Team

Zorro and I are thrilled that young Jack has grown to the point that we are now a "2 dog skijor team" once again!!!

Nice form as Zorro and Jack are in a synchronized sprint tuck as we fly along the top
of Rabbit Ears Pass.

Yesterday morning was a HUGE milestone for young Jack. First off, we skijored for two miles - his longest outing of his young life! Second, he started the day with Zorro. To date, Zorro and I had been doing skijor runs before hooking up Jack to finish. We did this so that Zorro could get some exercise and be ready to "go easy" with Jack for the finish (i.e., we did not want Jack to be discouraged trying to keep up with a fresh and rested Zorro). But, we decided that yesterday was the day to see if Jack could start with the big boys. Well, SUCCESS!!! Jack did fantastic. He actually surprised Zorro and I a few times with his speed as we were expecting a gentle jog all outing but had to pick it up to keep with Jack's pace a few times! Zorro, of course, can still go faster than Jack; but he is so excited to have a skijor partner again that he has no problem slowing to Jack's pace to have a partner.

Come along for a short excerpt from yesterday morning's skijor atop Rabbit Ears Pass. So proud of Jack's performance and so proud of Zorro's metering himself to match Jack's pace. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Being Jack's longest outing, we stopped twice to take rest breaks before restarting. Here we are approaching the official Rabbit Ears Pass Marker as I call out "time to stop" to my team:

"Okey dokey! No real reason to stop, but we are happy to listen!" declare the happy
pair glancing back at me as we glide to a rest break.

Jack has the whole "rest break" figured out. If you are taking a break, you might as well roll snow angels to cool off :)

"Nice form, kid. You remind me of Max!" says onlooking Zorro.
"Rub a dub dub, need to cool my jets!" demonstrates silly Jack.

Speaking of Max... He was famous for his snow angels that he would typically to roll during any skijor break. Jack has certainly inherited that trait from Max. In honor of Max, we took a chance to sprinkle a few of his ashes atop Rabbit Ears Pass during our second rest break. Zorro kept a solemn watch on Max's ashes blowing in the wind while Jack gave me a beautiful happy smile:

"Miss you Max; but happy to have Jack!" says solemn Zorro.
"I wish I had known him as Zorro speaks to highly of Max!" says happy Jack.

Done with our break and back to the trails. Go Jack Go!

Once again, nice synchronized form from the sled dog pair!

How was your first big outing young Jack?

"Oh my, that was FUN!" declares ecstatic Jack.
"Nice, kid, VERY nice!" states approving Zorro.

We have reached our pinnacle of skijoring with Jack for this season. Starting with a fresh & rested Zorro and going 1.5 to 2 miles will be our pattern for the rest of this season. Zorro and I are happy to go these shorter distances if it means we are a skijor team again! Yay Jack!

2.1 miles traveled with 2 rest stops for young Jack. A top speed of 16 MPH and 300 feet of elevation climbed.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 314.3 miles with 28,800 feet of elevation climbed.

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