Snowpack

Gorgeous bluebird morning to skijor the trails atop Rabbit Ears Pass.

Nice wide snowmobile trail to cruise along behind Jack & Rudy.
Nice shot of the ears (rock formation) atop Rabbit Ears Peak for which
the pass is named in the upper left of this photo.

The snowpack is really starting to come together for the season at Rabbit Ears. We started the day from a popular trailhead and, thus, you see all the snowmobile activity in the prior photo. But, after a few miles and the tracks started thinning out. Eventually we found this single track to follow along the Old Columbine Trail. 

Cruising along and catching air.

Come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. Such a peaceful morning to follow this track for miles and miles!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Only one thing can pull Jack & Rudy off trail from such perfect conditions. Yep, you guessed - moose tracks!

"Sniff, sniff, moose went this way!" declares track inspecting Jack.
"Sniff, sniff, no I think he went this direction!" adds inspector Rudy.

Aside from the fresh smelling moose tracks, the other highlight of the morning was the developing snowpack enabling wandering off trail. Before today, all skijors we've done at Rabbit Ears has been on snow covered but established summer roads at the pass. But, once there is over a foot of snowpack, it is allowed (and safe) for snowmobiles to drift off trail. While Jack & Rudy are perfectly happy to break trail on their own, it is also fun to find a solo snowmobile track going off trail and wandering through the endless meadows. See for yourself:

Cruising along in a soft, solo snowmobile track going off trail. Wheeee!

We conclude the day with a great shot of happy & impressive Jack & Rudy towing me to the finish of the day's outing.

Happy kids towing me along - wheeee!

A beautiful morning for a mix of on and off trail skijoring: 8.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 20 days on the trails covering 154.7 miles with 12,900 feet of elevation climbed.