May Wow

A "wow, is it really May?" for the perfect conditions atop Shrine Pass this morning!

Beautiful, wide open terrain with great snowpack and a top crust hard enough to hold two
sprinting sled dogs. Wheeee we go on perfect terrain atop Shrine Pass.

Today's outing started at the Vail Pass Trailhead and then we ascended up the Shrine Pass Trail. Conditions were a little sketchy at the bottom yet improved quickly as we climbed. Once on the top of Shrine Pass, we all said, "wow!" at the absolutely perfect conditions. Conditions were so impressive that we stayed atop Shrine and did a 4 mile tour all around the top of the pass before heading back down for an 8.7 mile outing (2.4 up, 3.9 around, 2.4 down). Great Day!

Zipping along the forest atop Shrine Pass as Max & Zorro start to lean to the left after I called
out to veer left and cruise tightly by the tree in front of us.

Part of the fun of playing around the top of Shrine Pass is visiting all of the "backcountry huts" that decorate the terrain. There are 4 huts in total that people can rent for the night. The only way to access the huts is by ski (or snowshoe), making for a fun backcountry vacation.

Slowing to pass by one of the directional signs for the huts. Toilet to the left with Chuck's and
Jay's cabins to the right. Since these are backcountry huts, there is no running water thus directions
to the toilet that is separated from the huts.

A fun video clip of Max & Zorro listening to corrective commands... Watch closely as at about 7 seconds into the video Max gives his brother a "tag and go" dip. I think we will recover from the silly dip until about 11 seconds in when both start an unapproved exchange. But, all it takes is a quick "Hey, hey, hey!" from me and everyone clicks back into perfect form and we continue zipping along the beautiful terrain. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a great day for mid May!

"I am having a BLAST!!!!!" exclaims giddy little Zorro.
"So much fun to play 'tag and go' with my brother!" states happy Max.
Very approving looks from my pals at our quick midpoint break atop Shrine Pass!

A "May Wow" at the great conditions atop Shrine Pass this morning: 8.7 miles with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 143 days on the trails covering 1232.5 miles with 129,300 feet of elevation climbed.