Sprint and Hunt

Combining two fun activities on this morning's outing: sprinting and hunting! 

We started on a packed side trail with a 1/2 inch or so of new snow - just enough fresh snow to safely uncork the skijoring engine:

Zoom we go, flying along the fast trail.

The original goal of the outing was to skijor the backcountry until arriving at our favorite "groomed loop" in the forest. Once on the groomie zoomie, we really floored it and topped 25 MPH zipping around the loop:

Zorro the flying z-ball and Max the long-bodied sprinter :)

Partway through the outing and Max & Zorro found another goal for the morning - hunting! As we were gliding along, both of their radars went off and they wanted to ditch the packed trail and go hunting in the deep powder. It is usually the scent of moose that causes this type of "radar firing" from them. I could see into the nearby trees and there were no moose tracks, so I decided to entertain Max & Zorro and let them pull me through the deep snow for a bit...

"Oh boy - radar says something very smelly & tasty this way!" declare my powder plows.

Well, it turns out that there are two species of animals that smell delicious and really attract Max & Zorro's noses.... Moose and Porcupines!!! I thought we were completely safe going off trail as I would have been able to see a moose in the shallow trees. But, as Max & Zorro approached a cluster of trees I suddenly spotted a porcupine moving in the snow. Yikes!!! Plant my butt on the ground and start to reel Max & Zorro back towards me!

"Bingo - we see that tasty smelling porcupine!" declare my hunting pair.
The porcupine is not really visible, but I just followed Max & Zorro's stare and saw it moving
and getting ready for any prey that might come too close. Yikes.

Sprinting and hunting is quite a workout - time to cool off at our turnaround point of the day:

"Aaahhh, rolling snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates Zorro.
"DUNK! Cooling my head!" shows head dunking Max.

A fast day on speedy trails with a deep powder porcupine tour added in for fun: 9.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 76 days on the trails covering 614.7 miles with 65,900 feet of elevation climbed.