Like Z

What's better, moose views or mountain views? Depends on who you ask :)

Jack & Rudy being lured off trail to peak over this snow ledge in the
search for moose. Meanwhile, I paused with them to take in the pretty
mountain views.

This morning took us on a skijor on Boreas Pass. My original plan was to go 4-5 miles up Boreas and then turn around and come back down. But, we have had a lot of recent snow and, as you go up Boreas, the set trail gets thinner and thinner (due to fewer people making it so far without sled dog assistance). As we were nearing Baker's Tank (which is only 3 miles up Boreas), the set trail was becoming so narrow that Jack & Rudy could barely fit side by side:

Rubbing shoulders to fit in the narrow set trail.
The snow outside the set track was somewhat punchy, so neither kid
could run there.

By the time we reached Baker's Tank, the set trail was too narrow for Jack & Rudy to fit side by side. So, we had a choice: continue past Baker's Tank in single file skijoring or turnaround. Well, I chose turnaround with an alternate plan. Wait, did I say turnaround? Yep...

"Turnaround - roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround - woos abound!" belts wooing Rudy.
Also, a nice shot of historic Baker's Tank from when Boreas Pass was the
railroad into Breckenridge in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Now look at how nice and wide the trail was down lower as opposed to the narrow single track in the prior two photos. Oh, and nice view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us too:

Ah, nice and wide here with pretty views.

I mentioned an "alternate plan" above, what was that plan? Well, we came back down from Baker's Tank until we got to the much wider set trail as you see in the prior photo. We then went back & forth and redid some nice stretches of trail 5 times. Of course, each redo required turning around. While most turnarounds got snow angels and/or woos from the silly kids, one did get this nice happy face shot instead:

"This has been unusual! We keep redoing stretches of trail! But,
we are still having a great time!" says the happy kids.

Now come along for one of the nice stretches that we redid twice. We start out cruising along as we approach and pass on by a snowshoer who paused, smiled and waved (I waved back). Then, if you can take your eyes off fun Jack & Rudy, look left through the bare aspen trees and you can see the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort on the mountains across the valley from us. On first redo of this stretch of trail, we passed by and entertained two oncoming skiers. By staying well below Baker's Tank, we were near the trailhead and, thus, encountered quite a few other skiers and snowshoers on all our redos.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead and this moment almost brought tears to my eyes. Our wonderful, but departed Zorro, was the smallest of all 6 Siberian Huskies we have had in our pack (you'd never know it from his skijoring passion and power; but he was on the smallest end of the breed standard). Being small, Zorro developed this habit of climbing on my leg with his front two legs to prop himself up higher for end of run treats. I always loved feeling Zorro climb up on my leg. Well, today Rudy did a Zorro-like climb on my leg for end of run treats. Of course, big Rudy does not need any propping; but the action and feeling a Zorro move on my leg was astonishing and heart-warming!

"I remember our mentor, old man Z, always did this, I'll try too!" says Rudy
who you can see has his two front paws on my leg to prop himself higher for treats.
"Silly Rudy, he's already HUGE!" adds cute Jack.

A fun outing of "lower elevation redos" on Boreas with a Z like conclusion from Rudy: 9.7 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 68 days on the trails covering 576.2 miles with 56,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Front

Great "shot from the front" of happy, happy Jack & Rudy towing me to the finish of this morning's skijor!

"Whee! Hi Mom, coming on through!" says happy Jack & Rudy gliding by
Nancy on the side of the trail with a camera.

With Colorado hunting season over, the winter gate to Boreas Pass has finally been closed! Yay! That means we'll encounter only 3 types of tracks from now until May: ski tracks, snowshoe tracks and moose tracks! Ok, we'll also see dog tracks as this is a popular network of dog trails; but those are not very interesting to Jack, Rudy or I :)

Laying fresh tracks as we cruise by Baker's Tank with our "fresh tracks
out tracks" to our left.

Boreas is one of the view skijors we do which is 100% up, then turnaround and then 100% down. After towing me up for miles & miles without any downhill speed bursts, the kids are always ready to turnaround and floor it. Rudy often just turns around on Boreas, he's ready for speed. Jack, on the other hand, CANNOT turnaround under any circumstances without rolling a snow angel :)

"Ready!" declares lined out and all business Rudy.
"No, no, ALL turnarounds get a roll around!" states goofy Jack.

