Rudy 8000

7 year old Rudy surpassed 8,000 career skijor miles yesterday morning! Impressive!

"And I've been singing for 8000 miles too!" adds proudly wooing Rudy.

Rudy's skijor career to date is the following: 1034 days on the trails covering 8000.3 miles with 742,100 feet of elevation climbed. Consider that most of this has happened since he was 1.5 years old and that is quite an impressive career he has strung together. For the curious, 5 month older Jack surpassed 8,000 career miles himself earlier this season.

Back to yesterday's outing. It was another fun tour around the top of Rabbit Ears Pass. But, the signs of summer are really starting to come through - boo!

There was lots of breakup in open meadows:

Yikes, the snow caving in to Jack's right with more exposed water
to Rudy's left.

There was lots of dirty snow in heavily wooded sections of trail:

Look at all that "tree debris" covering our otherwise beautiful white snow!

There were lots of narrow stretches with views of "no snow" at elevations below us.

Cruising along a narrow stretch with views of snow bare lower elevations
of Colorado to our right.

But, what did remain constant with the comedians was rolling snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point:

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Which deteriorating condition to feature in today's video highlight? How about gliding along behind Jack & Rudy in the tree debris covered snow amongst thick trees. Sure, it's not pretty snow, but it is toes on snow in mid-May, we'll take that any day!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another constant, along with rolling snow angels, was still finding snow walls to climb for end of run treats. Despite heavy melting, the kids can still find a wall to scale!

"If there is a snow wall, we'll find it and climb it!' declares the happy
kids getting up to my level for end of run treats.

Yesterday's tally: 9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed with a top speed of 22 MPH and passing 8,000 career skijor miles for impressive 7 year old Rudy. Yay!

2024/2025 Season to Date: 106 days on the trails covering 810.7 miles with 80,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Packed Leftovers

Look who was enjoying "toes on snow in mid-May!"

"We LOVE toes on snow!!!" exclaims the super happy kids thrilled
to still be on snow in mid-May.

We returned to Rabbit Ears Pass for another skijor this morning. We started the day by skijoring yesterday's surprise groomed trail. We just HAD to do this wonderful stretch again today!

The kids flying along yesterday's surprise groomed trail. Wheeee!

After flying along the 1.5 mile groomie, we changed our route from yesterday to follow leftover snowmobile trails towards Walton Peak. There is a network of "primary trails" on Rabbit Ears that get tons of snowmobile and snowcat traffic all winter long. These heavy machines really pack the snow. As a result, the leftover snowmobile trails remain skiable far into May even though conditions off trail are quickly deteriorating. Here's what I mean:

The fun kids catching air as you can make out the packed leftover trail in
front of us as compared to the choppy mess off the trail. Nice leftovers!

Now come along for the video example of what I am talking about. Watch as Jack, Rudy and I are having a blast skijoring the packed leftovers at the base of Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. What fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

This particular network of trails has one "guardian" to how far into May you can use them. There is a "snow bridge" crossing Walton Creek that is formed by snowmobiles and snowcats continually running over snow covered Walton Creek. There is no real bridge, just a bridge of packed snow. Once this bridge melts, there is no way to cross the creek and we have to abandon this route. We are happy to report that the packed snow bridge was still intact this morning!

You can see exposed Walton Creek to our left. Directly in front of us is
a bridge made out of packed snow allowing us to still skijor over the creek.
It's melting fast, but still intact this morning!

We did an "out & back" on the snowmobile leftovers. So, you know what that meant happened at turnaround time :)

Turnaround, roll around!!! You are pretty much guaranteed to get the
comedians rolling dual snow angels once we get into warm May days :)

Back to the trailhead and the kids found a mini snow wall to climb for end of run treats:

"We love snow walls! We LOVE snow!" says the happy kids awaiting
their end of run treats.

A wonderful mid-May skijor this morning: 9.6 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 105 days on the trails covering 801.7 miles with 79,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Surprise

Look at the surprise we came across atop Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

A recently groomed trail! Wow, what a WONDERFUL surprise!!!

These grooms are known to happen now and then on Rabbit Ears Pass in May; but it is not something announced or scheduled. You just show up and occasionally get this lucky! It is members of the US National Nordic Team that do (and use) these occasional, surprise grooms and Jack, Rudy & I LOVE to come across it!

