan Valley - zoooom!

Everyone was excited to know if I liked my present...

"That was fun - huh?" asks happy Max at our turnaround on Middle Fork.
"But, but, I still have more flying to give!" exclaims Zorro.

"I sure hope you are having as good time as us!" declares happy Zorro checking back.
"Let's keep going, we've got more 'flying Siberians' to deliver!" states forward moving Max.

We were on the trails that are shared with the dog sled tours from Good Times Adventures. Usually we encounter many teams on the trails and engage in some fun games of tag & chase. Today, though, we only encountered one team. We were approaching each other head on as I prepared Max & Zorro for a perfect "head on pass" when the two lead dogs from Good Times decided they wanted to play instead of pass (notice the leader on the left in this photo already leaning in to play instead of pass). The leaders came right and touched noses before getting back to the business of being sled dogs :)

"We can pass if you can pass!" declare Max & Zorro. 

Back to the presents...

Flying Siberians - wheeee!

A fun day on the trails traveling 9.1 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 43 days on the trails covering 362.3 miles with 38200 feet of elevation climbed.

Merry Christmoose

Merry Christmoose to all and to all a good Moose!

"Merry Christmoose" from Max & Zorro very focused on me as they get
their "end of run pork treats" this morning.

Our goal this Christmas morning was to find a moose in French Gulch and transform Christmas into Christmoose. We had to travel far back in the gulch in our search for moose and were starting to believe Christmoose wasn't coming until we got far, far back and the scent of moose started to fill the air!

Breaking trail near the end of French Gulch as the "scent of moose" has Max & Zorro
extra energized to tow me through the deep snow!

We followed our noses (well, theirs, mine doesn't detect moose scent :) and eventually found a moose campsite! Max & Zorro are standing in moose tracks below while the deep impressions in the snow behind them are what was leftover from two moose laying down! They sure have big bodies!

Zorro really is standing up, the moose track is just as tall as him!
"They left the campsite in this direction!" state the moose seeking pair.

Follow the tracks for a little ways and, finally - found one! She was set back in the trees watching us just as intensely as Max & Zorro are watching her. Close enough for me, time to turn around!

Hard to see her as moose are so well camouflaged in the forest, but I have placed an arrow
pointing to her location. If you look closely you can make out a some of her body at the arrow.
"Clear as day to us!" state my moose staring partners.

Oh yes, we did some skijoring too. Lower and mid French Gulch were fast packed and wide - zoom!

Flying along the fast terrain in lower French Gulch on our Christmoose mission.

Merry Christmoose: 9 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 42 days on the trails covering 353.2 miles with 37300 feet of elevation climbed.

Catch the Groomer

We invented a new game on the trails today: Catch the Groomer!

Sprinting along the freshly groomed terrain as we encounter the groomer waddling along
the trail.

I never really thought about it before, but it does make sense in retrospect: Sled dogs are much faster than groomers! We were sprinting our favorite "local groom loop" this morning when we caught the groomer from behind. We stopped and gave the groomer a head start, only to catch it again within minutes. So, we stopped, turned around and went the opposite direction to give the groomer a really big head start - only to catch it again within minutes of turning around to chase it again. Repeat many times to execute today's fun game: Catch the Groomer.

Short video clip of playing Catch the Groomer. Flying along the trails until we catch him from behind and have to stop to give it another head start - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

This Groom Loop is an interesting trail to use. It is tucked away in the forest and requires a backcountry ski in and ski out. We have had a ton of snow the last couple of days, so the backcountry entry & exit points were buried in snow and required extreme trail breaking to navigate...

Max took lead most of the way in (when it gets extremely deep, Max & Zorro trade off who gets the most trail breaking work in the front of the group):

Swimming through the snow as Max takes us in to the groom loop.

Once to the loop, it is fast, fast, FAST as we did two laps around this course:

Flying! Love to open it up on fast & easy groomed terrain.

Zorro then took lead most of the way out:

Back to single-file trail breaking. You can see the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort coming
into view across the valley.

Catch the Groomer - what a fun game:

"The 'catch' was the most fun!" say my happy partners as we are paused once again to give
the groomer another head start (note the groomer just ahead of us on the trail).

Trail breaking in, lightning fast loops and trail breaking out: 7.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 344.2 miles with 36300 feet of elevation climbed.

Bird Food

We almost bagged a pheasant on the trail today. Almost....

Laying fresh tracks in the morning's new snow covering a snowmobile track.

Most of the day looked like the previous photo as we found a snowmobile track to lead us deep into the forest. There was about an inch of new snow on the track, so it was laying fresh tracks as we wound our way through the forest - such a serene outing!