Along the return leg, we often get some stunning views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley. But, with low clouds and active snowfall all we have today is a peek at the lower runs on the ski resort:

Still laying fresh tracks!
We'll get a pretty shot of the ski resort some other sunny day. In the meantime
we are thrilled it has been snowing all day!!!!

Today's video fun goes with the first front shot. Come along and watch as Jack & Rudy, with all smiles, tow me towards and then on by Nancy on the side of the trail. I'm smiling too; but with very cold temperatures this morning, I don't have any exposed skin :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

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

"It's not that high, but you can hand them out without kneeling!" declares
my polite partners getting as high as they can for me.

Our first "peace without vehicles" skijor up/down Boreas Pass this morning laying fresh tracks both directions: 8.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 195.0 miles with 18,800 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Boreas

Our first skijor up & down Boreas Pass this morning. Yay for Boreas!

Jack & Rudy cruising along as we approach the historic Baker's Tank
left over from when Boreas Pass Road was the railroad into Breckenridge.

Boreas is a very fun trail to skijor. But, it is open to vehicles (for hunting season) until around Thanksgiving. As a result, you have to get on Boreas immediately after fresh snow to enjoy it before it gets tracked up by vehicles. As expected, the snow cover was pretty thin but good enough to ski gently. Smart Jack & Rudy understood the conditions are remained in a gentle jog to light trot all outing long. Occasionally we could open up the speed a little bit, but not for long before returning to a gentle jog.

One nice stretch as we open up the throttle a little bit.

Most of the outing, though, was spent as you see in the following video: a gentle jog by Jack & Rudy as they tow me along in thin snow cover. The super smart guys knew to never try and floor it, the conditions were a jog to trot outing :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Along the way we passed by a large meadow where we have seen moose many times. Jack & Rudy had to stop and survey for moose. We never saw any but I could tell by the movement of their noses that the scent of moose was in the air!

"Sniff, sniff - we smell you! Where are you?!?!" asks the moose patrol.

After going up Boreas for a little over 4 miles, it was time to turnaround and head back down. Today's turnaround comedy was the usual snow angels from Jack and woos from Rudy this morning:

"Rub a dub dub!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"WOO! Finally back on Boreas!" belts wooing Rudy.

Finally, back to the trailhead and Jack & Rudy found a snow wall to climb for end of run treats. They started doing this last season and have been waiting for enough snow to collect for wall climbing this season!

"We'll come up to you for the treats!" says the polite gentleman letting
me stand instead of kneel to hand out treats!

A fun first run of the season on Boreas albeit a bit of a thin cover/cautious outing: 8.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a modest top speed of 17 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 15 days on the trails covering 118.3 miles with 11,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Baldy to Boreas

 Notice who is the patient and mature gentleman at our 'end of run' treats gathering!

"Me first!" declares Zorro.
"Remember, I'm next!" injects Jack.
"I hope you tell every *who* was the patient and mature gentleman
today!" says polite, even though youngest, Rudy.
"Yes, Rudy, I've pointed it out to everyone!" says me :)

We had a fun skijor on Baldy and Boreas mountains this morning. This fun network of trails is best shown through pictures.

We start on the wide Baldy Mountain Trail as I ride the "Jack & Rudy Tow Rope" up the mountain:

Up the mountain I get towed!

We then transition onto the lesser used and quite narrow "Baldy to Boreas" connector. I love the following shot. Doesn't it look like Jack is using his tail to hold Rudy in tight as they squish to fit on the narrow trail:

"I'll hold you in with my tail so we can fit!" demonstrates Jack, our natural
leader on the trails.

Finally, we transition onto the popular (and, thus, well-used) Boreas Pass Trail:

The reward for "up Baldy" and "across the narrow connector"?
Flying down Boreas as we zoom by Baker's Tank here.

How about a video summary of the reward for up & across Baldy to Boreas? Come along for a fun glimpse of Jack & Rudy towing me on a cruise down Boreas:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Any other fun to be had along the way? You bet...

Jack & Rudy remember every location where they have seen moose. When we travel by any such location, they will slow and glance for moose. But, they will not stop, just slow enough to scan the terrain. But, today, they came to a dead stop at a previous moose sighting location on Baldy. Clearly the scent of moose was very strong. We did not see any moose; but Jack & Rudy stopping tells you that one was VERY close, just camouflaged in the trees:

"If we stop, the scent of moose is STRONG! Where are you?!?" declares
the intense moose seeking pair.

Finally, how about a parting shot of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us as we glide on by:

Pretty view of Breck Ski Resort across the valley as Jack and Rudy
cruise along.