Now come watch how the surprise groom unfolded in today's video highlight. We start this clip with us on a narrow, leftover corduroy between snowcat tracks. I was expecting this (the narrow between the cat tracks) once I saw it and that was just fine for Jack, Rudy & I. But, then watch as about 35 seconds into the clip and the snowcat turned and lowered its grooming blade. Well, Jack & Rudy know what to do with a recent and wide groomed trail. So, ZOOOOM we go. What fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The groom only lasted about 1.5 miles. But, that is ok, after zooming on the groom, we headed out towads Walton Peak on backcountry ski trails. Once we got to the base of the peak, I paused to assess whether we could abandon set trails and skijor the spring crust. Did I say pause? Yep...

"Stop, drop & roll!" goes the 'if you stop, we roll' sillies.

I did determine that the crust could hold our weight, so we set out so skijor across vast snow covered meadows. I realize it looks very bumpy in the prior photo; but that is because we were at the edge of the meadow. Once we got into the center of the meadow, it smoothed up a bit for some fun "no set trails" skijoring:

See, not as bumpy once we got into the open. Whee!

We then connected onto marked snowmobile trails to begin our return to the trailhead. This type of trail gets very packed by snowmobiles running all winter and, as a result, it was still in perfect condition especially for May! Yay!

The kids opening it up on packed snowmobile trails. Fun!

To complete the day, we got back on the surprise groom and sprinted across it in the reverse direction to arrive back at the trailhead.

The hover huskies catching air on the surprise groom!

What an enjoyable and great surprise today, right guys?

"Oh, I had a blast!" declares Jack who is laying down atop a nice snow wall.
"Yes, we love Rabbit Ears!" adds giddy Rudy.

A really nice outing for mid May: 9.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 104 days on the trails covering 792.1 miles with 78,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Fresh Snow Means We Go

Who is excited about fresh snow in May?!?

"Me! Me! MEEEE!" exclaims the super happy sled dogs.

We had some fresh snow last night and into this morning. It wasn't much (1-2 inches), but it was enough to get us back out on the trails. We decided to skijor Peak 7 once again as these are the highest elevation trails we can access easily. It was a wonderful morning for May. We were thrilled to be first on the snow laying fresh tracks on the way out:

Laying fresh tracks in May - Yay!

We went out and back on the highest elevation trail on Peak 7. An "out and back" means you turnaround at some point and, yes, the comedians were their usual selves at turnaround time :)

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling of
by rolling around at our turnaround point.

Once the snow angels were complete, it was time to head back. With a very wide trail, we were able to continue laying fresh tracks on the way back. Whee!

Still laying fresh tracks down the right/center of the trail with our out
tracks to the left. What fun in May!

Now come along for some video fun from the morning. It was really nice for long stretches at a time. What a May treat!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I would be lying if I said everything was as nice as the prior video and photo. The "signs of summer" are, unfortunately, starting to appear. But, I was able to keep my skis on the entire outing and that is pretty good for May!

Getting a little narrow along this stretch of trail; but still enough
snow for us to continue to go!

Unfortunately, all the snow walls have melted at this particular trailhead. So, I had to get down on my knees to hand out end of run treats. It's so much more fun when the kids can climb snow walls to get to my level; but end of run treats are happily accepted at all heights :)

"We'd prefer to be on a wall face to face; but we'll accept them here!" says the
happy kids awaiting their end of run treats.

A nice day laying fresh tracks in May on as much terrain as we could string together: 5.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 103 days on the trails covering 782.7 miles with 77,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Let's Dance

Fresh snow in May - Yay! Let's Dance!!!

Jack & Rudy doing a "fresh snow celebration" dance :)

Fresh snow in May is always such a treat! Today we found ourselves laying fresh tracks in 1-2 inches of fresh snow on the upper elevation trails on Peak 7. It was a beautiful May Day for a skijor!

Laying fresh tracks in May! Yay!

This time of year I prefer to do "out & back" skijor outings with the out direction being more up than down. This way, on the way up (going a little slower) I am able to see all the obstacles I'll need to avoid coming back down at much faster speeds. But, with the wide trail on Peak 7, we were able to lay fresh tracks both directions by hugging the right side of the trail on the way up and the flying in the center on the way down.

