Deteriorating

If it is "snow in late May" we'll take it, right guys?

"You bet! We are having a BLAST!" declares the happy kids

We returned to Harrison Creek at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning. We did this trail 4 days ago and the conditions from then to now were deteriorated. We chose this route because it gets to upper elevation terrain quickly which is usually less melted than down low. But, at our highest point of the morning, quite a bit of shrubbery was breaking through the snow!

Still enough snow on the trail to go; but the view from here 4 days ago was
all white versus shrubbery coming  through on the shoulders today.

Getting to the upper elevation was also quite a challenge at first. We had many "barely enough snow to go" narrow sections of trail:

Just enough snow for me to keep going on skis.

Then, we had a lot of this ugliness! 

Yikes, how to proceed?!?!? 
I'm actually able to keep my skis on and step slowly across the dirt.
Jack & Rudy know to go slow until we are all back on snow. Good boys!

Now, a nice "nearing end of season" skijor clip of talented Jack & Rudy. Come along as we start the clip proceeding cautiously due to lots of exposed ground and narrow snow cover. But, as soon as the exposed ground disappears, Jack & Rudy kick it into overdrive as the conditions are now safe to GO. All of this without a single verbal command from me, just great understanding of the conditions from the smart kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The conditions were still nice up high despite a lot of ground starting to show on the shoulders. But conditions are really deteriorating on the way up and then back down the lower terrain.

Still good snow on our favorite upper elevation ridge line.

Of course, any snow is good snow for rolling snow angels...

Rub a dub dub!

Finally,  we were even able to find a small snow wall at the trailhead to climb for end of run treats:

"Yay, we found a mini wall to climb!" says the happy kids.

A short outing due to deteriorating conditions and rising temperatures, but it was still skijoring in late May: 5.8 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 163 days on the trails covering 1430.0 miles with 129,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Was today our finale? I think (hope) not, but we have very few outings left. Stay tuned...