The highlight of the day, though, was nearly bagging a pheasant hiding in the snow just off the trail. Below is the video footage of our near miss in catching fresh bird food. The video is in slow motion as the actual event transpired in under 2 seconds and it is much more fun to watch slowed down!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Ok, now for a little captioning on frames from the previous video:

Trotting along as both heads start to peek to the left as something is drawing their attention...

"Whoa - fresh BIRD FOOD!" exclaim astonished Max & Zorro putting on the brakes as the
pheasant pops out of the snow!

"Get the BIRD FOOD!" lunge the hunting pair. The pheasant is hard to see with the tree
in the background, so I have circled it above.

Love the look on Zorro's face...
"Wow, did a bird really just pop out of the snow right here?" asks fascinated Zorro.
"Where'd it go? Where did it go?" asks Max scanning the air for their near miss.

A somewhat steep & peaceful route through the forest today with an action packed 2 seconds of almost bagging a pheasant: 7.8 miles traveled with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 40 days on the trails covering 336.4 miles with 35500 feet of elevation climbed.

Cruising Day

A fun day cruising all over Sally Barber Mine and French Gulch - wheeee!

Max & Zorro in a beautiful "sprint tuck" as we fly along the Sally Barber Trail.
This is one of our favorite "fast & wide" trails where we can really uncork the skijoring machine!

Today's short video clip showcases the "fast & wide" Sally Barber terrain. You might be wondering what Max is doing as he occasionally drifts to the right and gets some slack in his gangline. Well, he is testing the "right side of the trail" for firmness. He does this test 2 or 3 times before concluding that the right side of the trail is too soft to go as fast as your partner in the harder packed left track, so he finally moves into the left track with Zorro to fly along with his brother. Smart guy!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The French Gulch portion of the outing had an interesting trail dynamic. There were two set single tracks along the French Gulch Trail with soft & shallow powder in between. The single tracks were too narrow to run fast shoulder-to-shoulder, so Max & Zorro each took their own track and let me glide along the soft powder middle. Fun partners!

Zorro in the left track, Max in the right track, Brad in the middle powder - wheeee!

Did I say "French Gulch"? You know what that means....

"Fresh moose tracks right off the trail!" exclaim track inspecting Max & Zorro. The tracks
seemed very fresh & recent based on their intensity in inspecting them!

Follow your nose and...

"Found one camouflaged in the trees across the gulch!" declare the moose staring pair!
Note that we were standing in a moose track when spotting the moose across the gulch (notice
the snow wall on each side of Max that was made by a moose walking along).

Great day cruising Sally Barber and French Gulch with a little moosing far back in the gulch: 8.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 39 days on the trails covering 328.6 miles with 34200 feet of elevation climbed.

Run, Catch, Pass

A perfect "run, catch, pass" on the trails with Good Times Adventures this morning!

Passing a team from Good Times paused on the trail. So fun to play with the dog sled teams!

Below is the video counterpart to the prior photo. We are cruising along when we encounter a team from Good Times paused on the trail. So we slow down, get under control and then execute a perfect pass by the paused team. Such fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was a gorgeous morning!

Blue skies and perfect terrain!

It was a fast & energetic day!

A quick pause on the trails and everyone decided to roll snow angels to cool off!

11.4 miles later and time for our "end of run" pork treats:

"So much fun! But hand them over!" exclaims happy Max.
"You have my FULL attention!" states fun Zorro.

A great morning out on the trails at Good Times: 11.4 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 38 days on the trails covering 319.8 miles with 33200 feet of elevation climbed.

Hello Moose

Twas the week before Christmas

when what to our wondering eyes should appear

but a huge male moose to wish us good cheer!

Look at this beauty we encountered 30 yards or so off the trail. Once he noticed us, he
started to saunter off the other direction away from us.

Watching INTENSELY as the moose saunters across the meadow and eventually up into the
forest across the way. Max & Zorro were mesmerized watching this big beauty wander away.

Twas the week before Christmas

when what to our wondering eyes should appear

but a "moose trough trail" to follow - all cheer!

Different part of the outing and we encountered this deep "moose trough trail" to follow for a
while. Notice how the trough is almost up to Max & Zorro's shoulders. Moose sure are tall!

Twas the week before Christmas

when what to our wondering eyes should appear

but another moose camouflaging her good cheer!

Another one! Not as close as the first one, but our noses lead us to peek across the gulch and
spot a female moose watching us from the camouflage of the trees.

