Eek, the Creek!

Everybody having a good time this morning?

"You bet!!!" says the happy, happy sled dogs thrilled to still be on snow in May.

Today's outing took us to the Dumont Lake area at Rabbit Ears Pass. I was hoping for another smooth Spring Crust skijor like yesterday. Although there was a firm crust of snow, it was a very bumpy crust. I was bouncing all over the place trying to keep pace with Jack & Rudy on this bumpy terrain:

Jack & Rudy cruising along while my legs and knees were getting
beat up amidst all the bumps!

Some of this bumpiness was due to heavy snowmobile traffic on this part of Rabbit Ears and some was just the melting snowpack. So, I turned us away from the most popular snowmobile pathways and, sure enough, we found much smoother terrain to run on top of. It was still a little bumpy, but nothing compared to the extreme bumps in the high traffic areas:

"Ah, this is much smoother!" says my appreciative knees :)

What is all that black/brown ahead of us in the prior photo? Well, it is an exposed creek! It's always sad when the creek breaks through on our late season mountain passes as this means the end of the season really is near. Come along for today's video highlight of our skijor to the edge of the creek. We start out on a very nice crust. Then Jack & Rudy slow nicely as the terrain gets a little bumpy as we arrive to the edge of the creek. Of course the smart kids know the fast flowing creek is nothing to mess with, so we stop to turnaround. The creek, by the way, is Muddy Creek which will take all this wonderful snow melt into the Colorado River.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Since the creek was wide and running fast, there was no way to cross, so we backtracked until we found a safe crossing point (a few "snow bridges" are still intact which let you cross the creek safely):

Cruising along the edge of Muddy Creek until we could find a snow bridge
to safely cross over the creek.

Did I use the word "turnaround" above? Yep, so you know what that means:

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

Another sign the season is winding down (in addition to the exposed creek)? Well, when you have to seek out snow piles amidst exposed ground for end of run treats, you know things are winding down :)

At least we found this little snow pile for end of run treats!
The treats just don't taste the same if your toes are not on snow!

Today's skijor tally: 7.7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 153 days on the trails covering 1292.8 miles with 128,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Mix

Rolling snow angels to cool off at the official "Rabbit Ears Pass Geological Marker" - sillies :)

Some (humans) pause to look at the geological marker.
Others (Siberian goofballs) roll snow angels because the human paused :)

It was a mixed bag of conditions on this morning's outing. We had some really nice stretches relatively untracked snow:

Wonderful straightaway for mid May!

We also had many sketchy stretches showing that summer will eventually arrive:

Yikes, exposed asphalt on what is the road to Dumont Lake Campground in
the summer. But, still snow on the sides for us to keep going.

Finally, there was some pretty bumpy, but fully snow covered stretches of snow.

A bit of a bumpy ride along this stretch. But, hey, it's snow and not
exposed ground!

The snow covered open straightaways were very nice. Come along for the video proof of this fact. It is melting fast, but we are still able to go and floor it occasionally!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, for the first time in a while, we had no snow walls for the kids to climb for end of run treats. After handing out the treats, it was time for me to get up from a kneeling position. Oh boy, those old knees of mine, I realized how much I miss those snow walls for Jack & Rudy so I can dish out treats from a standing position!

"Sorry you have to come to our level today instead of vice versa!" says the
happy kids.

A quick "sometimes nice" and "sometimes not" outing on Rabbit Ears this morning: 6.4 miles traveled with a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 158 days on the trails covering 1389.2 miles with 126,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Variety

The sillies, Jack & Rudy, doing one of their intertwined, conjoined snow angels :)

Which legs are Jack's and which legs are Rudy's? It's hard to tell :)

Today's skijor outing combined a variety of conditions and locations atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Come along for the fun.

We started at the Walton Peak Ski/Snowshoe Trailhead and went touring the Spring Crust through the forest from here.

Nice crust in the openings between the trees.

We then mirrored Walton Creek for a while to get to another section of terrain.

The creek is far to our left. It was exposed and flowing fast, so we did not
want to get too close. But we used it to guide us from one trail section
to the next.

Next up was the Walton Peak snowmobile trails to guide us to the Walton Peak Snowmobile Trailhead.

Flying along. Wheeee!

Now, come along for a bouncing & bumpy ride on the leftover snowmobile trails at the base of Walton Peak. Despite how much you see the camera (and thus me) bouncing around, it did not feel as bumpy as this implies. I was actually quite surprised to see how much the camera was bouncing after downloading the footage! I was expecting a much smoother video clip :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally we hitched a ride on the groomie zoomie going from the Walton Peak Snowmobile Trailhead to the Dumont Lake Trailhead:

Zipping along in what is left of the deteriorating groom track from Walton
Peak to Dumont Lake.

That's a lot of variety for one skijor outing! Who had a great time?

"We did! We did! We had a great time!' declares the happy kids on
yet another snow wall for up close end of run treats!

What an entertaining day: 8.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 156 days on the trails covering 1374.0 miles with 125,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

1300 Miles

We did it - second year in a row for Jack & Rudy surpassing 1300 miles of skijoring!

Currently at 1302.1 miles and counting...

