Success

Happy boys at one of our "trail junctions" this morning!

"I'm having a blast!" declares ecstatic Zorro.
"Me too! Can we go this way?!?" adds happy Jack.

We took a calculated risk this morning and boy did it pay off. The risk? Well, deciding to try and skijor the French Gulch Trail. Why a risk? Well, some rude people have moved into the gulch the last few years and they PLOW the trail when it snows too much. Ugh! The "calculated risk"? Well, it has been snowing on & off the past few days but never a heavy & deep dump. I figured the gulch should be driven but not plowed. It has to cost these rude people a fortune to plow the entire trail (the county will not do it for them, they are footing the bill themselves). So, with a few days of light fresh snow, why would you waste money on plowing when you can drive it with a capable 4WD vehicle?

What did we find? Success!!!! Just as I hoped, the lower sections of French Gulch had been driven but not plowed. Nothing wrong with that as tire tracks simply make a packed & almost groomed trail for Zorro and Jack. See for yourself below:

"This is a 'groomie zoomie' to me!" says Zorro sprinting in the tire track.
"Middle powder for me!!! Wheeee!' demonstrates fun Jack ignoring the tracks and
having fun running the powder between the tracks.

In fact, the condition of the gulch far exceeded all of our expectations. We got to skijor the full range of conditions. First was the "fast packed" lower terrain you see in the prior photo.

Second was a narrow single track in the mid gulch (once you got past the rude people's cabin):

Running in a set single track barely 2 sled dogs wide. You've gotta like your brother to
run shoulder-to-shoulder this narrow :)

Third was out-skiing all existing tracks and finding ourselves breaking trail in 12+ inches of powder in the upper gulch! Wow!

No humans have made it this far - sled dogs making the trail :)

Fourth was taking a detour off French Gulch to flirt with tourists on the Sally Barber Trail. Young Jack is still learning the "on by" concept with people & dogs; but he is really "getting it":

"Just follow my lead." demonstrates all business Zorro.
"Hi folks! Are you having as much fun as me?!?" asks fun Jack as he trots by.
As usual, all smiles from the tourists seeing the crazy guy getting towed by sled
dogs on skis!

For today's video highlight - back to the "calculated risk success". Come along as we skijor tire tracks and shallow middle & side powder in French Gulch. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I was hoping to get a 10+ mile outing with the big boys. But, we were happily slowed by narrow single tracks and breaking trail in the mid and upper gulch: 9.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 122.5 miles with 11,000 feet of elevation climbed.