Season Finale, Maybe? Probably

After nearly two weeks off, Jack & Rudy virtually shot out of a cannon on this morning's skijor outing!

BOOM! Off we go, shot out of a cannon, to start today's skijor!

Unfortunately today was probably our last skijor of the 2025/2026 season. We've had historically low snowfall & snowpack in Colorado this season with also historically warm temperatures. So, while we usually skijor well into May and, occasionally into June, we are probably done for this season. But, it is supposed to snow in our elevations in Colorado in April and May, so maybe we'll have a surprise outing after today, but I doubtful the way this year has gone. But, maybe.....

We found a great (albeit short) groomed trail to skijor this morning. The US Ski Team grooms the top of Rabbit Ears Pass to use when other, closer to town, trails melt. Typically, we find the ski team groomers on Rabbit Ears Pass in May as trails close to town are still full of snow in April. But not this year as there is no snow on the trails in town so the ski team has taken to Rabbit Ears Pass in April instead of May this year. That's how bad a snow year it has been! We were reminded of this many times on today's outing, such as the following:

Looks perfect at first glance; but look at the exposed ground to Jack's right.
This shows just how thin the snowpack is on this trail. It is one or two warm
days away from having exposed ground on the trail too!

Today's video is another example of dwindling conditions. Come along as we are on the well shaded Harrison Creek Trail which usually has snow through May and sometimes into June. But, watch closely at about 6 seconds in you'll see a ice across half the trail as this will be an exposed puddle later in the day. Then at about 18 seconds into the clip and you'll notice me slowing down as the trail is paper thin with brown ground starting to show through. Yikes! But, as you'll also see in the video, we were able to open up the throttle whenever safe. Whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We did, though, find some really nice stretches to uncork the skijoring engine. Zoom!

"Wheeeee!" says Rudy to Jack as he gives him a quick glance
as the speed demons are catching air along a perfect stretch of trail.

We went out and back on this short groomed trail. So, we had to turnaround at some point, right?

"Turnaround! Roll Around!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

The prior photo is unfortunately misleading. While it looks like we still have endless snow to enjoy, the reality is it is paper thin in most places and a few warm days away from large amounts of exposed ground.

Well, it was an interesting and strange season between my health issues and the worst Colorado snow on record; but we made the most of it, right guys?

"We still had a blast! All snow is good snow! All skijor outings
are good outings!" says the happy kids atop a nice snow wall to
receive end of run treats.

Today's tally: 4.2 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 55 days on the trails covering 332.7 miles with 34,800 feet of elevation climbed.

That's probably it for the 2025/2026 season. But, you never know, maybe we'll get one last surprise outing if it really snows at some point in April or May BEFORE all the little snowpack we have melts...

Let's hope for a better 2026/2027 season: Pray for Snow!!!

Still Going

Look who was THRILLED to be back on snow again this morning!!!

"We are having a BLAST!" says the happy, happy kids.

Despite deteriorating snow conditions throughout most of Colorado, Rabbit Ears Pass is still hanging on with good, albeit melting fast, snowpack. Today's outing found us skijoring along the edge of Highway 40 for a while. Every time a car/truck would pass us on the highway, Jack & Rudy would speed up to try and keep pace. They HATE getting passed! But, the speed limit out on the highway is 65 MPH, so obviously we don't keep pace; but not from lack of trying :)

"Hey, don't pass us!!!" says the kids kicking it up a gear once this big truck
passed us to our left. Nice try guys :)

After that initial leg along the edge of the highway, we turned away from the highway to skijor out and back on the Harrison Creek Trail. This trail keeps its snow the longest at Rabbit Ears. It was a bit rough and choppy in places from frozen snowmobile tracks; but we were able to hug the shoulders of the trail for pretty good conditions for this time of year:

Hugging the right shoulder where I can glide nicely on skis.

Now come along for today's video to see I mean about the choppiness. We start out the video on the right shoulder gliding along smoothly. Then, about 35 seconds into this clip, the right starts getting choppy and I start bouncing around on the skis. But, I did notice the left shoulder was now smooth. So, I call out "over to the left" to Jack & Rudy and we drift left until I am on smooth terrain again and off we go. Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Did I mention we did an "out & back" on Harrison Creek? Well, that meant we had to turnaround at one point, right? Well, you know what that means...

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
Nice view, too, although Jack & Rudy had no use for the view :)

Finally, as the day ended, we were back along the edge of Highway 40. But, this time we were first tracks on a fresh groom - what a treat!

First tracks on the groomie zoomie! Wheeee!

Fun day, right guys?

"Any day on snow is a GREAT day!" says the happy kids atop a nice
snow wall to receive end of run treats.

Today's tally: 7.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 53 days on the trails covering 323.5 miles with 34,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Yay Snow

Yay for fresh snow to gallop through in the backcountry this morning!

