Powder Aerobics

Happy faces and tight cornering by Zorro & Jack as we complete the first leg of this morning's powder skijor. Yay for April Powder!

Beautiful, synchronized cornering by Zorro & Jack as we round the last left in
the trail to complete Zorro's leg of the outing.
"Outside lane" Rudy is just having a ball - no need for tight cornering
from the outside lane :)

We got a nice deposit of new snow overnight. A real powder treat for mid-April. We started the day with the full pack (Zorro, Jack & Rudy) and were laying fresh tracks in 3-4 inches of new snow for the first leg of the outing. 4-5 inches of powder is about Zorro's limit now that he is 11-3/4 years old, much deeper than that and it is too much for his age. But, as you see above, he was all smiles on his stretch of 3-4 inches! Fun shot of the powder trio from early on in the outing:

Zorro kicking up powder!!! Jack too!
Rudy floating atop the morning's fresh snow :)

We did a loop through the forest with Zorro the 3-4 inches of powder and then dropped him off with Nancy to complete his leg of the outing.

For the next leg of the outing, the kids, Jack & Rudy, took me up high into deeper and deeper powder. We went from laying fresh tracks in 3-4 inches with Zorro to breaking trail in 8+ (maybe 10+) inches of powder up high!

Nice snot of the powder twins with a nice snow trough
visible behind Jack!

Of course, the kids are also known for their daily entertainment antics. We did have the usual snow angels from both at our turnaround point. But, they added an additional comedy routine at one point along the trail. I have commented in previous entries how Jack & Rudy have both refined their wildlife radar to act differently for moose versus "every other form of wildlife". While veteran Zorro will ignore everything but moose; young Jack & Rudy just have different intensity for moose versus other. At 2 years old, they both still get distracted by silly little rodents, just not with the intensity they would have with a moose. Here we go for the silly kids pausing to stare up the tree at a set of squirrels!

"We'd be WAY more intense for moose; but we are still young and
fall for squirrel distractions!" demonstrates the silly kids.

Ok, done with the rodent comedy, time to get back in the powder. Can you say, "Kicking up Powder?" Whee!

Beautiful shot of the kids doing extreme powder aerobics as
they plow along the trail!

Today's video highlight is, of course, Powder Aerobics. Come along for an impressive glimpse of the youngster towing me along through the morning's fresh powder. What an aerobic treat!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead for 'end of run' treats for all three hard working powder hounds. Look at mature Rudy - he is really getting the concept that "he is third" and waits happily and patiently for his turn! Mature & patient attributed to Rudy in one sentence? Never thought I'd write that!!!!!

"Me first!" says focused Zorro.
"Me next!" adds closely onlooking Jack.
"I know, I know, me third!' says patiently waiting happy Rudy!

A nice "shallow powder run" with elder Zorro followed by some serious deep powder aerobics for young Jack & Rudy: 8.1 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 145 days on the trails covering 995.1 miles with 90,500 feet of elevation climbed.