Contrast

Leaning into a left curve on the trail with my favorite sports car - the Jack & Rudy skijor machine :)

Such great cornering skills!

Today is my birthday and I got just what I wanted from Jack & Rudy: a 9+ mile skijor on wonderful soft snow! Our route took us up the front side of Sallie Barber Mine, then down and back up the back side, then out and back into the backcountry on a narrow single track trail and finally back down the front side of Sallie Barber Mine.

For the majority of the morning sun had not risen over the top of the mountain we were on; so the photos are bit dark but fun was had by all!

Flying down the back side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. Wheeee!

The contrast between being in morning mountain shade versus being in the morning sun is quite striking. The following photo shows what I mean. We are skijoring in the mountain shade; but look across the valley from us and you see a bright, bright mountain in the morning sun. What a difference in lighting!

Fun in the shade with a striking sun soaked mountain across the
valley from us.

Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo. Come along and watch us galloping along in the shade with sun soaked mountains ahead of us. Striking contrast :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Given the route we took today, we passed by the historic Sallie Barber Mine three times. Of course Jack & Rudy had to stop and roll snow angels on one of the passes...

Stop, drop and roll in front of the historic Sallie Barber Mine.

If you are wondering, we like to go out early to skijor for three reasons: 1) trails are less busy early; 2) conditions are usually better early; and 3) Jack & I are "morning people" so we might as well go skijoring if we are up. Now that we are past the shortest day of the year, the lighting will start getting better every morning for the rest of the season.

Anyway, back to the trailhead and in the sun you saw hitting the mountains across from us in the video:

"Happy Birthday! Do we get 'end of run' treats for your birthday?" asks
the inquisitive kids. You sure do guys!

What a birthday skijor treat for me: 9.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 383.0 miles with 36,400 feet of elevation climbed.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday, let me introduce you to my birthday party coordinators :)

"We know how to throw a real BASH!" says my cute & happy
party coordinators.

Jack & Rudy took me to Vail Pass this morning to give me a birthday skijor. We got started early to beat the holiday week crowds. As we began, the sun peeked over the eastern mountains just enough for Jack & Rudy to give me this cool birthday hover huskies photo:

Just enough sun to highlight the hover huskies floating over the trail.
What a cool shot!!!

To really appreciate the prior photo, notice in the remaining photos in today's blog that there is no bright sun or shadows. The sun gave us the lighting for the prior photo and then rose behind the clouds in the sky. How fun to have captured this short moment of bright sun.

To celebrate, Jack & Rudy took me on a wild ride on the Wilder Gulch trail at Vail Pass. This is a fun trail that is almost always fast packed and zooming. See for yourself:

The kids airborne again!
Why am I so far to the left? Well notice the upcoming right bend in the
trail. With surfaces this fast packed, I have to swing way out to the left
to have any chance of keeping upright with Jack & Rudy flying to the right!

Here we go for a minute of "getting wild in Wilder Gulch" - this was actually Jack & Rudy's second ever skijor in Wilder Gulch and their first ever without Zorro. Amazing how they took to this trail like they'd done it a 100 times before!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We were going so fast that we used up all of the main Wilder Gulch Trail way ahead of schedule. No problem, we just did a fun side tour on some snowmobile tracks.

Zipping along in soft snowmobile tracks. Whee!

You know, throwing such a great party is exhausting. Just ask Jack & Rudy who had to stop, drop and roll to cool off midway through the outing.

Rudy always rolls his snow angels "on trail".
Jack will often throw himself off trail into side powder to get more
snow all over himself while rolling.

What a fun birthday skijor! I decided to thank my coordinators with tasty end of run treats :)

"Glad you had fun! We know how to throw a BASH!" says the
proud & happy kids.

Getting wild in Wilder Gulch: 9.8 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 416.4 miles with 36,200 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Variety

A "different focus" from all at 'end of run' treats time :)

"Focused on your hands for treat time!" says Zorro.
"Focused on your head for treat time!' adds Jack.
"Focused on the treat bag, looks like enough!" contributes Rudy.

Today is my birthday and the whole crew (Zorro, Jack & Rudy) treated me to a very fun birthday bash. Come along for the highlights.

We found a cool stretch of trail with a high snow wall to our right and set tracks along each side of the trail. Zoom!

Cool shot of the snow wall next to Jack as we cruise along.

It was very windy yesterday, so we encountered long stretches of wind drifted deep snow to plow through!

Look at those deep snow holes behind powder hopping Jack & Rudy!

But, for every wind drifted stretch, there was a wind barren stretch (the snow had to blow from somewhere into the drifts :) Jack & Rudy took the barren stretches to open the throttle while I rode as far to the left as possible for my skis to be in a safe amount of snow!

