Boreas Summit

 Beautiful bluebird morning skijor Boreas Pass at & above treeline!

Cruising the trail above treeline with awesome views on  a
beautiful bluebird morning!

We returned to Boreas Pass once again this morning knowing the trail would still be in excellent condition as it was very cold all day yesterday and we had some light new snow later in the day. While we were still below treeline, we found some elk tracks to energize Jack & Rudy towing me up the pass (as if they need extra energy :)

I thought this shot would be more clear. Oh well, there ARE elk
tracks going up the trail in front of Jack & Rudy. Add a little elk
juice to the skijor engine and it's extra ZOOM :)

How did we know they were elk tracks? Well, eventually the tracks left the trail and we were able to inspect them very closely:

"Yep - elk tracks and they left the trail RIGHT HERE!" declare
the track inspecting hunters 

While the elk tracks were great entertainment, the highlight of the day was reaching the summit of Boreas Pass. This was Rudy's first ever skijor to the top of Boreas! It was only Jack's second as he did it with Zorro 2 years ago before Rudy was old enough to come along. What to do at the top of the pass? Well, frolic around the pass marker. The summit of Boreas Pass is on the Continental Divide; so cool that snow on the left of the sign flows to the Pacific Ocean while snow on the right flows to the Atlantic:

"Yum, the Atlantic snow tastes good!" says snow rolling & eating Rudy.
"Back feet in the Pacific, front feet in the Atlantic!" demonstrates talented Jack.

We turned around from the summit sign to get ready to skijor back down and Jack snapped to attention. I followed his gaze to discover a moose standing in the distant clearing in front of us! He was clear as day to Jack and I (we could even make out the antler basket). Rudy's nose was going as he clearly smelled moose in the vicinity. But, young Rudy's "moose direction" skills still need improvement. Jack is laser focused on the direction of moose as soon as he picks up the scent:

The red arrow shows the moose, or just follow Jack's gaze!
"Where, where? I smell it; but where???" says amateur Rudy.

Rudy eventually followed Jack's lead and saw the moose in the clearing too (I was trying to get my phone out to take a zoomed pic, so my arms were blocking the video). Once Rudy saw him, he let out one of his moose screams and the moose took off into the cover of trees.

Done playing around at the summit and time to head back down. Here we go for a fun "skijor minute" as we begin our descent from the Boreas Pass Summit:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to meet up with Zorro and Nancy to end the outing. You might wonder if Zorro is enjoying his new life in retirement. Well, what do you think:

"Yea, retirement is FUN!" says super happy Zorro.

Done rejoicing with Zorro and time for the 'end of run' treats:

"Ready!!!!" exclaims the super focused trio.

A glorious morning for young Rudy's first trip to the Boreas Pass Summit: 8.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 28.5 miles with 2700 feet of elevation climbed.

Pray for Snow!