The fun kids "kicking up powder" as they gallop through the
morning's fresh snow!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. It is so much fun to get out in fresh snow on skis with Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our outing this morning started by laying fresh tracks in the backcountry as you saw above. We then continued to lay fresh tracks going out & back on a side trail. Well, any "out & back" means we turned around at some point. So, of course, we had turnaround antics from the comedians:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes always snow rolling Jack.
"WOOOO! I love fresh snow!" adds singing Rudy.

The nice thing about doing an "out & back" in fresh snow is that you get to make use of your out track to go fast on the way back!

Jack & Rudy making use of our "out track" to pick up the speed on 
the way back. Smart kids!

Then, the reward for all that fun but very aerobic skijoring through fresh snow was to drop onto the newly groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy know what to do with a groomie zoomie!

The hover huskies catching air as they floor it on the groomie zoomie trail.

Finally, as we were nearing the end of the outing, we got to flirt with this fun family coming up the trail. Jack & Rudy were as entertained by the dad towing his kid as the family was entertained by seeing Jack & Rudy towing me :)

"Cool dude! We could tow that kid for you!" offers curious Jack & Rudy
as the family looks on in all smiles.

A wonderful "fresh tracks to groomed zooming" this morning, right guys?

"Yes. We had a BLAST!" says the happy & focused kids awaiting
end of run treats atop a snow wall.

Today's tally: 5.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 283.7 miles with 30,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Frisky

Jack & Rudy were a bit frisky & playful with happiness to be back at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

Uh-oh, unauthorized game of tag & tackle about to break out on the
trail from the frisky & giddy kids.

We have not skijoring Rabbit Ears since May of 2025! With a slow start to the season in Colorado this year, we missed our typical October and November skijors atop Rabbit Ears Pass. As you see in the photo above, the kids were thrilled to be back at Rabbit Ears and the conditions did not let us down!

It was zooming due South for a while:

The kids catching air as we skijor towards Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass.

Then it was time to turnaround and come back the same path we took out. Did I say turnaround?

Yep - turnaround, roll around from the snow rolling sillies.
Where does Rudy end and Jack start? It's hard to tell amidst this
comical conjoined snow angel :)

Then it was zooming due North on the way back. Whee!

The hover huskies at it again. Impressive kids.

Now come along for a glimpse into the great conditions. Jack & Rudy were in a real running groove this morning!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the parking lot and the kids found a great snow wall to climb for end of run treats!

Scaling a snow wall to accept end of run treats from me in a standing
position. How polite :)

A fun return to Rabbit Ears Pass this morning: 8.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 40 days on the trails covering 253.2 miles with 27,600 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Fresh, First and More

Laying fresh tracks in the backcountry! Wheeee!

About 2" of new snow all to ourselves! Nice!

It was a great morning out on one of our favorite network of trails. Despite being a usually busy Saturday, we were thrilled to find the terrain all to ourselves almost all morning long! We started by laying fresh tracks in the backcountry and shown above and then we finished by being first tracks on the recently groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. It doesn't get much better than this!

First tracks on the recent groom despite being a typically busy Saturday.
Wow!!!

How could we top "fresh tracks to first tracks"? Well, Jack & Rudy can always add more :)

To start with, there was an addition of hopping off trail to wrestle in the deeper snow:

Unauthorized snow wrestling! Silly kids!

Then there was an addition of lunging and diving off trail to search for rodents under the snow. There is ALWAYS time to add rodent hunting to any outing :)

"Lunge, dunk, where are those pesky rodents?" asks searching Jack.
"I'll find them! INCOMING!!!!" adds beautiful rodent diving Rudy.

But, aside from one episode of unauthorized wrestling and one hilarious search for rodents, it was a wonderful morning to go, go, go! Come along for a glimpse into the skijoring fun for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fresh tracks, first tracks, wrestling and rodent hunting - which was your favorite guys?

"ALL OF IT!!!!!" says the happy kids proudly awaiting end of run treats
atop a snow all.

A nice and peaceful fresh tracks to first tracks outing: 5.4 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 36 days on the trails covering 231.1 miles with 25,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Repeat

Catching air in the backcountry! Wheeee!

Fun sled dogs, fun times, fun day! Whee!

After having our favorite network of trails FINALLY skijorable yesterday, we HAD to return today! It was a very similar outing to yesterday with one exception. Come along for the ride.

As usual, we started on unmaintained backcountry trails to tickle our toes in soft powder. Along the way, we pass by some of the remnants of the old, historic mining town of Preston. This town was once bigger than Breckenridge in the 1800 mining days but was abandoned in the early 1900s as is nothing more than a collection of old mining and mining town relics at this point.

