Bluebird

A beautiful bluebird morning to get a postcard photo of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us!

Beautiful view, beautiful sled dogs, beautiful morning!

While the morning was beautiful, we are starting to see the "end of season" realities. It's been a horrible snow year in Colorado (snowpack less than 50% of normal), so ground that we do not usually see until late April or May is already starting to show in early March. Yikes!!!

We did have a dusting of fresh snow overnight, as you can see by Jack & Rudy's
footprints. But, yikes, look at all that exposed ground to our left that is
typically not visible until late April or May. Yikes!!!

We did our favorite combination route this morning of starting in the Dry Gulch backcountry before dropping onto the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. If you've been reading along this season, you probably recognize this location with Jack & Rudy rolling snow angels. It's called the Jumbo Overlook (for its views) and it is a natural point to turnaround from Dry Gulch onto Gold Run. Well, since I said "turnaround", you now know why I get so many photos like the following on this route!

"Turnaround! Roll Around!" goes the snow rolling sillies who have NEVER
failed to roll at snow angel (or 2 or 10) at the Jumbo Overlook :)

Once the snow angels were done, it was time to floor it on the fast & wide nordic trails. Whee!

The hover huskies catching air on fast & wide nordic trails!

Now come along for today's video fun as we glide to the finish of the day's outing. If you can take your eyes off Jack & Rudy, notice what a gorgeous bluebird morning it was!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

If you can also take your eyes off Jack, Rudy and the gorgeous morning, you'll notice Nancy on the side of the trail at about 35 seconds into the prior clip. It was a great day for her to get out and try to capture a front shot of us gliding to the finish. Success!

Smiles all around! "Hi Mom!!!!" says the flirtatious kids

Things may wind down sooner than usual this season, so let's enjoy it while we can, right guys?

"Yes! We don't want summer!!!!" says the happy kids giving me their
full attention for end of run treats.

A beautiful morning to get out for short skijor amidst dwindling conditions: 4.6 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 277.9 miles with 29,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Front

Great "shot from the front" of a happy skijor trio finishing this morning's awesome run!

Whee!

We had a light layer of new snow overnight (1-2 inches). But, any amount of new snow makes narrow side trails safe to skijor with my pals. It's such an experience to be tugged & towed through narrow, tree lined trails!

This is only safe with some amount of new snow to both slow Jack & Rudy
down and give me some braking control with my skis. 
But, we love winding through the trees when we can!

After the narrow, side trail treat, it was onto the more established (thus wider) backcountry trails. Once again, what a perfect layer of light new snow to safely uncork the Jack & Rudy skijoring engine:

Love all the snow flying up around them as we romp through the
fresh snow.

I'll take the prior photo as the lead in to today's video highlight. Come along to watch us laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow in the backcountry. Such a fun morning!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our next leg was to drop onto the trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. But, this transition comes with a turnaround point, so you know what that means!

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the comical snow rolling kids.

Snow angels completed and now time for the nordic center. No groomer had been out on the trails since yesterday and only a few skiers had been out before us. So, it was a light layer of slightly used fresh snow over a "yesterday groomed" fast trail. Jack & Rudy knew what to do with these nice conditions:

The hover husking flooring it to catch air along the nordic trail. Zoom!

As I said, a very entertaining outing, right guys?

"Yes, we LOVED it all!" says the happy kids patiently awaiting their
end of run treats.

A nice combination of single track, backcountry and nordic trails to yield 6.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 43 days on the trails covering 268.6 miles with 29,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Snowing

Have I said this before? "Oops!"

Oh those silly kids and their unauthorized game of tag breaking out
along the trail this morning!

There was a lot to be excited about this morning as we woke to a nice layer of fresh snow with active snow still coming down. Jack & Rudy approved!

"WOO, I APROOOOOOVE!" belts wooing Rudy at our turnaround point.
"Stop, drop and roll! I love snow!" adds snow rolling Jack.

The day started with light snow falling in the backcountry:

You can make out a few snowflakes against Jack & Rudy's fur while the
haze in this photo is active falling & blowing snow.

Okay, so sometimes a still shot cannot really capture active snowfall. So, come along for today's video highlight of us skijoring in the backcountry with very visual active snowfall in the video. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

But, as the snowfall increased in intensity, the still shots started to capture it as well:

Look at all those snowflakes you can see falling around us. Fun!

Did I mention increased intensity of snowfall? How about this:

You know it is DUMPING when a still shot captures this much
active snowfall. What a winter treat!

Finally, how about end of run treats in the active snowfall treat? Yay for Snow!

"Ready!" says the snow loving Siberian Huskies :)

A quick outing in the active snow, but fun, fun, fun: 5 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 258.2 miles with 28,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Fast Packed

The fun kids catching air along a stretch of trail before the morning sun has fully risen:

The photo is a bit dark as we are shaded from the morning sun by a large
mountain behind us; but the kids are "catching air in the dim light" :)

Our outing this morning took us to the wide trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. I was hoping they might have been groomed yesterday or today; but no such luck. As a result, the trails were pretty hard and fast packed! That's not really an issue (except to my sore knees :) but it does cause Jack & Rudy to drift a bit further apart than they will run on less slick trails;

Jack the cannonball and Rudy the missile taking full advantage of
the wide but very hard & fast packed trail.

