Great May

Closing out an incredible "May winter" with excellent snow pack to carry us into June!

"We have had SO much fun this month!!!" declares the happy & focused trio at the
end of our morning run.

How great was our May winter? Well, consider this - we had a very warm April and were wondering if we would really be skijoring into June as April ended. Then, Mayuary came and put our trails back into February or March like conditions. Take a look at the endless snowpack in the following photo from today, May 31st!

Sprinting along endless snowpack as far as the eye can see! What a May winter we had!

We got a later start to the outing than we prefer this time of year. The result, the trails started to really soften during our outing. The prior photo was near the start of the day and the crust looks (and was) very firm. But, now take a look at the softening conditions near our turnaround point of the morning:

A cluster of slush balls coming off Jack (visible in Zorro's shadow).
Lots of footprints & ski tracks in the softening snow.

Softer and softer the trail became until slush was flying off Zorro, Jack & Rudy and into the camera (and me)! All the white speckles you see in the blue sky and against the trees are slush balls flying off my partners' feet and into the camera. Attack of the slush bombs!

Speckles of slush all over the place :)

There is one good thing to do with soft snow - roll in it! Just ask Jack & Rudy:

"Aaahhh - rolling to get the soft, cold snow into our fur!" declares the silly pair.
"These two are such snow rolling goofs!" says Zorro.

Completing the day's outing and Rudy flashed a happy "Hi Mom!" to Nancy as we ran by to finish the day.

"Hi Mom - what a fun day!" flashes Rudy to Nancy.
"Still going!!!!" say happy & forward looking Zorro & Jack.

You could not ask for a better May 31st that we had today atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Snowpack as far as the eye can see with a perfect crust to start the day but quickly softening snow to complete the day: 6.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

Come back tomorrow as we will get out early to celebrate Zorro's 11th birthday on the great snowpack!

2018/2019 Season to Date: 126 days on the trails covering 735.3 miles with 68,800 feet of elevation climbed.