Leap

Leaping (or floating) along the trails at Rabbit Ears Pass for this leap year day!

"Leap year floating...." demonstrates airborne Max.
"Leap year flying...." demonstrates out-stretched Zorro.

A great day touring up, down and around Rabbit Ears Pass. Instead of following the set trails at Rabbit Ears, we would pick a snowmobile track and follow it for miles before hopping into another snowmobile tracks for a few more miles, and then another track, etc. etc. As a result, we found some unique terrain at Rabbit Ears that we have not seen before. Fun!

"I've never rolled a snow angel here before!" declares silly Max.
"Silly! I am going to try and get this team moving again!" states Zorro.

We found this cute little abandoned cabin tucked away in the trees. Given the history of Rabbit Ears, this is more likely an abandoned "rancher's cabin" than a "miner's cabin." Zorro glanced inside while Max suggested this was a perfect vacation getaway!

"Not much inside - I'll check the perimeter!" says Zorro after peeking in the door.
"Now this is a 5-star, luxury vacation villa for a Siberian!" declares happy Max.

Role reversal at our quick midpoint break....

"Aahhh - rub a dub dub!" says snow angel rolling Zorro.
"Silly - *I* would never do that!" states funny Max.

Rolling snow angels and exploring abandoned cabins in between the primary action of the day - skijor sprinting. Wheeee!

"Feb 29th sure is a great day - we should have one every year!" declare the sprinting pair.

Fun day exploring non-standard parts of Rabbit Ears by following solo snowmobile tracks: 9 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 733.8 miles with 77650 feet of elevation climbed.

Clown

Recently turned "9 years old" Max was the 9 month old class clown on the trails this morning :)

Ok Max, let us review improper versus proper skijoring form.

1) Improper...

"Hey little bro - wanna play tackle football?" suggests Max to Zorro as we fly along the trail.
"No! I want to skijor!" responds Zorro to his big brother pest :)

2) Proper...

What perfect form! Out-stretched & sprinting Siberians - beautiful!

Ok Max, with that review of improper vs proper form - ready to go? Apparently not as today's short skijor clip showcases class clown Max. Watch as we are flying along the trail until "Max the puppy" decides to start dorking with Zorro (and "Zorro the adult" wants nothing to do with it). I am able to "ahh, ahh" Max out of each incident to prevent a tackle event on the trail; but it is still a hilarious short stretch of perfectly improper skijoring :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Far back in French Gulch and time to turnaround...

"Ok, turning..." says happy Zorro.
"Really, already?" states shocked Max.

A little more fun from the clown... He has seen Zorro eat snowcones many times while Max usually rolls snow angels to cool off himself. But, why not put the two together?

"Rub a dub dub, chomp chomp chomp - rolling snow angels while eating snowcones!"
demonstrates the very talented Max.

A morning of mostly proper skijoring with a little "Max the class clown" mixed in for humor: 8.2 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 85 days on the trails covering 724.8 miles with 76650 feet of elevation climbed.

Flirts

Having fun "flirting with the crowds" at Vail Pass this morning...

"Flirt? Who me?" asks happy Max.
"Who wouldn't want to be flirted with by ME?" smirks cute little Zorro.

For our skijoring uses, Vail Pass is primarily a network of fast & groomed snowmobile trails. For humans, though, Vail Pass also offers a network of backcountry huts. Groups will take the entire morning or afternoon to ski to the huts and then stay overnight before heading back another day. Every once in a while we leave the fast & groomed section of Vail Pass to go tour the huts and flirt with the overnighters. Today was one such flirtatious day.

Below is a nice shot of one of the many, many huts on Vail Pass. These "huts" look so nice from the outside, it is hard to imagine that they really do not have electricity or running water and the only source of heat is wood burning stoves!

"Hey - nice hut!" states Zorro as we trot by.
"Lets go find people and flirt!" suggests Max.

We encountered 5 different groups of hut overnighters (or hutters) this morning and Max & Zorro took the opportunity to flirt with each group. Below is the best flirt encounter...

We came around a corner to find this large group of hutters.
"I bet they melt in our hands!" state Max & Zorro preparing to flirt with the crowd.

This set of hutters turned out to be a bunch of teenage girls (with an adult at the front and back). That is putty to Max & Zorro :)  Everyone in the group reached out to pat & stroke Max & Zorro as we passed by.

Hand stroking down Zorro's back. Max accepting a pat from the right with the outstretched
hand to the left that just finished stroking down his back.
"Love to flirt and get all this attention!" declare the flirtatious Max & Zorro.

But, remember our primary use of Vail Pass - fast & groomed terrain. After finishing our flirt tour of the huts, it was back to pedal to the metal:

Catching air as we fly along the fast Shrine Pass Trail. Zoooom!

A day of flirting and sprinting: 9.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 84 days on the trails covering 716.6 miles with 75700 feet of elevation climbed.

Beautiful Morning

A beautiful bluebird morning to run the trails today!