Up Baldy, across Baldy to Boreas, down Boreas - fun morning! 8.4 miles traveled with 650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 48 days on the trails covering 375.3 miles with 33,750 feet of elevation climbed.

Back to Boreas

Back to our reliable early season trail, Boreas Pass, as we wait for more snow to open up additional terrain.

Laying fresh tracks as we glide up Boreas Pass.

Normally, we have many more trail options than Boreas by November 10th. But, we've had a slow start to accumulating snow this 2020/2021 season. This was our third trip to skijor Boreas this season with no other options to be had. Today, though, was our nicest outing of the season on Boreas. It feels like we are one or two good snowstorms away from getting the season truly underway. Pray for Snow.

Back to this morning. We were able to start at the Boreas trailhead instead of having to drive up Boreas until the snow was good enough to ski. Jack and Rudy had a blast towing me up, up and away on Boreas. Rudy was quite delighted with the day's conditions as he had to tell me at our turnaround point:

"Woooooo, what a great morning!" declares wooing Rudy.
"Turnaround, roll around!" demonstrates always rolling Jack :)

Rudy loves to talk and today he decided to forego rolling a snow angel at our turnaround to express wooing excitement instead. Silly kid.

Done rolling & talking and it was time to pick up the speed back down Boreas. Come along for a short & fun clip of the wonderful sled dogs towing me down Boreas:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Always fun to zoom by the historic Baker's Tank as you cruise Boreas:

Zipping along as we glide by Baker's Tank.

Finally, the highlight of the day, rejoining with retired, elder Zorro to share in 'end of run' treats:

"Me first!" declares Zorro :)
Such patience from the polite, hardworking kids letting elder Zorro
get his treat before them!

A nice early season cruise up/down Boreas Pass: 7.8 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 19.8 miles with 1900 feet of elevation climbed.

So close to getting this season really underway. Another storm or two! Pray for Snow!

Delay

 Did we really skijor Monday but not Tuesday? Nope...

"Pedal to the metal" brothers as we launch up Boreas Pass.

But, wait, today is Thursday. Ok, well we got busy :) 

We did follow up Monday's great skijor with another on Tuesday morning. Then, Rudy and I were busy executing (and passing) his final Therapy Dog Observation (yay RUDY!!!!). Then we lost track of Wednesday. So, here it is now Thursday and our update of Tuesday's early morning run.

With the great conditions on Boreas Monday, we returned early Tuesday. We knew the conditions would have deteriorated; but expected to still be good enough to get in a fun run. We were not disappointed. As you see above, we started on a pretty packed surface to go up, up, up Boreas Pass. Along the way you get to pass the historic Baker's Tank (from when this trail on Boreas was a railroad track)!

Trotting by Baker's Tank. Imagine a train pausing here
to refill water from this tank!

While the conditions were safe enough to go up Boreas, it was a little too thin coverage to come all the way back down. So, Jack, Rudy & I went up higher than Monday knowing that Nancy & Zorro would be driving up the pass to save us (or, me) from coming down too far on slick & rocky terrain. But, at the higher elevations, we were able to turn around and get some nice speed before meeting up with Nancy and Zorro:

Nice up high - FLOOR IT! Wheeee!

As I mentioned, we went far up Boreas until it was time to turnaround. Then we galloped back down quickly as far as the conditions would allow. Once it was unsafe for the human/skis to continue, we paused to wait for Nancy & Zorro. What to do while waiting? Jack & Rudy have never been at a loss for what to do when waiting in snow :)

"Waiting? No, rolling!!!" demonstrates the snow angel duo.

Finally, what should be our signature sign-off of every blog this year: reuniting with retired Zorro to have group "end of run" treats:

"Front & center and READY!" declares cool Zorro.
"Oh yeah, treats!" say distracted Jack & Rudy :)

We still are on very early season conditions, so the outings are short. But, believe me, Jack & Rudy get the MOST out of a 5-6 mile run! 5.5 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed.

2020/2010 Season to Date: 3 days on the trails covering 12 miles with 1150 feet of elevation climbed.

Unfortunately, we are back into a warm spell and will be off skis until it snows again...

Pray for Snow!

Perfect Plan

Riding the "Jack & Rudy Tow Rope" as we lay fresh tracks skijoring up Boreas Pass Road!

Laying freshies in 3-5 inches of fresh snow all the way up Boreas. Wheeee!

