Warm

Still going on the Spring Crust at Vail Pass in May! Yay!

Fun shot of the fast running kids on an awesome stretch of spring crust.

It was unseasonably warm at Vail Pass this morning with temperatures right at freezing when we started the outing and rising as we went along. Of course, warm temperatures gets comical antics from the silly kids:

"So hot, must roll snow angels to cool off!" declares rolling Rudy.
"No, must roll snow angels AND eat snow cones!" adds goofy Jack :)

Unfortunately, the warm temperatures also had a negative effect. When we started the outing, the crust was firm and solid enough to support us. But, I did not think the crust was going to remain firm for long. So, I turned us around sooner that we typically do on runs at Vail Pass to get back while it was still firm. Well, it turns out I was too late. About 1/2 way back to the trailhead and Jack & Rudy started punching through the crust if running fast. So, I had to slow them to a gentle trot for the remaining of the outing so they would not punch deep into the snow from the force of running fast. The smart kids understood immediately why I slowed them down and they remained in a gentle trot the rest of the way.

Slowed to a gentle trot as you see footprints breaking through the crust
behind Jack & Rudy. At a gentle trot, they only left shallow prints in the
crust; but if we sped up, they would punch through deep.

But, as you see in the first photo above and one below, we did have a lot of fun on a firm crust before the last 25% of the outing. Wheeee!

Catching air going fast while the crust was still firm!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo - a crust just barely firm enough to open up the skijoring throttle. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead a little behind schedule due to slowing down; but all outings earn end of run treats regardless of conditions and circumstances :)

"It was still toes on snow in May so we loved it!" declares the happy kids.

A quick outing racing the rising temperatures on Vail Pass this morning: 6.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 148 days on the trails covering 1308.5 miles with 119,800 feet of elevation climbed.