Zipping by one of the old mining cabins once in the town of Preston.
There are tons of old cabins like this littered throughout the forest near
here as Preston was once such a large town.

After galloping through the Preston townsite, it was time to connect onto the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Before doing that, though, Jack & Rudy had other plans to cool off first :)

Both fun kids wanted to hop off trail to roll in the soft & untouched powder.
Yesterday was 1 degree (F) when we started the outing, today was 10 (F). As
you see, 10 is "hot" and makes you want to get into deep & cold powder ro
roll and cool off!

Ok, the one difference between yesterday and today? Well, unbeknownst to me, I bumped the camera on my chest after the snow rolling break above. As a result, the camera was pointing at my feet the rest of the outing, so I have no further footage. Oh well, trust me, it was as nice & fun as yesterday all morning long.

Today's video highlight goes along with the first two photos (before I bumped the camera). Come along for today's fun skijor in the backcountry as we approach and enter the old townsite of Preston.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and Nancy's camera was still pointing upright :)

The great kids on a snow wall to receive end of run treats. What a fun day!

An almost identical skijor as yesterday except for most of the video footage being lost: 8.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 25 days on the trails covering 159.2 miles with 18,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Finally

Nice "postcard shot" of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us with the morning clouds burning off to showcase the ski runs.

Fun & fast Jack & Rudy with a postcard shot in front of us.

Today was really exciting for me. We FINALLY got to skijor my favorite network of trails this morning. It has been a way below average snow season in Colorado so far and many of our usual trails still do not have enough snow to safely skijor. But, with some fresh snow the last few days (not a lot, but some is better than none), we were FINALLY able to get out on my favorite route. I believe this is one of Jack & Rudy's favorites too as I can see how they kick it up a notch in excitement and enthusiasm on this network.

We start in the backcountry doing some technical skijoring on unmaintained trails:

Zipping along in the backcountry. Whee!

We eventually drop onto the well maintained trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. We typically begin by doing the uppermost loop which is an aerobic ride on black diamond rated trails. There are various up/down dips interspersed along this route. It's such a cool feeling to be below Jack & Rudy in an "up dip" and see them higher than my waist (sometimes even chest high)!

I'm still down in the dip while the flying kids are up. So cool :)

Finally, we get out onto the gentler (blue rated) main trail to FLY to the finish. Today was PERFECT!

The hover huskies catching air! Notice anything special in this photo?
Yes, we are FIRST TRACKS on the freshly groomed nordic trail. Sweet!

Of course all this zooming around a types of terrain means you really need to "stop, drop and roll" to cool your jets at any & all pauses during the outing!

"Aaaahhh, stop, drop and roll!"
Powder Jack loves to step off trail into deeper snow to roll.
Rudy tends to just drop wherever he is at and roll :)

Such a fun and varied network of trails to enjoy. Today's video, though, has to showcase us zooming as first tracks on the fresh groomie zoomie. Come along for the fast & furious fun!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

So great to FINALLY get on our favorite network of trails, right guys?

"Oh, we had a BLAST!" says the happy kids atop a nice snow
wall to receive end of run treats.

What a marvelous day: 8.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 150.8 miles with 17,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Dogstacle

Our first time on the narrow Trail of Tears single track this season! Whee!

There is finally enough snowpack for us to venture off the main trails and onto
the narrow, single track side trails. Fun!

As you see in the photo, Jack & Rudy have no problem squishing shoulder to shoulder to fit on single track trails. It's so fun to go winding through the forest on narrow trails like these with them!

In order to get to the narrow Trail of Tears, we have to initially climb to the historic Sallie Barber Mine. Well, as is almost always the case, the climb to the mine is celebrated by rolling snow angels to cool off :)

"Aaaahhh!" says the snow rolling sillies cooling off at the mine.

So, we skijored up to the mine, then went out & back on the Trail of Tears single track and then returned to the main trail to fly back to the trailhead. Wheeee!

The fun kids catching air on the fast & wide Sallie Barber Mine Trail.

This trail is very popular for people to ski with their dogs. Very few skijor, most just let Fluffy scurry about while they ski on their own - I know, what a silly concept, use the dog and skijor!!! :) Anyway, our loose dog encounters go one of two ways...

First (and most common), Fluffy is left to stand in the middle of the trail for us to deal with. Yes, the owners often try to call the loose dog out of the way - um, it RARELY listens. Oh well...

Nothing to do but slow down and interact with loose Fluffy in the middle of
the trail. Jack & Rudy would rather run on by, but I know from experience that
trying to run by a loose dog often gets the dog aggravated and lunging at you.
So, we slow, greet briefly and then go on by.