Freshies down the center of the trail with our "up tracks" to our left.
What a fun May Day!

Now come along for the video highlight of the day. I had so much fun video footage to choose from, I chose the following for the fun curves in the trail along the way. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The snow was a bit wet and heavy (as it usually is in May) and temperatures were right around freezing (maybe a little below to start the day and a little above to end), so I was expecting snow angels to cool off from the comedians at our turnaround point of the day. Yep...

"Turnaround, roll around! Need to cool our jets!" goes the snow
rolling sillies.

What a May Day treat, right guys?

"Yes, that was FUN!" declares the happy & focused fun kids.

A fresh tracks May Day covering 5.2 miles with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 102 days on the trails covering 777.5 miles with 76,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Yay Snow

Look at all the snowflakes (white speckles) in today's opening shot for our skijor outing!

Active snowfall in late April. Yay!!!!

We had a light dusting of snow overnight, so I decided to head out to the trails on Peak 7 with Jack & Rudy this morning. This time of year, the trails start to get very slick and beat up. But, all I need is a dusting of snow to make the conditions safe to ski again. I call this the "Safety Dust" and this morning's plan was to use the overnight safety dust to skijor Peak 7. But, much to our pleasure and surprise, it started snowing moments after we started the outing and continued all morning long. This added to the safety dust and made for an incredibly enjoyable outing. Let's try and showcase some more of the active snow:

All the white speckles you see against Jack & Rudy's fur and the trees
ahead and to our left are active snowflakes. Yay for Snow!

Ok, let's try another:

More white snowflake speckles on Jack & Rudy and more
speckles against the trees. Whee!

Ok, enough trying to capture active snow in a still photo. Let's get to the video highlight of the morning. Come along and watch as we have wonderful and quite active snowfall coming down on us as we skijor Peak 7. Yay for Snow!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our last two skijor outings the temperatures were above freezing, so we got the comedians rolling snow angels to cool off at any break point. Well, today was below freezing, so I knew Rudy was going to switch from rolling to singing. Jack, of course, ALWAYS rolls. Sure enough:

"Stop, drop and roll!" declares always rolling Jack.
"Woooo! I love snow!" belts singing Rudy.

Back to the trailhead and I think I was talking about the fun outing too much instead of handing out the end of run treats:

"You going to chat away or dish them out?!?" asks perplexed, head cocked Rudy.
"I can taste them in anticipation, come on!" adds slurping Jack.

A beautiful morning skijoring with a layer of safety dust and active snowfall: 5.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 101 days on the trails covering 772.3 miles with 75,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Leftovers

Catching air with the Rabbit Ears in view to our upper left, whee!

Fun Jack & Rudy catching air!
Nice view of the ears for which Rabbit Ears Pass is named in the upper left;
the two rocks atop the peak to our upper left are the ears of Rabbit Ears Pass.

Today's outing can be summarized by one phrase: Groomer Leftovers. Yesterday found us being first tracks on freshly groomed snowmobile trails at Rabbit Ears Pass. Today we were playing leftovers from yesterday's groom. Since it is late April, not a lot of traffic was out on the trails yesterday (go figure, some people apparently think it is springtime or something :) As a result, we were able to hug the shoulders of the trails most of the day to find some leftover groomer corduroy to enjoy today. 

In the photo above, we are on a really nice & wide strip of leftover corduroy on the left shoulder of the trail. In the photo below, the leftovers are much smaller, but still enough to safely let Jack & Rudy floor it!

Much narrower leftovers than the prior photo; but still enough for me on skis.

For some added fun to the outing, we veered away from the vast open meadows we usually stick to at Rabbit Ears in Spring and did an out & back on a lesser used snowmobile trail. But, it was the same theme as the rest of the day: hug the shoulders for groomer leftovers for my skis and let Jack & Rudy do their thing :)

Still enough leftovers for my skis on the right shoulder as Jack & Rudy
zoom down the middle.

