Low and High

Paused for some nice views high up with Jack & Rudy.

Well, I thought the views were nice :)

"Silly dad - you stop, we roll! Views Schmiews!!!" says the snow rolling twins.
Well, I thought the view was nice!

We got a light layer of new snow overnight (maybe a 1/2 inch or so at our deepest points). But, all new snow is welcome new snow! This time of year (warming/melting April & May), we find more and more trails becoming unusable as Spring wears on. Some trails melt, while some become soft and punchy, while others become sheets of ice. This morning we were on the trails on Peak 7 which constitute Breckenridge Nordic Center during the season. Well, the nordic center is closed, so the trails are in a state of deterioration in between snowstorms. These trails become extremely icy & slick down low and soft & punchy up high. But, every time we get even a dash of new snow, the trails come back to life for the next 5-10 hours. So, with snow overnight, it was back to the Peak 7 trails with my fun skijoring pals early this morning!

We started the day at lower elevations with Zorro, Jack & Rudy and did a fun loop through the forest with the trio. Nice shot of sync'd up Zorro & Rudy below with silly Jack drifting a bit right. What is Jack doing? Well, there were some wildlife tracks on the right of the trail and he got distracted to "hunt & run" in the tracks whereas Zorro & (mature!!!!!) Rudy declared the tracks either stale or uninteresting and floored it forward.

Zorro & Rudy the professionals!
Distracted Jack drifting right :)

You can just make out the footprints in the fresh snow behind the trio above.

After the "loop down low in the forest" with Zorro, we handed the cool elder off to Nancy and took young Jack & Rudy out and up higher for more distance and exercise. As the forest started to thin, we found ourselves in a pretty sunny morning laying fresh tracks on the trails up high:

Freshies up high for Jack & Rudy.
Look closely in the upper, far right of this photo and you see a snow covered peak.
This is one of Colorado's 54 mountain peaks over 14,000 feet high!
It is the top of Grey's Peak.

The kids and I did an out & back up high on Peak 7. The only tracks we saw all day were our "out tracks" on our way back:

Our "out tracks" to the left. Our "fresh tracks back" in front of us :)
Another nice view of the tall Rocky Mountains to the
upper left.

Come along for a fun combo video highlight for the day. We start with 20 seconds of the trio (Zorro, Jack & Rudy) winding through the dense forest down low. We conclude with 20 seconds of the kids (Jack & Rudy) flying along the open and gorgeous terrain up high. Fun down low, fun up high :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A great day to return to some "dead terrain" brought back to life with fresh snow!!!

"Oh, it was PERFECT!" declares the happy & focused trio at the end of the outing.

Cruising the trees down low with Zorro then taking in the views up high with Jack & Rudy: 7.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 144 days on the trails covering 987.0 miles with 89,700 feet of elevation climbed.