Cruising around a corner as parts of Breckenridge Ski Resort come into view through the
trees and across the valley. In the upper center of the photo you can see the ski runs on Peak 8,
while in the upper left you can make out some of the runs on Peak 10.

We had a great time touring the backcountry trails up, down and around Prospect Hill. You get rewarded with many old, abandoned mines and mining cabins on this route. Max & Zorro stopped to inspect one cabin for the possibility of moving in...

"Roof looks structurally sound. Look at all the snow it can hold!" declares roof inspecting Max.
"New front door and window covering too, we should move in!" states realtor Zorro.

Did I mention it was a beautiful bluebird morning?

Zipping along the trail in the bright, bright sun - wheeee!

All that sun had to make somebody hot, right?

"Aaahhh - rolling snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates silly Max.
"You roll angels, I'll scan the forest for moose!" states intense Zorro (we have seen moose
multiple times from this trail before :)

Fun day touring up, down and around the steep terrain of Prospect Hill: 7.7 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 83 days on the trails covering 707.5 miles with 74700 feet of elevation climbed.

Day Off

What happens when you get an extra day off by accident? Zoom!

Flying Siberians above with the GPS summary of the day below. Zoom!

We took Sunday off as a planned "day off" from skijoring with plans to hit the trails again Monday morning. But, we then discovered Monday morning that the Jeep had a flat tire - argh! So, instead of skijoring, we spent Monday morning getting our tire repaired. As a result, Max & Zorro had TWO days off from skijoring! Oh my, they were about to get "bone rot" when we finally got back on snow Tuesday morning. With 2 days of stored up energy, it was topping 26 MPH on the trail this morning.

Short video clip of the section of the Sally Barber Mine Trail where the GPS clocked us topping 26 MPH - zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun shot of Zorro celebrating getting back on the trails after two days off:

"I am having a blast bro! Can you hear me?!?!" screams Zorro to Max as we fly along
the trail.

After doing the Sally Barber Mine Trail in record time, we added French Gulch to the outing to get some more exercise. We were second tracks on French Gulch to....

A fox! See the pair of fox tracks (one in front of Zorro and one down the center)?
"I am following the fox!" demonstrates trotting Zorro.
"Not me, I am laying fresh tracks to the right!" says fresh tracks Max.

Near the back end of French Gulch, we got passed by a pair of snowmobiles. You know what that means - paved snowmobile trail! Zoom, zoom, zoom again!

Flying along French Gulch in a synchronized sprint tuck as we open up the
throttle in the fresh snowmobile track.

The result of 2 days off? 8.9 miles traveled (quickly) with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 26 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 82 days on the trails covering 699.8 miles with 73600 feet of elevation climbed.

Friends

A fun day playing with our sled dog friends from Good Times Adventures!

"Hi friends!" say Max & Zorro as we pause at a trail intersection to let a team go by.

We had lots of fun encounters with the dog teams on the trails today. From watching, to passing to playing "sled dog chase" - a very fun day!

Catching a team paused on the trail as we exchange greetings and pass by.

Below is the video counterpart to the prior photo. Watch as we are flying along the trail until we come upon this team paused and then slow to get ourselves under composure and then trot on by!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A couple more parting shots for the day...

Flying along the trail. I love this shot of long Max and Zorro the missile (looks like a
sled dog missile to me :)

As I said, it was a fun day - just ask my partners:

"Yes! We had a great day playing with our friends from Good Times on the trails!" exclaim
my extremely happy partners.

A fast day covering 9.4 miles with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 81 days on the trails covering 690.9 miles with 72700 feet of elevation climbed.

Rare

Nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from our skijor on Boreas Pass this morning.

Gliding along Boreas Pass as Breckenridge Ski Resort comes into full view across
the valley.

This morning was one of the rarest of outings as we found ourselves laying fresh tracks almost the entire outing on Boreas Pass. Boreas is one of the most popular cross country ski trails in Breckenridge, so being the first tracks on Boreas is one of the rarest treats. The only tracks we encountered all day was a set of snowshoe tracks for the first 3/4 mile and then reusing our own track the lower 1.5 miles (the tracks you see in the picture above are own tracks).

On the way up Boreas and after only about 3/4 of a mile and the terrain was untouched!

Wow! Laying fresh tracks up Boreas. Untouched fresh snow as far as the eye can see - wheeee!

We did a loop for part of the outing to keep laying fresh tracks for miles and miles. The loop: turn off Boreas and take the Bakers Tank trail until it connects back to Boreas (at Bakers Tank) and then continue on Boreas Pass Rd again.

Coming out of the forest at Bakers Tank. Tickling our toes in the fresh snow!

Back on popular Boreas and it was still untouched snow as far as the eye could see!

The theme of the day: laying fresh tracks all the way!

A rare treat to be laying fresh tracks on Boreas almost the entire outing: 9.6 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 80 days on the trails covering 681.5 miles with 71700 feet of elevation climbed.

Max Birthday

Max turned 9 years old today.

A very satisfying run to celebrate his birthday!