We came up with a perfect idea of how to make use of Boreas Pass in early season as we try to exercise the youngsters (Jack & Rudy) while still allowing elder Zorro to come along for part of the outing. Here was the plan: (1) Jack, Rudy & I would start skijoring up Boreas Pass and Nancy & Zorro would stay behind at the trailhead; (2) After giving us a headstart, Nancy & Zorro would eventually drive up Boreas until they reached us; (3) We would then add Zorro to the team, Nancy would drive back down Boreas and Zorro, Jack, Rudy & I would skijor down the pass.

This plan was perfect for two reasons: we got a full outing in for Jack & Rudy and then Zorro got to come along for a short run downhill in packed tire tracks. Perfect!

Jack, Rudy & I were making such good time going up, that we skijored roughly a mile past Bakers Tank and then turned around and skijored back to Bakers Tank to wait for Nancy & Zorro. We got to open up the skijor engine coming back in the track we set going up:

Zipping along in the track we laid on the way up.

We were so fast, that we got back to Bakers Tank before Nancy & Zorro arrived. What do you think Jack & Rudy did while we waited for Nancy & Zorro? Ha, you guessed it...

"We are stopped, so we will roll snow angels!" demonstrate the goof twins.
Pretty shot of Bakers Tank too :)

Once Nancy & Zorro arrived, we added in Zorro and ZOOOOM, we took off using the tire tracks Nancy & Zorro set on the way up as a pseudo groomed trail. Wheeee!

Yay, we've got Zorro added in for the short & easy return leg.

Today's short video clip is the counterpart of the prior photo. Come along as we make use of the tire track for a fast packed trail coming back down Boreas Pass.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually we caught up with Nancy waiting for us a ways down the road. Happy, happy sled dogs completing their morning run:

"Hi mom - this was a PERFECT day!" exclaims the happy trio.

A perfect day exercising the youngsters with a fun way to add Zorro into the end of the day's outing: 6.5 miles traveled with 650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 9 days on the trails covering 51.7 miles with 5250 feet of elevation climbed.

Getting It

Our second short & easy training run with young Rudy.

He's definitely "getting it"!!! 

Beautiful shot of the skijoring trio as they run in set tracks while I glide safely in the side powder!

It snowed all day Sunday, so we headed back to Boreas Pass early Monday morning to get in the fresh snow. The plan was similar to our last outing: drive up Boreas Pass until the snow was great for skis then let Nancy drive back down for about 1.5 miles while we skijored down this same track. This served two purposes: give young Rudy a "set track" and "easy downhill path" for his second training run.

This morning's run was PERFECT! Rudy has really picked this up (not that we expected any different). What is most fun to notice about the prior photo is how Zorro, Jack and Rudy auto-aligned for a perfect training setup. Note that I am skiing the shoulder snow to the left and Zorro is also to the left of the 3 pack. Zorro is "setting the pace" in this position and the one I will primarily talk to if any commands are needed. Jack is in second slot - following Zorro's lead but also towing the human. Finally, young Rudy is out in the third slot. He is so far away from me that he is not pulling, his only job is to run & jog at the pace set by his brothers. PERFECT! I planned to try and enforce this configuration; but I said nothing - Zorro & Jack took the 1st & 2nd slots on their own.

Come along for our first "3 pack" skijoring video - WHEEEE!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Time for a quick break for young Rudy and I directed us to some fun "side powder":

Rudy's first "fresh tracks" (for about 10 yards :)

Zorro knows we get "pork treats" at any break. Jack knows he rolls snow angels at all breaks. Rudy is just having fun!

"Break time - serve them up!" declares smart Zorro.
"Rub a dub dub!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"I'm having a blast!" says happy Rudy.

Here we come arriving at Bakers Tank on Boreas Pass to end the day's short training run.

As was the case all day: in perfect form and perfect configuration!

A successful and very fun 2nd training run with Rudy: 1.7 (downhill) miles traveled with a top speed of 14 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 3 days on trails covering 10.5 miles with 1100 feet of elevation climbed.

Woo

Fun day laying fresh tracks on narrow backcountry trails!

Weaving through the trees on a tight trail. About 2/3 of the outing found us on
narrow backcountry terrain like this - fun!

You have probably noticed by now that Max is famous for "rolling snow angels" on our skijor outings. Occasionally Zorro joins in, but Max is almost guaranteed to roll at least one snow angel per outing. This morning Zorro decided he wanted to take lead in rolling snow angels. Well, Max objected :)

"Woooooo - whoooo gave you permission to roll snow angels first?!?!?" woos Max at Zorro
when he stopped us all on the trail to roll a snow angel.