The kids sprinting along a wind barren stretch.
Nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us.
Just enough snow far to the left for me to stay upright on skis!

Of course, at turnaround time, Jack & Rudy showed me how much fun it would be to roll snow angels on your birthday :)

"Come on dad - join us!" says the snow rolling goofs.

Finally, for a real birthday treat, I got to ski slowly alongside retired Zorro to celebrate the end of another fun birthday bash. It was a real treat to finish next to special Zorro for a present - I sure miss the retired old man out on the trails! Thanks Zorro!

My present from Zorro!

A fun birthday skijor this morning across a wide variety of wind driven conditions! 7.3 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 353.8 miles with 33,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Birthday

 Jack & Rudy giving me a fast & fun skijor for my birthday!

Laying fresh tracks as we ZOOM along!

Today is my birthday. I thought laying fresh tracks in 1-2 inches of fresh snow and flying around the trails was Jack & Rudy's present to me. Come along for what I thought was their kind present - zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As much fun as that video looks, it turns out Jack and Rudy had much bigger birthday plans for me.

As we came around a bend in the trail, Jack & Rudy gave me my next present: fresh moose tracks!

"<sniff>, <sniff> - hey dad, these are REALLY fresh!" says the moose track
inspecting pair.

Moose tracks! Nice, what a fun present. But, Jack & Rudy were not done yet... A little further along from the tracks and Jack threw himself off trail into the deep snow in a declaration of "MOOSE! Must Exit Trail Here!"

"Where? Where?" asks Rudy and I.
"MOOSE! Must Exit Trail Here!" declares moose seeking Jack.

As I followed Jack's line of sight into the trees, I did in fact see a mother and child moose in the trees. Nice, a "moose sighting" for my birthday! Way to go Jack :)

But, it gets better... The trail we were on had an upcoming hairpin right that brought us back closer to the trees Jack is gazing into. At least I had warning from Jack as we came back towards the trees after the hairpin right. Sure enough, the moose was still there:

"Hello ma'am!" say Jack, Rudy and I watching the big lady moose
moving just off trail in the trees!

Zoomed in from the photo above. "Hello ma'am!"
The kid is directly uphill from the mother but pretty camouflaged
in the next set of trees.

So, there you have it. My birthday present from Jack & Rudy: an up close moose sighting! What a present!

Back to the trailhead to tell Zorro all about it as we share 'end of run' treats. Today's treat shot is a little different than the usual. There were loose dogs in the parking lot and we did not want annoying fluffy trying to join in with our 'end of run' treats. So, we loaded in the Jeep to enjoy our treats in privacy:

"We're flexible! Treats in Jeep works just fine for us!" says the focused
and flexible trio :)

A lot of fun fresh tracks skijoring for my birthday but the highlight was the moose sighting! 8.7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 320.6 miles with 29,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Birthday Finale

Our final skijor of the 2019/2020 Season this morning, June 1st, for Zorro's 12th birthday!

"Happy 12th Birthday Zorro!" say Jack, Rudy and myself to happy
Zorro awaiting today's 'end of run' treats!

Our goal every year is to skijor in some way on Zorro's June 1st birthday. Some years we have had wonderful extended skijors on June 1st while other years we have been hiking over dirt/mud as we search for extended patches of snow to ski. It all depends on what snow conditions are still available on June 1st.

Today was a slightly less than average June 1st outing. We were able to find a nice extended patch of snow atop Rabbit Ears Pass to skijor but the patch was only about 1/2 mile long. We did an "out & back" on this 1/2 mile stretch with the trio, Zorro, Jack and Rudy. We then dropped elder Zorro off with Nancy with the intent of going further with the kids, Jack & Rudy. But, we were confined to the same 1/2 mile stretch as we ran out of snow and into wide, fast running creeks and rivers on all sides. So, the day's total outing was an "out & back" with the threesome and then another "out & back" with the kids.

Oh well, it was still Toes on Snow on June 1st for Zorro's 12th Birthday! Yay!

Starting the outing on what looks like a pretty nice stretch for June 1st!

We were on one of the main snowmobile trails at Rabbit Ears. So, as you see above, the trail was more packed and smooth than the bumpy snow off trail. But, we still had our share of "hole obstacles" along the way.

Approaching a hole obstacle in front of us as Rudy takes the left of
the hole while Zorro & Jack go right. I went right too :)

A little further along and now Zorro & Rudy go left of another hole obstacle while Jack goes right. I went left with Zorro & Rudy too.

A little bumpy on the remains of the snowmobile trail; but
look at how bumpy it is off trail to our right and left!

