He's Back

A beautiful Rodent Dive from Rudy this morning (with a nice Rodent Dunk from Jack too :)

"Dunk, where are the rodents?!?" asks rodent dunking Jack.
"INCOMING! Diving for rodents!" demonstrates Rudy with a beautiful swan dive off trail.

I was thinking to myself the other day that we have not had a good rodent dive from Rudy in quite a while. He had patented these as his signature antic for a while in the middle of this season. But then he stopped for a while. Maybe it was that the snow was too deep for a while for him or Jack to sense rodents under the snow? Well, with melting snowpack in April.... He's Back!!!! Rodent Diving Rudy was back to his signature form this morning :)

We started the day with the full team, Zorro, Jack & Rudy and did an out & back on the busy side of the Sally Barber Mine Trail. There was lots of fresh snow from overnight snowfall but also a handful of existing tracks as we were on the popular side of the trail:

Zipping along in the fresh snow with just a few tracks out before us.

We went partway up the trail towards the mine before turning around to give Zorro a shorter outing this morning before taking the kids out for more. Time to turnaround and all smiles:

"Having a BLAST!" exclaims the happy kids.
"Yes, yes, but let's get going, I'm on a short outing today!" says happy but
ready to restart Zorro :)

After our short out & back to start with Zorro, we dropped him off with Nancy and then the kids, Jack & Rudy, and I went back out & up to the mine. Nice shot of the Sally Barber Mine (to me, at least :)

The historic Sally Barber Mine.
"Whatever, let's go down the other side!" says the less than interested kids.

Ok, and down we went. After coming up the busy side of the mine trail, the kids & I went down the less popular, backside of the mine. We found ourselves laying fresh tracks in 3+ inches of powder the entire way! Woo Hoo!

Fresh tracks for the kids - wheeee!

Today's video highlight showcases great teamwork once again. We are on the backside of the mine trail and approaching a rise in the trail. I cannot see over the rise until we get atop it. So, watch as my perfect pals are trotting gently while towing me until we get over the rise. Why the cautious approach? Well, here's short list of things we've encountered on the other side of this rise in the past: moose, loose dogs, groups of (trail wide) people, groups of kids sledding across the trail. You do not want to be flying over the rise and encounter any of these obstacles! But, once atop the rise, I see all is clear and give the kids the release to "GO" and off we GO!!!! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Here's a fun set of contrasting photos to end today's venture.

First, look at how BIG Rudy looks in the following photo. He looks like a MONSTER compared to Zorro and Jack. Rudy is bigger than both, but not this much bigger :)

Zorro & Jack low to the ground with Rudy off the ground making him
look like a monster compared to Zorro & Jack :)
Also, notice the flapping "Jordan like" tongue from Rudy. This, along with
rodent dives, are his two patented traits :)

Ok, from MONSTER Rudy to cute little Rudy. Look how SMALL he looks in the following shot from our 'end of run' treats get together. BIG Rudy and SMALL Rudy all in one outing!

Cute little, bitty Rudy awaiting his turn for end of run treats.

A nice out & back with Zorro and then a fun up, over and fresh tracks down with just Jack & Rudy: 6.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 149 days on the trails covering 1020.4 miles with 92,600 feet of elevation climbed.