Practice

As usual, the happy sled dog trio towing me to the end of a fun "Spring Crust Run"!

Whee - fun, fun, fun!

We went back to the same general area as yesterday's skijor outing. The basic rules for the National Forest during the COVID-19 shutdowns are "If it's not busy/full of people, then it's open for use!" Well, you will note there is virtually no evidence of other human beings in any of the photos from yesterday or today. We have a few "hidden gems" we typically use to avoid weekend crowds and now we are using them to avoid humans altogether :)  Notice I have not given a trail name to where we have been the last two days and, NO, I'm not telling :)

We started the outing with Zorro in the team again this morning and did a short out & back in the forest before going to explore the spring crust in the open meadows. Well, "out & back" - oh  those kids:

"Hey, 'out & back' - you expected different at the turnaround?" says the snow rolling goofs.
"Oh those kids!!!" adds Zorro checking in on the goofballs.

After a lap in the forest, we transitioned out into the vast meadows with a solid spring crust. Yesterday we were one Rudy foot shy of a triple hover husky (i.e., we had 11 of 12 feet off the ground). Well, back to the same meadow as yesterday and Practice Makes Perfect!!!

Synchronized Triple Hover Husky!
Wheeee!

Here we go for a BEAUTIFUL video of the perfect spring crust. We start out flying along the firm snow. All tracks you see in the crust are actually our own tracks from yesterday - complete social isolation for our social distancing on this terrain :)  Eventually we near the edge of the meadow and need to transition through some trees and into the next meadow. A quick "left" and then "right" from me to align the team and we transition through the trees perfectly! Once through the trees it is open meadow crust skijoring again until we meet up with Nancy at the end of the meadow. Perfect listening and execution from my partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Once meeting with Nancy we paused to drop elder Zorro before continuing on with young Jack and Rudy. How's everyone enjoying the morning?

"Oh my, I'm having a BLAST! I love skijoring!" says ecstatic Rudy.
"So much fun on my part of the outing!" adds happy Zorro.
"Yes, yes, but I need MORE!" says happy, but wanting to continue Jack.

Zorro came along for over 1/2 of yesterday's outing, so today he joined in for just the first 1/4 of the outing. After dropping the fun elder off with Nancy, Jack, Rudy & I went out and up high to get some additional distance and views. Here's a cool shot of the perfect crust as we head north:

Perfect crust for Jack & Rudy.
Nice view of Buffalo Mountain dead ahead of Rudy.
Peaks 1 & 2 of the 10 mile range are visible in the upper left.

The crust tour we were on above eventually ends at a steep drop off. Time to turnaround at the edge and look at the two upright & mature kids :) Also, a real nice view of Buffalo Mountain between Rudy's ears and Peak 1 directly above the end of Jack's tail and Peak 2 above the base of his tail. The "10 mile range" is a stretch of 10 miles with 10 different mountain peaks (Peaks 1 through 10). Pretty cool that 10 peaks naturally formed within a 10 mile span!

"We're UPRIGHT at a turnaround! Let's go, go, go!" says the happy pair.

We did turnaround and continue onward and upward. Eventually it was time to head back towards the trailhead and get a wonderful shot of Breckenridge Ski Resort:

Jack & Rudy cruising along the crust as the mountains and
ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort are in view across the valley.
The ski runs are on Peaks 10, 9, 8, 7, & 6 of the same 10 mile range
containing Peaks 1 & 2 above :)

Our original plan was to take Zorro along for a short stint at the beginning and then continue on with Jack & Rudy for a long, long run. But, I could feel the temperatures rising and feel the crust softening. As a result, the kids & I went out for a "long run" instead of a "long, long run" before it got too warm to stay afloat atop the crust: 7.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 140 days on the trails covering 955.6 miles with 87,000 feet of elevation climbed.