Here we go for today's video highlight. It is not the prettiest skijor video ever; but it is Toes on Snow on June 1st for Zorro's 12th Birthday! Yay!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, a shot of the happy trio ending our initial "out & back" with the entire team:

All the smiles are visible despite the bright sun right behind us!

A fun little 2 mile skijor to celebrate Zorro's 12th birthday with a skijor in June!

That brings us to a conclusion of the 2019/2020 Skijor Season. We had an interesting and entertaining season balancing Zorro approaching 12 years old with Jack & Rudy maturing into professionals in the prime of their lives. A great time was had by all as Jack & Rudy eclipsed 1200 miles of skijoring for the season. Meanwhile Zorro came along for every outing but only participated in a portion of most runs as he happily hung with Nancy before and/or after his stint while the kids and I went out for more exercise. As you witnessed from the happy, happy faces in the posts all season long, a great time was had by all!!!

2019/2020 Final Season Stats: 176 days on the trails covering 1204.1 miles with 110,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Elder Zorro's 2019/2020 Final Season Stats: 176 days on the trails covering 626.4 miles with 57,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Perfect

For my birthday today, Zorro, Jack & Rudy gave me a perfect day interacting with the dog sled teams on the trails from Good Times Adventures!

Flying by a stopped team to our right. This is an 8 dog team to our right (in pairs of two).
Look closely and you should be able to see 6 of the 8 dogs watching us :)

Today was young Rudy's first time encountering the teams from Good Times on the trails. He did an amazing job keeping under control and listening to his brothers and me about how to behave! Way to go Rudy!!!

Here we are approaching a team stopped on the trail as we prepare to go on by. I have shortened the gangline for safety, but it wasn't really necessary as my perfect partners flew on by!

On the approach with first time Rudy on the inside! Wow!

Continuation from the prior photo and we here we are executing a perfect on by pass:

Way to go Zorro, Jack and Rudy! Especially young Rudy!!!
You can see some of the paused dogs jumping (and talking) as we go by.

Past the stopped team and a final glance from Rudy as we open up the throttle to continue along the trail:

"Bye friends - that was fun!!!!" says cute Rudy.

Today's video highlight puts together the prior three photos plus more. We start out flying along the trail by ourselves until I notice a team on the trail to the right of us coming along too. Their trail and our trail are about to intersect so I stop until you see the musher appear around the corner and wave us on since the team is stopped. This was perfect as I had reliable Jack on the inside to approach and pass the team. Pass we do and then, moments later, we come upon another stopped team on the left shoulder. I did not plan on young Rudy being on the inside for his first visit with the teams from Good Times, but this is how we found ourselves. So, I simply shorten the gangline and give some encouragement as we execute a perfect pass with Rudy on the inside!!!! WOW!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

More fun from the morning as we are stopped on a side trail watching a team go along the main trail. As you can see by Zorro, Jack & Rudy's posture, I am about to let them go as we play chase with the team in front of us :)

"Ready!!! Let's GO!" says the intensely focused trio.

Finally, happy boys coming the the end of a very entertaining day on the trails with lots of dog sled teams to interact with!

"Now that's how you throw a birthday party!" declares my sled dog trio.

A fun, flirtatious and perfect day on the trails for my birthday: 7.3 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 52 days on the trails covering 351.3 miles with 34,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Rudy Birthday

Young Rudy got exactly what he wanted for his 1 year old birthday this morning:

A fun skijor alongside his big brothers!

"What a great birthday!" says happy little Rudy.
"We know how to throw a 'sled dog birthday bash'!" add fun Zorro & Jack.

Rudy is still too young to come on long "big boy" skijors with Zorro & Jack; but he is old enough for us to start adding new things to his outings. Today's "new" was increased elevation and fewer breaks. So, while the distance (3.7 miles) was in his current training range, the elevation (500 feet ascended and descended) was quite an increase from what he has done to date. With elevation, you often get great views:

Sprinting along Prospect Hill as the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort come into view
across the valley. Beautiful day!

It was 2 degrees F when we started our outing. I was wondering if this was cold enough for Jack to skip his patented snow angels at our midpoint break. Silly me....

"Ha, I KNEW the goof would roll angels!" says Zorro.
"No kidding and I am the 'puppy'?!?" adds relaxing Rudy.
"So hot, must roll! Hehe!" demonstrates goofy Jack.

Coming to the end of Rudy's birthday bash and it is all smiles from the happy trio of sled dogs:

"Hi Mom! Wheeee!!!!!" say the perfectly synchronized trio.

