May Freshies

Laying fresh tracks most of the day up, down around Shrine Pass at the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area. May Freshies - Yay!

Untouched, fresh snow as far as the eye can see - wheeee!

This morning's outing started at the Vail Pass Trailhead and sent us up the Shrine Pass Trail. Once atop Shrine Pass we did a 4+ mile tour of the rolling terrain, still laying fresh tracks the whole time!

Towing me up a slight rise in the terrain as we used existing trails and made our own trails
to do two large "figure 8s" on the rolling terrain atop Shrine Pass.

Part of today's fun was visiting all of the "backcountry cabins" on Shrine Pass as we passed by 2 yurts and 3 cabins. The overnight parking lot at Vail Pass was pretty full (especially for mid-May), so we expected to encounter people at all of the cabins. The only way to reach these 2 yurts and 3 cabins is by ski or snowshoe as it is "no snowmobiles allowed". A nice backcountry getaway. As we passed by each cabin, people gathered at the windows to gaze and wave at the sled dogs towing the human. When we cruised by the yurts, a group of people spilled out to pet and ask questions about getting towed by sled dogs. A busy "winter day" at the cabins on Shrine Pass as people are clearly making the best of this year's snowy May!

Approaching the largest of the 3 cabins (the other 2 are much smaller than this one).
It always amazing to me to look at this nice looking building and the realize there is no running
water, only "generator electricity" and only "wood burning heat" in this impressive looking
but remote & isolated cabin!

After the 2 "figure 8s" atop the pass, it was time to start down. We quickly caught two snowshoers in front of us and were then laying fresh tracks again on the path down.

Zipping along as we quickly close the gap on the two snowshoers (the 2 dots in front of us).

Laying fresh tracks in May - yay!

Time to start down, everybody set?
"Well, if you say, but I think we could spend all day up here!" states Max aligning his body to
show me that we could continue atop Shrine Pass instead of going down.
"Toes on Fresh Snow in May - Yay!" says giddy little Zorro.

May Freshies covering 9 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 144 days on the trails covering 1241.5 miles with 130,200 feet of elevation climbed.