Rudy Birthday

Rudy turned 4 years old today. Come along for his birthday skijor celebration!

"I'm the happiest 4 year old around!" declares happy, happy Rudy.
"I'm the silliest 4 year old around!' demonstrates snow rolling Jack
(who is also 4, but 5 months older than Rudy).

To celebrate Rudy's birthday, we went skijoring on the trails in Swan Valley that are also used by the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. Rudy (and Jack) love skijoring around the trails with all the other teams. It was quite a fun celebration for Rudy!

The first dog sled team we encountered was crossing the trail in front of us but quite a bit ahead of us. We paused to watch and let them pass.

"Hi guys!!!!" says focused Jack & Rudy.
You can see 2 of the sled dogs ahead and to the right and you can
barely make out the musher (wearing black) and sled in the upper
center of this shot.

Then, coming around a corner and we encountered another team crossing in front of us, but a little closer this time. 

"Hey dudes! Can we join?!?" asks Jack & Rudy watching the team cross.
There are 8 dogs on this team although 4 are already behind the snow wall
to our left. Love the sled dog in the back who is looking directly at us as
he goes on by.

Finally, we got to execute one perfect pass on by a team coming at us on the same trail. I could tell by the behavior (i.e., panic) of the musher that this musher and/or team was not used to passing. So, I shortened the gangline on Jack & Rudy to a very short line before instructing them to pass on by. Unfortunately my arms & hands were blocking the GoPro on my chest as I shortened the line until the camera could see the two wheel dogs and sled of the team we passed perfectly.

"Hello friends! Passing through!" demonstrates perfect Jack & Rudy.

What fun, what fun :) But, ready for a little more fun? We always do a few laps around the trails before going to flirt with the dog sled teams. I like to have Jack & Rudy's initial burst out of their system before seeking out teams to flirt with. Today's warmup laps included topping 24 MPH on a super nice section of trail. Come along for the fast fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a birthday bash!

"Glad the kid had fun!" says mentor Zorro.
"Love celebrating Rudy's birthday!" exclaims Jack (his birthday is
in July, so never as fun as Rudy's :)
"All this for me? Gosh, I'm flattered!" adds cute Rudy.

A great celebration of Rudy: 8.1 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 47 days on the trails covering 369.7 miles with 35,200 feet of elevation climbed.