As they hear my skis scraping and grinding behind them on such hard terrain, they tend to separate like this as you need to give the human some avenue of safety when he cannot stop quickly. Nice guys:

The smart kids separating again to give me a clear avenue down
the slick middle of the trail!

But, even though Jack & Rudy may run a little more separated and out of sync on such fast packed trails, the end result is still the same. Come along and see for yourselves - wheeee! Oh, and note the narrow & thin snow coverage at around 25 seconds into this clip. This section of trail is very sun exposed all day and, at this point, the trail gets very narrow and thin. I simply call out an "easy, easy" to my pals to slow a bit through the narrow patch and then call out "ok" once past it and the smart guys floor it again.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, just to make sure I was paying attention, the comedians decided to roll separate snow angels today as well - running far apart lead to rolling snow angels far apart :)

"Rub a dub dub!" goes rolling Rudy at our turnaround point.
"I don't think I need to roll here." adds Jack.

But, don't worry, Jack was still Jack. The 8 year old has rolled at least one snow angel on EVERY skijor outing of his life (and usually many more than one). So, a few steps turning around from the prior photo and there is reliable snow rolling Jack:

"My turn! Aaaahhh!" goes always rolling Jack.
"Tasty snow too!" adds snowcone snacking Rudy.

Finally, back to the trailhead and who is ready for end of run treats?

"I see them! I see them! READY!" says Jack focused on the goody bag in my hand.
"Ready too, I'll wait patiently right here!" adds Rudy (patient & Rudy, hahaha).

Beautiful morning on hard & fast packed nordic trails: 7.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 28 days on the trails covering 175.6 miles with 19,900 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Peak 7

Fresh tracks fun on the trails on Peak 7 in Breckenridge. Wheeee!

A wonderful layer of fresh snow all to ourselves. Yay!

We were on the trails that will eventually become Breckenridge Nordic Center once there is enough snow to support a groomer. While we expected enough snow for a groomer, it is not quite there. But, there was plenty of snow to support Jack, Rudy and I! So, it was a "backcountry style" outing on the soon to become nordic trails on Peak 7 this morning.

It was 8 degrees (F) when we started the outing. You know what that means, Jack & Rudy had to stop and use the Hallelujah Warming Hut we encountered along the way. This is how a Siberian Husky uses a warming hut:

"8 degrees! So hot! Must stop, drop and roll to cool our jets at the
warming hut!" declares the snow rolling sillies.

While we were first tracks in the fresh snow most of the day, eventually we encountered evidence of others. Not a problem, there was still plenty of fresh snow for us to use next to some other tracks on the trail:

Fresh tracks down the middle of the trail with another set of ski
tracks to our left. Plenty of untouched snow for us!!!

Now come along for some video fun. Watch as Jack & Rudy are having a blast towing me along in the fresh snow as we round many corners on the trail along the way. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, we got a real treat - our first fresh smelling moose tracks on the trail for the 2025/2026 season. Delectable!

"Sniff, sniff - these are FRESH!!!" says the moose track inspectors.

What was better - the fresh snow, the moose tracks or the end of run treats. Hmmm, I think it was a tie amongst all three!

"End of run treats are ALWAYS special!" declares the happy & focused kids.

Great day laying fresh tracks on Peak 7: 6.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 22.0 miles with 2600 feet of elevation climbed.

Still Going

After a LONG week off, we were back on snow this morning. Yay for Skijoring in May!!!

"Are you having as much fun as me?!?" Rudy is yelling out to Jack :)
Love their footprints in the light layer of new snow.

With new snowfall Sunday & Monday, we were having a blast laying fresh tracks up, down and around Walton Peak atop Rabbit Ears Pass. The kids were ecstatic to have toes back on snow after a long, long, long week off :)

Catching air with fun footprints behind the kids again.

We did an out & back skijor this morning as I wanted to witness the trail conditions on the mostly uphill out leg before turning around and going much faster on the mostly downhill return leg. Wait, did I say "turn around" - yep!

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

Once, upright, it was time to floor it on the return leg. We were laying fresh tracks on the way out and then were second tracks to ourselves on the way back. At our highest elevation of the outing, the fresh snow was roughly an inch or two (as compared to the trace of new snow in the first two photos above):

Coming back down Walton Peak in the best snow of the day.

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. I love watching Jack & Rudy adjust to the conditions as they bounce around to find the firmest snow to support their weight at speed. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and all the snow walls have melted. So, it was my turn to get down to Jack & Rudy's level as opposed to them climbing snow walls to come up to me as they prefer. Either way, human down or huskies climbing up, it's enjoyable end of run treats!

"We prefer climbing up snow walls, but we'll accept them this way too!" says
the happy & focused fun kids.

We don't have many outings left this season as it is melting fast; but today was a great outing for late May: 8.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 107 days on the trails covering 819.1 miles with 80,800 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.