Bumpy Fun

Jack & Rudy demonstrating how proficient they are at rolling snow angels in any (and all) snow conditions :)

What bumpy conditions! But look at talented Jack & Rudy rolling
snow angels while (both) eating snowcones as the same time. Talented!

While there was still a lot of snow on the ground near Walton Peak, the warmer than normal days the past couple of weeks has done some real damage on the smoothness of the snowpack. We started the day with just the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, once we saw just how bumpy the trail was at the start. It was so bumpy to start that we had to proceed at a gentle jog!

Toes on Snow! But what BUMPY snow as we move along
the bouncy trail in a gentle jog.

As we went further (and up), the trail got less bumpy but there were still plenty of other obstacles to navigate on by!

Smart kids moving "over the left" to pass this water obstacle.
Smart kids knowing the "faster you go, the quicker you pass the obstacle" too!

Now, the following may not look different; but believe me, it was. Compare the first photo with the following - can you see it is much less bumpy in the following versus the prior? Well, despite lots of bumpiness to the right and left, we are actually on a much smoother snowmobile trail that is not quite as bumpy as it had been packed daily for the entire winter.

Not as bumpy, so the kids open up the throttle. Zoom!

Come along for the video counter part of the prior photo. Yes, it is still somewhat bumpy, but two things: (1) it is smooth enough to uncork the skijoring engine; and (2) regardless of bumpiness, it's toes on snow on May 21st! Yay!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After a fun, albeit very bumpy, out & back with Jack & Rudy, we joined up with Zorro for a mini finish with the elder gentleman. There was a nice stretch near the trailhead that was not "as bumpy", so we headed there for our run to the finish with Zorro. Well, Zorro was ANYTHING but the "elder gentleman" once he joined today! Once we had the threesome connected, I tried to release us for the mini finish BUT Zorro lunged forward so hard (before I released them) that he pulled me over. Yes, 10 days from 12 years old Zorro was TOO much! That's nice to say, but painful to experience :)

Oh, and look who was concerned about my safety. Perfect Rudy!!!!!

"Whoa dad - what a spill! You ok?" asks perfect Rudy.
"Get up, let's go!" says happy Zorro the MONSTER.
"I'm with Zorro, let's GO!" adds happy, but wanting to go, Jack.

Despite the lunging forward by MONSTER Zorro, I did finally get up and make it to the trailhead in one piece. Time for 'end of run' treats but first a moment to remind Zorro about skijor politeness and not killing the human:

Having a private word with Zorro :)
"Waiting my turn!" says patient Jack.
"If only you had 3 Rudys, you'd be in perfect shape!" adds mellow Rudy.
Hahaha, mellow Rudy, who thought I'd ever say that?!?

A bumpy, but still fun toes on snow, morning with Jack & Rudy and then a MONSTER Zorro pulling the human over multiple times before finishing the day's run: 6.6 miles traveled with 550 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 172 days on the trails covering 1175.8 miles with 108,000 feet of elevation climbed.