Second (and least common), an owner may decide to pull Fluffy to the side of the trail, hold it there and let us fly on by. This is Jack & Rudy's (and my) preferred interaction. None of us want to slow or stop for a boring dog:

Yay, the owner pulled Fluffy over and held it (the "hold" is often not done
successfully too). As you see, my pals have no use for Fluffy when you have
the option to keep running and fly on by instead!!!!!

But, back to the most common interaction - the loose dog obstacle in the middle of the trail: a dogstacle. Come along for today's dogstacle encounter. The clip starts with us flying along the beautiful wide trail. Then, we all see loose Fluffy in the middle of the trail. There's no option but to slow, greet briefly and then get on by. Watch how quickly Jack & Rudy discard Fluffy to return to fast, fun and pedal to the metal skijoring. Wheeee! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh we had a blast!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end of run treats.

Finally enough snow to extend the Sallie Barber Trail with the adjoining Trail of Tears single track: 6.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 22 days on the trails covering 133.1 miles with 16,200 feet of elevation climbed.

New Year, Same Fun

It might be a new year, but it was the same awesome skijor fun with Jack & Rudy this 2026 New Year's Day!

Can you feel the power behind the strong sled dogs in this shot?
Love the snow poofs behind them coming off their feet. Wheeee!

After a couple of days off, Jack & Rudy were in a real power running groove this morning.

As you see in the first photo, we were zipping up the higher elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning.

After a predominantly up first leg, it was time to turn around. Yep, turnaround, roll around....

"Rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling their jets after a
fast gallop on the initial up leg before flooring it back down.

Then, as expected, it was pedal to the metal on the predominantly down return leg. Whee!

The fun kids catching air on a beautiful & wide groomed nordic trail.

As I said, the kids were in a real running groove this morning. Come along for today's video glimpse into the fun to see for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

New year, same fun on the trails. New year, same fun receiving end of run treats atop a snow wall:

The happy, happy kids patiently awaiting end of run treats!

What a great New Year's fun run: 6.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 21 days on the trails covering 126.8 miles with 15,500 feet of elevation climbed.

 

New Snow, New Camera

Today was our first "perfect conditions" skijor of the 2025/2026 season.

Let me tell you, Jack & Rudy knew it too, they were FLYING around the trails today!!!

Oh, and my new "high quality" camera arrived to replace the dead gopro, so we have crispy & clear photos and smooth video footage again today! Yay!

Fun kids laying fresh tracks atop a recently groomed trail at the
highest elevations at Breckenridge Nordic Center.

We have had on the order of 20+ inches of new snow in the last 36 hours. As a result, Breckenridge Nordic Center was able to finally open all the wonderful upper elevation trails. Jack, Rudy and I LOVE skijoring these trails. To make it even more exciting, the groomer had run about an hour or so before we got to the trails and it had snowed in the meantime. So, we had a light layer of fresh snow to enjoy atop our first groomie zoomie trail of the season.

As you see in the prior photo, we out skied all humans on these trails and found ourselves laying fresh tracks at the highest elevations of the outing. At the mid elevations, only one or two skiers had been out before us, so it was still laying fresh tracks with 1 or 2 existing tracks to the side:

Catching air at the mid elevations. You can see two pre-existing ski tracks
to Rudy's left (close and far left); but still plenty of untouched trail for us
to continue laying fresh tracks on the right side of the trail. Whee!

With so much wonderful new snow, even the well-used lower portions of the nordic center were still a safe treat to continue flooring it:

Despite lots of traffic/tracks on the lower trail, there was still plenty
of soft snow for me to keep upright and in pace with the fast kids!

When we got to the highest elevation point of the outing, we paused for a moment to rest from the climb before zooming back down. Well, we paused...

"You stop to rest, we stop to Drop & Roll!" says the snow rolling sillies.

Now come along for the video treat of our highest point of the day. Nobody had made it this far before us, so we were first tracks on a recently groomed trail with a light layer of new snow. What a great day!

Now, for something to watch for in the video. Remember we have had 20+ inches of new snow in 36 hours. While the groomer had run to pack this wonderful new snow, it was still a LOT! Think of a groomer machine like a tank, it has two treads supporting the heavy machine. So, what happens is the trail is the most packed & firmest where the groomer treads had been and it is somewhat soft in between and outside of the tread lines. 

Okay, now watch the video again and you can see smart Jack & Rudy moving side to side to find the hardest packed groomer tracks to run atop. You'll notice the softness in between the tracks when one moves from one side to the other. Such smart kids to automatically find the firm groomer tread lines to run in. Impressive!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our most enjoyable outing of this early 2025/2026 season, right guys?

"Oh we had a BLAST! Zoom!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end
of run treats atop a nice snow wall.

What does the first "perfect conditions" of the season yield? Well, 9.7 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH - wheeee!

2025/2026 Season to Date: 8 days on the trails covering 46.6 miles with 5400 feet of elevation climbed.