"What a birthday bash! I had the best time!" exclaims happy & satisfied Max at the
end of the morning's skijor run.

We did 4 of Max's favorite skijoring activities on this morning's run. Come along for the fun...

(1) Uncorking the skijoring engine on a fast trail just barely 2 Siberians wide. Wheeee!

Zoom, zoom, zoom we go zipping through the trees in French Gulch.

(2) Finding an untouched cache of snow to set your own trail...

Breaking trail far back in French Gulch. Love setting our own path!

(3) Catching the 'scent of moose' and following your nose into the forest until you spot the big stinky set back in the trees.

"Found one!" declare the moose staring pair as I followed their stare to spot a moose a safe
distance away and camouflaged in the trees.

(4) Rolling snow angels to cool off at our quick midpoint break.

"Aahhhh - rub a dub dub!" demonstrate the synchronized snow angel rolling brothers!

Pedal to the metal + breaking trail + scent of moose + rolling snow angels - what a birthday bash! 8.2 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 79 days on the trails covering 671.9 miles with 70900 feet of elevation climbed.

Puppy Antics

Max turns 9 years old tomorrow.

He celebrated his "last day at 8" with "puppy antics" on the trail this morning :)

"Hey little bro - I feel 8 months old!" says giddy Max to Zorro.

"Tag - you're it!" says Max the 'last day at 8 puppy'...

It only happens a few times a season - one of Max or Zorro (or both) forget the objective of skijoring and decide that "trail wrestling" is the point of the day's outing. Here we go in today's video highlight as Max turns puppy on the trail and starts dorking with Zorro, trying to bait him into a wrestle match.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Silly Max - the "last day at 8 years old puppy"...

"Who me? I'm just so giddy I forgot the objective of the day!" states silly Max.

"Sigh, life as the only adult on the trail!" states happy Zorro.

Oh, by the way, we did do some adult skijoring this morning...

Beautiful shot of the synchronized, sprinting & adult skijoring huskies. Wheeee!

We had two interruptions to "adult skijoring". The first was Max turning puppy and the second was spotting a moose off the trail in the trees!

"Moose!" declare the moose staring pair. It was a safe distance off the trail and camouflaged in
the trees. But, the scent drew Max & Zorro off trail and I followed their stare until I spotted it
hiding in the trees.

1 moose, 1 puppy and lots of adult skijoring in between: 8.7 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 663.7 miles with 69950 feet of elevation climbed.

Fresh Snow

After a "far above normal" week of high temperatures and no new snow, we finally got a snow refresher yesterday and into today - yay!

"Aahhh - back to laying fresh tracks in cool temps!" demonstrate Max & Zorro.

We did our Sally Barber + French Gulch route this morning and found ourselves laying fresh tracks along most of Sally Barber and following a fresh snowmobile track in French Gulch. Great day!

1) Sally Barber Freshies:

Launching along the Sally Barber Mine Trail laying fresh tracks in about 3 inches of snow.

Trotting along as we crest by the historic Sally Barber Mine - wheeee!

2) Following a fresh snowmobile track out & back in French Gulch:

Zoom we go as following a snowmobile is like a paved trail to Nome!

It was French Gulch, so the possibility of moose encounters is ever present (and hoped for by Max & Zorro). But, we only got a slight tickle of moose scent in our noses on this morning's outing...

"Sniff.... Ah, scent of moose drifting in from the right!" declares 'sniff & trot' Max.
"Not strong enough scent, keep going!" declares Zorro unimpressed with the intensity of
the moose aroma.

First tracks on Sally Barber and second on the trail to a snowmobile in French Gulch - fun day: 8.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 77 days on the trails covering 655.0 miles with 69200 feet of elevation climbed.

Sled Dog Fun

We had a great time following, passing and interacting with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures on the trails this morning!

A nice "head on pass" by a team.
"Hi guys! So much fun to see you!" declares giddy Zorro as 3 from the team give him a look too.
"Passing, all business!" says perfect pass Max!

We encountered the team in the prior photo for a head on pass and then we came upon a team paused on the trail. Time to jog by and exchange pleasantries...

"Coming through...." say my partners exchanging pleasantries with the 8-dog team
on the side of the trail as we pass by.

A head on pass, a paused pass by and then finally we found a team sprinting along the trail so we got to play "sled dog chase" - wheeee! It felt like we were a lot closer to the team than this photo does justice. Oh well, I have put an arrow pointing to the musher of the 8-dog team and you can squint and see the fuzzy butts in front of him too.

"Here we come! Zoom zoom zooooom!" declare speedy Max & Zorro.

Today's video clip goes with the prior photo. This is the video action of us playing "sled dog chase". Look closely down the center of the trail and you can see the 8-dog team we are chasing come in & out of view during the video clip.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a fun morning interacting with the dog teams from Good Times!

"We had a GREAT day! So much fun!" exclaim my happy partner giving me an approving
look at a turnaround point on one of the day's trails.

Sled dog fun traveling 9.6 miles with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 76 days on the trails covering 646.6 miles with 68300 feet of elevation climbed.