Poke

Very focused and very happy trio waiting for their 'end of run' treats this morning:

"We had a blast; but you now have our FULL attention!" says the happy & focused trio :)

We skijored the upper trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. It was a surprisingly interesting terrain for this time of year. We found the middle of the trail to be pretty soft while the sides were quite firm. There were post holes from previous dogs on the trail down the middle and Zorro, Jack & Rudy found they were poking through too if they ran the middle. Not a problem, though, my smart partners quickly figured out to avoid the middle and run the sides. But, not all three could fit on the same side without the inside guy drifting into the soft middle. Again, not a problem, the smart fellas simply separated and Zorro ran one solid side while Jack & Rudy ran the other solid side. I, on the other hand, could ride the middle as you don't post hole on skis. A perfect configuration with the sled dogs on the firm sides and the skis down the soft middle!

You can see some of the pre-existing post holes down the center. Smart Zorro moved to the left and
smart Jack & Rudy moved to the right. All paws now on firm terrain with me skiing down the middle.

I believe the soft center was caused by a few factors. First, we had a TON of snow recently. Second, the nordic center groomer has only made 1 or 2 passes on the upper trails since the recent snow. Third, few people make it to these upper trails (it's a long haul without dog power). So, lots of snow and little use (groomer or skier) made for the soft center. Note that the firm sides mirror what would be the heavy treads of the groomer machine.

Another shot, this time in the shade showing the soft middle:

Same as above - Zorro on the firm left, Jack & Rudy on the firm right, me skiing down
the middle and a bunch of pre-existing post holes from some "not as smart" dogs
that ran the trail before us.

In addition to interesting upper elevation terrain, the comedian kids were in rare form this morning.

At one quick pause on the trail and here comes the rodent "dunk & dive" twins:

"DUNK!" demonstrates Jack.
"Incoming - DIVE!" demonstrates swan diving Rudy.
"Kids, it was just a quick pause, let's go!" adds mature Zorro.

At our turnaround point of the morning, it was the usual "stop, drop and roll" twins:

"Ah - stop, drop & roll!" demonstrates the goofball twins.
"You two! I give up!" adds Zorro :)

We started this season with the comedians rolling snow angels at every pause. Then they added "dunk & dive" to their repertoire recently. Well, today, Jack the consummate clown expanded the comedy act. The new antic? Poke the brother:

"Hehe - POKE - you know you are laughing!" says Jack the clown to Zorro.
"Oh, 'poke', I like that addition!" adds onlooking Rudy.

We'll see if Jack keeps the "brother poke" as a regular addition to the comedy act or if it just an occasional addition :)

Anyway, back to skijoring... The lower part of the trail was stable from side to side as it gets a lot of use. Thus, proving my theory that the lack of traffic on the upper trail was the reason for the soft center today. Come along for fun along the lower solid trail; but note that everyone is keeping the "configuration of the day" (Zorro left, Jack & Rudy right) just in case it gets soft in the center.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

An interesting day showcasing smart trail configurations by Zorro, Jack & Rudy and a day of extra comedy from the silly kids Jack & Rudy: 6.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 298.8 miles with 29,400 feet of elevation climbed.