Let's go back to the first photo for today's video highlight. Come along and watch as we have some really nice leftover corduroy on the left shoulder for an awesome & endless skijor. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As with yesterday, it was above freezing all morning. So, you know what that gets you from Jack & Rudy:

"Stop, drop & ROLL! Need to cool off!" says the snow rolling sillies.
That is the official geological marker for Rabbit Ears Pass behind Jack & Rudy.
Notice talented Jack is rolling AND eating snow at the same time. Talented!!!

For some reason, Nancy's "end of run" video had either me or Jack (or both) cutoff for most of her footage. I guess she wanted to focus on Rudy today, haha!

At least most of Jack & I are in this frame (most were missing much more of us).

Another really nice late April skijor outing: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 100 days on the trails covering 766.6 miles with 75,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Snack

Look at what we stumbled upon at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

Whoa, a FRESH groom! Holy smokes!

Yes, the local snowmobile club had groomed some of the trails late last night and we were first on the new groom for miles and miles this morning! We pay yearly dues to the snowmobile club, so it is perfectly fine that Jack, Rudy and I were the first snow machines out on the groomed trails this morning. What a fun late April surprise!

The fun kids catching air again on the fresh groomie zoomie.

Eventually the surprise groom did end. But, conditions were still perfect to keep skijoring the packed snowmobile trails for miles.

No more fresh groom, but still perfect late April conditions!

While the surprise groom might seem like the highlight of today's outing, it was upstaged by another event at one point. A suicidal squirrel darted across the trail in front of Jack & Rudy and nearly became a trail snack for them!

What a stupid crazy squirrel to dart in front of two meat eaters!!!

Now let's put the squirrel event to video. Come along and watch as we start out galloping along until the suicidal squirrel darts across the trail, barely making as Jack & Rudy are on the hunt once they see it! Nothing like a squirrel near miss to add a little extra juice to the Jack & Rudy skijoring engine!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was above freezing all morning long, so I knew this would happen at our turnaround point:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the silly kids rolling in the snow
to cool their jets :)

Since we (barely) missed the squirrel, how about some pork end of run treats instead?

"Ok, we'll take the pork; but that squirrel would have been tasty!"
says the fun kids.

It is not often we come across conditions good enough for a 10 mile skijor in late April: 10.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 99 days on the trails covering 757.5 miles with 74,200 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Early Morning Spring Crust

The early sled dogs get the wonderful early morning crust!

Nice shot of Jack & Rudy catching air as we zip across a firm
early morning snow crust. Wheeee!

Springtime is good for one thing, and one thing only: the Spring Crust! With warm days (well above freezing) and cold nights (many hours below freezing), a firm crust develops in the morning that can support Jack & Rudy's weight and me on skis. This lets us abandon set trails and skijor any direction we want. Such fun!

But, as the snowpack melts, obstacles do start to emerge from under the snow. Today we encountered many little trees starting to poke through. Not a problem, just obstacles to navigate around:

Sometimes Jack & Rudy have to spread apart to avoid obstacles.
I'll typically follow one of them until we are past the obstacle.

Once past any obstacle, though, it's back to shoulder to shoulder skijoring for the impressive sled dogs:

Moments after the prior photo and the cool kids reconnect
for tight, in team skijoring :)

Oftentimes, power lines provide us some of our best spring crust skijoring. This is because the power companies frequently clear cut trees under power lines. This provides us a pretty much obstacle free stretch of spring crust. Come along for today's video highlight to see what I mean. If your volume is up, you'll hear me call out the occasional "left" or "right" and Jack & Rudy listen for us to navigate along a wonderful spring crust under the power lines. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

There is one thing a spring crust cannot support: MOOSE! Yes, we encountered moose leg postholes in the crust at one point during the outing. You must stop and inspect moose tracks, it's in the rule book :)

What a moose posthole as Jack's head has completely disappeared down
the moose hole! These tracks were apparently very fresh according to
Jack & Rudy's noses!

But, the spring crust is perfectly strong for everything Jack & Rudy want to do: from running to rolling snow angels :)

"Rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling themselves by
rolling the crust. Funny kids.

Finally, who is ready for some delicious end of run treats?

"We are!" says the happy kids who were able to, once again, find a nice
snow wall to climb to come face to face with me for treats.

An early morning skijor to enjoy the crust before it starts to soften: 5 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 98 days on the trails covering 747.1 miles with 73,300 feet of elevation climbed.