Solo

What did Jack & Rudy think of this morning's unusual start to our skijor?

"Different, so 'llI roll snow angels before we start!" declares goofy Jack.
"Woo, this is different so WOOO!" adds wooing Rudy.

What was unusual about the start? Well, every musher has a handler (or two) to help them at the start and end of any run with sled dogs. The handler helps keep sled dogs "at bay" while the musher gets his/her equipment ready. Nancy is our designated handler as she keeps Jack & Rudy at the start (and end) while I organize my gear. But, today Nancy could not come along as we had a monster tree catastrophe in our backyard during the recent winds and she needed to stay behind to meet with the tree removal crew this morning. So, I was solo, on my own, today taking Jack & Rudy skijoring. As you see above, Jack had no problem entertaining himself while I got my equipment ready. Rudy, on the other hand, must woo when anything is "different than usual" - silly kid.

Today's skijor took us to fun & steep Baldy Mountain. We have had daily snow (some days 4 inches and some days 16 inches) for about the past week. So, there is suddenly plenty of snow to skijor Baldy. Yay!

Zipping along the main trail on Baldy behind the fast kids!

As always, we leave the main trail a few times along the way to look for untouched powder caches on the various side trails. Well, look at the powder cache we found on one such side trail this morning. Here's what is even more astonishing: this is the same trail we found untouched just two days ago and skijored it to set fresh tracks. Looking at this photo, you would have no idea this trail had been run by two sled dogs and one skier just 48 hours ago!

POW, POW Powder - did we really break this trail just two days ago?!?! Wow!

Back to the main trail on Baldy and come along for this morning's video highlight. We are FLYING down one of the steepest stretches of this trail on Baldy. As a result, you see the carabiner at my end of the gangline and a lot of my skis throughout the video. Why is this? Well, I am in a seriously tight ski tuck to stay upright and keep pace with fast running Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Next, on to one of our favorite activities on Baldy - entertaining the oncoming skiers we frequently encounter. 

"Hi! Bye! Made you smile!" says Jack & Rudy flying by this oncoming skier.

Finally, back to the Jeep for end of run treats and Rudy cracks me up in this photo. For reference, Jack, Zorro and I had skijored without Nancy 2 or 3 times back when Jack was starting out whereas this was Rudy's first ever skijor with no handler accompanying us. When I am by myself, I load my partners in the Jeep before handing out end of run treats as opposed to dishing them out in the snow when I have Nancy's help. Well, Rudy thought this was a very odd way to get end of run treats :)

"Why are we in the Jeep? Where's mom? What's going on?" asks perplexed Rudy.
"I accept end of run treats from ANY location!" adds 'been there, done this' Jack.

A nice Baldy run with an unusual start/end configuration for Rudy to take in: 7.4 miles traveled with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 63 days on the trails covering 528.3 miles with 51,800 feet of elevation climbed.