Risk/Reward

Rolling Snow Angels was the "comedy of the day" on yesterday's skijor outing :)

Silly Zorro rolling to cool off as he also has his head and face doused in fresh powder :)
Notice the ski tracks through deep snow to our left - this is the trail Zorro carved for
me to follow deep in French Gulch. No wonder he needed to cool off!

It was a risk/reward day on the trails yesterday morning...

The risk? Well, lower French Gulch has suddenly become over-plowed this season. We had 15 inches of fresh snow the last 48 hours yet the lower trail had only a thin 1/4 to 1/2 inch of snow over frozen dirt. Argh - hate the city folks who have decided to destroy French Gulch this year!

Yikes, this is "risky skijoring" as my skis could catch a rock or dirt patch any second!

Why endure the risk? Well, the reward is the beauty of upper French Gulch and its miles of deep snow and scenic terrain.

Such a beautiful shot of Zorro towing me along the single track trail while a glorious
bluebird morning develops around us!

In addition to the great snow in upper French Gulch, the other reward is getting onto some of the deep snow side trails from the risky lower trail.

Come along and watch as Zorro and I skijor the narrow single track trail of Little French Gulch. Backcountry skijoring at its best! I love the end of the video as we approach the drop from the backcountry onto the lower main trail. Zorro automagically slows to a slow trot/walk as we approach the dropoff (without a word needed from me). He keeps the slow pace until he hears my soft "OK" letting him know it is ok to take the drop and restart preferred speeds. You have to have your volume up real high to have any chance of hearing my soft "OK" - but this was all Zorro needed. He knows unsafe trail conditions and will slow (without command) until hearing my release. Such a good skijor partner!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Rounding out the day as we picked up little Jack for a short wind sprint to finish the outing. Jack says, "Whew - what a wind sprint! I hear rolling snow angels to cool off is the theme of the day!"

"Chomp, chomp - eating snowcones is in order too!" says Zorro as you can just make out a
mouthful of snow he is chomping down on.
"Rub a dub dub, aaahhhh!" says silly puppy Jack.

Risky skijoring down low; but worth it to get to the incredible terrain up high and off to the sides: 7.3 miles traveled with 850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 32 days on the trails covering 235.1 miles with 20,300 feet of elevation climbed.

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