Oh yeah, we were skijoring today in between moose events: 8.2 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 37 days on the trails covering 308.4 miles with 32100 feet of elevation climbed.

Trail Talk

A bit of "unapproved trail talk" on the outing this morning :)

Beautiful "synchronized sprint tuck" as we fly along the main Baldy Mountain Trail.
Very approved...

What do I mean by "unapproved trail talk"? Well, let's take a look.

Unapproved...

Kissing your brother at 20 MPH might seem impressive. But it is still unapproved trail behavior :)

Approved...

Synchronized, airborne Siberians - very approved!

Unapproved...

While having a conversation at 20 MPH may seem impressive, it is still unapproved trail talk!

Get the idea? If not, watch it in video below as the first 25 seconds or so are dominated by "unapproved trail talk" that I keep calling out to correct before we finally settle into a proper synchronized skijoring sprint!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A mostly perfect day on the trails with one extended section of unapproved trail talk: 8.6 miles covered with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 36 days on the trails covering 300.2 miles with 31200 feet of elevation climbed.

Jury Duty

Max had many opinions about this morning's "slow start" to get running on the trails!

"You're KILLING me! Let's GO!" exclaims silly Max.
"Geez, and people say *I* am the 'wild one'!" states solemn Zorro.

Nancy got stuck with jury duty this morning. So, that meant I was going solo with Max & Zorro to the trails.

Our normal day (with Nancy) goes as follows: I put my ski boots on at home and Nancy drives us to the trailhead. Once there, Max & Zorro hop out of the Jeep with Nancy while I get my skis, gear and other paraphernalia ready to go. Then, finally, Nancy helps hook the wild sled dogs to the gangline and off we go.

Without our handler, Nancy, the day instead goes as follows: Max & Zorro wait in the Jeep while I put my ski boots on. Max & Zorro wait in the Jeep while I get my skis, gear and other paraphernalia ready to go. Max & Zorro wait in the Jeep while I get the gangline and other equipment lined up to go. Then, FINALLY, Max & Zorro get to come out of the Jeep and off we go. Did you count how many "waits" I mentioned in this solo process? Well, Max counts the "waits" and multiplies by 10!

"Apparently yoooooooo didn't hear me! Why am I still in the jeeeeeep?" woos impatient Max.
"And people say *I* am the 'wild one'!" declares surprisingly patient looking Zorro.

Max is hilarious when he gets going on an opinion. Our Registered Therapy Dog lecturing me at the trailhead while Zorro plays the role of cool & calm! Silly Max!

Once we FINALLY (says Max) got started, how was the outing you ask? Well, we are happy to report it was puking snow all day and the GoPro was blurred by snow the entire outing!

This is some of the clearest footage I have from the day! It was dumping snow and impossible
to keep the GoPro clear. Yay for Snow!

Yay for Snow! A fun day somewhat slowed by cutting fresh tracks in 3-6 inches of fresh powder all morning: 7.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 35 days on the trails covering 291.6 miles with 30250 feet of elevation climbed.

French Gulch Moosing

From laying fresh tracks to breaking trail all day in French Gulch.

Lower and Mid French Gulch looked like this: a narrow single-track barely wide enough
for Max & Zorro to trot shoulder to shoulder.

We expected to be breaking trail today as Breckenridge got 10+ inches of snow yesterday. For the first 2/3 of the outing, though, we were in a narrow single track as shown above as some skiers had already been out yesterday (including ourselves). But, eventually we out skied all existing tracks and then found ourselves breaking trail in increasingly deep snow - fun!

Breaking trail as we tow the human through 10+ inches of untouched powder.

French Gulch has become "Moose Gulch" for us this season as moose scents, tracks and sightings are so frequent! We found ourselves in 18+ inches of snow with a perpendicular moose track as a target:

"Hurry bro, I'm in the moose track and I think I see one!" declares intense Zorro.
"Coming, coming!" says Max swimming in 18+ inches to get to the moose track in front of us.

Max caught up with Zorro to prop himself up in the moose track and "BINGO! Found one!"

He is extremely camouflaged in the trees; but we all saw him! I have put an arrow to give you
an indication on where he was. Hiding in the trees watching us as intensely as we were
watching him!

The moose eventually sauntered further away into the forest, so we decided to follow the moose track and see where it lead us. Boy oh boy are moose tall!

In a moose track trough! It is only wide enough to alternate going single file as the moose
legs have made this incredibly deep trough through the snow!

An entertaining day of "moosing" in deep snow in French Gulch: 7.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 34 days on the trails covering 283.8 miles with 29450 feet of elevation climbed.