Back to Back

Yesterday morning was young Jack's first "back to back" skijor (going out 2 days in a row).

He had a blast; there's no slowing him down :)

Zorro and Jack "catching air" as we cruise along the Walton Peak ridgeline at
Rabbit Ears Pass

So, Jack, your first "back to back" outing, what are your thoughts on the day?

"Loving it!!!!" declares happy Jack at one of our 2 short breaks.
"He's really coming along nicely!" adds happy Zorro.

I love watching young Jack learn and mature into a professional sled dog. It helps that Zorro is a very good & experienced teacher, too. Below is a nice photo showing the developing maturity. If the conditions are good (or better), the sled dogs like to get into running synchronized. But, when the conditions are suspect, it is better to run such that one is out-stretched when the other is in a sprint tuck as this helps balance the skijoring engine on less than perfect terrain (think of a 4WD car with the tires operating independently on uneven ground). While today's trail had plenty of snow, the terrain was very bumpy. Bumpy terrain is just the conditions where you'd want to run "out of sync" to balance out the skijoring vehicle. Here is a great shot of Zorro and Jack adjusting like a perfect 4WD:

Out-stretched Zorro beside sprint-tucked Jack as you see them adjusting perfectly to
extremely bumpy conditions. Nice!

Today's video highlight will give you a feel for the bumpy and often slick terrain. If your volume is up, you can hear my skis scraping as I try to keep things under control as we "bounce and go" along the bumpy trail. But, hey, it is skijoring in mid May, so we'll take these conditions any day :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

First of our two breaks and it is the now patented "stop, drop and roll" from silly Jack:

"He's coming along nicely, but still such a goof!" declares happy Zorro.
"Stopped, so starting my drop... soon to roll!" demonstrates silly Jack.

I did not get a good photo of Jack's actual snow angel at the first break (the reason the previous photo only shows his "drop") as my knee and Zorro were in front of the camera. So, polite Jack obliged by giving us a clearer stop/drop/roll at the 2nd break:

"How's this! Can you see me now?!?" demonstrates silly snow rolling Jack.
Nice leg extension :)

End of the morning's run and time to gather puppy Rudy and get our end of run treats. Only Zorro remembered the protocol...

"Hi mom! I'm ready for my end of run treats!" says Zorro looking back at the camera as he is
in the right position to get his treats!
"Yum, snowcones!!!!" demonstrates silly snow eating Jack who seems to have forgotten
about the end of run treats protocol.
"How about a gnaw on your hand instead of treats?" says silly Rudy deciding that I am
a chew toy as he forgets about the end of run treats protocol too.
Silly Puppies... Smart Zorro!

A perfect day on young Jack's first back-to-back skijor: 3.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 16 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 53 days on the trails covering 335.3 miles with 32,550 feet of elevation climbed.

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