Wow!

Take a look at the following snowpack near the top of Buffalo Pass.

June or January? Hmmm... :)

All white as far as the eye can see with 5+ feet of snowpack all around us!

Every June I seem to have a blog entry that goes along the lines of this one:

All of our local and close to home trails have dried up leaving one to think our skijor season may be over. Yet, once this happens we pull out a few trips to Buffalo Pass in Northwest Colorado to close out the season. Buffalo Pass always has the deepest and longest lasting (into June) snowpack in the state. The only "gotcha" is that Buffalo Pass is a long drive, so we cannot go daily and need a few days off in between trips. But, after our first June trip to Buffalo Pass I always have a blog entitled, "Wow!"

The "wow" is always: "Wow, look at all the snow still on Buffalo Pass!!!!"

Well today was no exception as the conditions at Buffalo Pass proceeded to WOW us once again this year. Will we ever "get it" and say, "Ho hum, just another 5 feet of snowpack in early June on Buffalo Pass!" Ha, no!

Sprint tuck Zorro next to sprint stretching Max as we zip along endless snow in June.

Today's short video highlight shows the interesting conditions you find on snowpack in June. We get out early in the morning this time of year, so when there is shade the snow is packed & fast but where there is sun the snow is soft to slushy. So, we get this mix of shaded speed tracks with soft/slush tracks in between. Max & Zorro have learned to recognize and adapt to these conditions. Without word from me they will "floor it" in shade patches (because flooring it is so fun, of course) and they will back off to a trot/gallop in sun patches (think of running in sand - jogging is easier than sprinting).

Anyway, on to today's video: watch as Max & Zorro floor it through shade patches, back off in sun patches, floor it in shade, back off in sun, etc. etc. Such smart guys!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Nearing the top of Buffalo Pass and time to turnaround and head back down. Everybody ready to turn around...

"Okay, this has been so FUN!!!!" exclaims super happy Zorro.
"Turnaround, hmmm... maybe..." suggests Max.

Well, if we are going to turnaround and it is warm, you know what Max has to do first:

"Turnaround, okay. But wait, rolling snow angels to cool off first!" demonstrates silly Max.
"Wait a second... now that I look at all the untouched snow in front of us... Why are we turning
around?" asks intense and ready to go all day Zorro.

A magical June day at Buffalo Pass that just makes you say WOW: 8.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 170 days on the trails covering 1414.1 miles with 149,800 feet of elevation climbed.