1 year old Rudy's first skijor with noticeable elevation. We'll add new things as he continues to grow and he'll be up with the big boys in a few more months! 3.7 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 26 days on the trails covering 133.9 miles with 12,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Birthday

I got exactly what I wanted for my birthday this morning - a fast & fun skijor with my three favorite pals! Wheeee!

"Happy birthday!" says happy Zorro.
"Hey, birthday? Ok - happy birthday!" adds cute Rudy.
"Shouldn't you come roll snow angels with me for your birthday?!?" asks Jack :)

The prior photo is exactly what I expected from my pals at our skijor break: total, happy focus from veteran Zorro, goofy snow rolling from silly Jack and a smidget of happy attention from little Rudy.

I have come to learn our best skijor configuration this season. Remember this is our first year as a threesome and Zorro is the stable veteran, Jack is the maturing youngster and Rudy is the youngster in training. Our perfect configuration: Zorro in the middle, Jack to the left, Rudy to the right with my right leg behind Zorro and my left leg behind or outside of Jack...

The perfect configuration for our current level of experience and skill. Beautiful.

Another fun shot of the perfect configuration:

All smiles as Nancy caught a fun "shot from the front" as we end the day's run.

Why the perfect configuration? Well, just come along and see for yourself in an extended video of perfect skijoring. Wheeee and zooooom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

End of the fast & fun birthday run - let's share some end of run pork treats:

"Happy birthday, now dish them out!" says all 3 focused pals.

A perfect "fast & fun" short run for my birthday this morning: 3.9 miles traveled with 250 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 25 days on the trails covering 130.2 miles with 11,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Birthday Fun

Zorro and Jack gave me exactly what a wanted for my birthday this morning: a fast & fun skijor on Baldy Mountain!

All smiles as Zorro and Jack take me to the finish of our morning skijor. Wheeee!

Before hooking up Jack for the finish you see above, Zorro first towed me up & down Baldy Mountain. It was fast, packed and wide down low:

Zoom we go behind flying Zorro!

It was narrow and deep up high. Barely wide enough for Zorro and I to fit :)

Fun Zorro towing in a narrow single track with "taller than Z" snow walls on each side!

Finally, we had beautiful views up high. How better to celebrate a view than to roll a snow angel while taking in the views :)

Silly Zorro rolling a snow angel while I paused to take in the nice view of the snow covered
peaks and ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley.

Back to the most fun: Zorro loves to uncork the skijor engine and really open up the throttle on the wide and packed trails lower on Baldy. Come along as we zoom, zoom, zoom along...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a great birthday present: a great run up/down Baldy with Zorro and then a fun finish to the day with Jack and Zorro: 6.2 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 19 days on the trails covering 126.9 miles with 11,800 feet of elevation climbed.

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Birthday

Max & Zorro gave me the best birthday present this morning: a 9 mile skijor and topping 24 MPH.

A present only a sled dog could give :)

"Glad you liked our present - we did too!" declares Max.
"Tell me what was your favorite part of the outing!" says intense little Zorro.

It was a fast skijor present this morning as we went up & over the fast packed Sally Barber Mine Trail and then out & back on the also fast packed French Gulch Trail. It was pedal to the metal all morning long!

Flying Siberians towing me along the Sally Barber Mine Trail. Zoooom!!!

I think today's video clip speaks for itself how fast we were going. I have spliced together a sprint clip from the Sally Barber Mine Trail with another sprint clip from the French Gulch Trail. Regardless of the trail, it was flying all morning - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a great birthday present from my skijor pals: 9.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 44 days on the trails covering 335.9 miles with 34,450 feet of elevation climbed.

Max Birthday

Max turned 9 years old today.

A very satisfying run to celebrate his birthday!

"What a birthday bash! I had the best time!" exclaims happy & satisfied Max at the
end of the morning's skijor run.

We did 4 of Max's favorite skijoring activities on this morning's run. Come along for the fun...

(1) Uncorking the skijoring engine on a fast trail just barely 2 Siberians wide. Wheeee!

Zoom, zoom, zoom we go zipping through the trees in French Gulch.

(2) Finding an untouched cache of snow to set your own trail...

Breaking trail far back in French Gulch. Love setting our own path!

(3) Catching the 'scent of moose' and following your nose into the forest until you spot the big stinky set back in the trees.

"Found one!" declare the moose staring pair as I followed their stare to spot a moose a safe
distance away and camouflaged in the trees.

(4) Rolling snow angels to cool off at our quick midpoint break.

"Aahhhh - rub a dub dub!" demonstrate the synchronized snow angel rolling brothers!

Pedal to the metal + breaking trail + scent of moose + rolling snow angels - what a birthday bash! 8.2 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 79 days on the trails covering 671.9 miles with 70900 feet of elevation climbed.