When it comes to "snow angels", Max has short term memory :)

"I'm stopping to roll angels, I'm the lead dog, rub a dub dub!!!" demonstrates silly Max.
"Talk about the 'pot calling the kettle black'! I got wooed at for doing this!" says all business
Zorro waiting for Max so we can get restarted on the trail.

In between snow rolls and woos, we did do some skijoring :)

We toured the seldom used backcountry trails connecting Baldy Mountain to Boreas Mountain. This is a fun sequence of narrow trails winding through dense trees.

Laying fresh tracks all morning long!

Eventually we landed on Boreas Mountain and then it was time to drop out of the forest and onto the wide Boreas Trail at Bakers Tank:

Still laying fresh tracks as we transition from "tight trees" to "open trails" at Bakers Tank.

I wonder what Max would say if I stopped to roll a snow angel? Maybe I'll have to try :)  8.9 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 138 days on the trails covering 1156.6 miles with 122900 feet of elevation climbed.

How Dry

Just "how dry" has this March been? Well, dry enough that the trails are packed hard enough (from lack of new snow) that the joggers are out! Egad!

"Dude - your feet are not properly equipped!" states concerned Zorro.
"Joggers? JOGGERS?!? I refuse to look & acknowledge it!" say in-denial Max.

Typically March is one of the snowiest months for Colorado. But we've had barely a few inches of new snow as of today, March 22nd! March is supposed to alternate between "warm spring days" and "heavy snowfall"; yet all we have really had is "warm spring days" so far. We are praying the last week of March has some good correction to this abnormal pattern!

Anyway, back to today's outing. We skijored up & down Boreas Pass with the following conditions: (1) awful down low - barely any snow and even down to dirt a few times; (2) just enough snow, but choppy conditions, to skijor gently in the mid elevations; and (3) wonderful up high. If only we could start up high....

Cruising by Bakers Tank on the nice, upper terrain:

Wheeee - so nice up high!

But, in the mid elevations, exposed ground was everywhere and, although there was enough snow to ski, we had to keep the speed down due to choppy terrain.

Breckenridge Ski Resort coming into view across the valley.
Snow giving way to exposed ground to our left - eek!
Choppiness on the existing snow - keep it to a gentle jog...

Despite less than ideal conditions down low, it was "toes on snow"....

"I'll take this over 'no snow' any day!" says happy Max.
"It still tastes good too!" demonstrates Zorro chomping down on a snowcone.

A gentle jog up & down Boreas Pass: 9.1 miles traveled with 850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 109 days on the trails covering 909.8 miles with 96,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Cruising Boreas

A peaceful morning cruising up & down Boreas Pass with Max & Zorro:

Gliding by Bakers Tank, about halfway up Boreas. The tank is a relic from the 1800s when
Boreas Pass had a railroad track connecting Breckenridge to Denver.

Conditions were "nice up high" and "delicate down low" as we have been in a heatwave for February the last few days. Our definition of heat wave is temperatures in the 30s/40s (F) with 2 straight days of no temperatures below freezing! Max & Zorro smartly put themselves into a gentle trot all morning long - you do not want to go too fast and overheat (and, thus, end the run early) on such hot days. Smart guys!

Usually we get a great photo of Breckenridge Ski Resort from Boreas. Not today, though, as we had low clouds with developing snow. But, we'll take it - we need to get the weather back to winter-like!

Rounding a corner that has incredible views of the ski resort on sunny days. Today the tops
of the mountains are hidden by low clouds and developing snow. But, you can make out a
few of the ski runs cut into the trees on the mountains across the valley.

Today's "interesting photo shot"... It has been incredibly windy the last few days with wind gusts topping 80 MPH and approaching 100 MPH. So, below is an interesting shot of the trail covered in red dirt! The wind has been so strong that it is eroding the rock wall to our right and depositing the red erosion on the snow. That is some strong wind!

It's still perfectly ski-able, just looks weird as we glide over a red dusting across the trail.

A little warm for our liking; but it was "toes on snow" and that is all that matters:

"Exactly! If there is snow, we go!" say my happy partners looking back at me at after a short
pause on the trail.

A gentle glide up & down Boreas this morning: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a mild top speed of 18 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 79 days on the trails covering 640.6 miles with 69,300 feet of elevation climbed.