For Max

All smiles as we complete beautiful 7.7 mile skijor on June 12th!!!

"Hi Mom!" flashes Rudy towards Nancy.
"What a beautiful mid June morning!" exclaims happy Zorro.
"I'm all smiles too!!!!" adds happy Jack just barely visible to Zorro's right :)

This morning was our first skijor on Buffalo Pass since Max's last skijor outing on Oct 9, 2017. Buffalo Pass is always one of the top 3 places in Colorado for depth of snowpack and, thus, snow lasting into June. It is a far drive to get to the trailheads; but this was a goto place for Max, Zorro and I for years to finish out the skijoring season in June. Since losing Max, we had baby Jack and then baby Rudy so we did not make the effort to get to Buffalo Pass last season (Rudy was too young to run and Jack was too young to go more than a couple miles). Today, though, we returned to Buffalo Pass with mature Zorro, Jack & Rudy and took a moment to sprinkle some of Max's ashes along the way. A fun new trail for Jack & Rudy and a bittersweet June outing for Zorro and I.

Upper right are Max's ashes coming out of my hand.
"Max, Max - we spread Max!" says Zorro watching the ashes spread.
"Smells like he was a COOL dude!" states happy Jack.
"Wish we still had that legend with us!' adds Rudy.

The snowpack on Buffalo Pass is near historic levels this June. Only once in the past decade has the SNOTEL atop the pass been reporting deeper snowpack that this morning. Just check out these incredible mid June conditions:

Almost a mid June hover husky as Zorro's right front toenail is barely touching the trail :)

Come along for a glimpse of the mid June treat. You might notice the video is quite bouncy and you see my skis bouncing all over too. But, it was skijoring on June 12th - we'll take bumpy & bouncy snow over dirt any day!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The outing would not be complete without the turnaround antics from the children :)

"Aaaah, LOVE rolling snow angels!" demonstrates goofy Jack.
"Aaaahhh, me TOOOO!!!" adds rolling Rudy.
"Children, oh children, can we get upright and continue running please!" states Zorro.

Max, Zorro and I have skijored as late as June 12th before, but never with conditions as good as today. What a fun outing:

"Now that was fun! How about those 'end of run' treats?!?" says the focused trio.

A return to Buffalo Pass to honor dear Max: 7.7 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH. Miss You Max!

2018/2019 Season to Date: 132 days on the trails covering 775.3 miles with 72,000 feet of elevation climbed.