"We are ready for 1300 more!" exclaims the happy kids.

With a trace of new snow overnight, we went to the upper elevation trails on Peak 7 this morning. I was hoping for a bit more new snow, but a trace is better than nothing as the trails get very slick this time of year when there is no new snow.

Near our highest point of elevation this morning and you can see Rudy's
footprints in the trace of new snow.

I call this type of spring snow "safety dust" as the dusting makes the trails a bit safer as the dust gives me some control on the otherwise slick and hard packed trails. A few times we could open up the throttle, wheeee!

Nice stretch to open it up with the help of the safety dust.

While the prior two photos look nice, they hide just how bumpy the trail really was. Come along for today's video highlight to see the camera (and, thus, me) bouncing around quite a bit on the bumpy terrain. The impressive thing about Jack & Rudy is that they will keep speed to a minimum when they hear my skis scraping and feel me bouncing around. I don't have to say anything, they know to maintain a gentle trot or jog to preserve the bouncing human. Great partners.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

If you look closely at the first photo, you'll see that the harness on Jack's back is white, covered with snow. How did this happen? Well, that photo was at our turnaround point of the outing. So, this is what happened right before the first photo :)

"Ah, rub a dub dub, rolling snow angels to cool off!" goes the silly kids.
Now you see how Jack's back got covered in snow!

Back to the trailhead and, despite the melting snowpack, the kids were able to find a snow wall to climb for end of run treats!

"Ready!" declares the happy & focused duo.

A bit of a rough & bumpy ride this morning, but at least we had the safety dust to allow us to cruise by 1300 miles for the season: 6.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 147 days on the trails covering 1302.1 miles with 119,200 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Bumpy Ride

Wooing while jogging - talented, Rudy, very talented :)

"Woooooo!" says Rudy to the crowd to our left.

We had just started our skijor when we passed by the group you see to our left. It was actually a snowcat tour company that was preparing their supplies to take guests out for the day. Silly Rudy will woo at anyone who will listen. No, actually, it doesn't matter if you are listening, silly Rudy will woo at anyone :)

One of the tour guides wooed back and that got an even louder (and prouder) response woo from Rudy as we passed on by. Silly kid.

Today's forecast was "sun in the morning, snow in the afternoon & night." Hmmm, we started our skijor just before 8am, isn't that morning? Look at the following photo near the start of our outing. Notice that big snowflake hitting the camera and blocking part of Rudy. Notice all the white speckles (active snowfall) against all the trees. So much for the forecast!

Light to moderate snowfall occurred for our entire outing.

The snowfall was actually quite welcome by me as it helped smooth the trails. Now look at this very deceiving shot from the outing. Notice anything different than usual?

You don't usually see this much of the carabiner attaching the gangline
to my waistband. Why is that?

It was a very bumpy skijor for extended stretches in Wilder Gulch this morning. The bumpiness is due to lots of recent snowmobile traffic (every time a snowmobile increases acceleration, it leaves a bump along the trail). You'll witness the bumpiness in two ways in the following skijor video clip. Watch the carabiner and notice how much it is bouncing up & down. Second, you see so much of the carabiner and my skis because I'm in a constant tuck trying to keep control over the bumps. What a wild ride this morning!!! 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Some need to roll snow angels to cool off after a bumpy ride. That would be Jack & Rudy. Some need to soak their sore knees in a nice hot bath. That would be me.

"Aaaah, cooling our jets!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
I'll spare you the photo of my bath :)

Finally, everybody was packed in tight to get those end of run treats at the finish!

"Dish them out!" demands the focused kids :)

A peaceful albeit very bumpy at times skijor in Wilder Gulch at Vail Pass: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 82 days on the trails covering 715.4 miles with 65,850 feet of elevation climbed.

Still Going

Jack & Rudy were THRILLED to be back on snow this morning!

"We LOVE snow!!!!" exclaims the happy, happy pair.

After an unplanned week off, we returned to Rabbit Ears Pass to try and get a few more runs in before the 2021/2022 season comes to an end. While the conditions were choppy, bumpy and full of obstacles, it was actually better than we expected. Come along for the fun ride this morning...

There was a lot of choppy & bumpy terrain to bounce the human across. Jack & Rudy can glide across this surface just fine, but my legs certainly felt it!!!

Bumpy & choppy terrain. But, hey, it's snow on May 17th!

For all the hard work towing the human through the bumps, we were rewarded with several large meadows of wide open terrain to go, go, go - wheeee!

The bumps were worth it to get onto vast (and smoother) open meadows!

Of course, the "end of season" signs were everywhere as we encountered many melt holes along the way:

Yikes, huge melt hole to the right, stay to the left!!!

Silly me, I forgot that all melt holes close to the trail are potential obstacles across the trail too. Come along for an example of what I mean. We are cruising along this wonderful section of trail when the melt hole appears to our right. Then, as the hole meets the trail, notice the big dip in the terrain. I completely forgot melt holes lead to deep trail dips if the hole is close to the trail. Watch as I scramble to slide left to send myself through the smoothest part of the dip. After the dip, Jack finds himself off the packed trail and on the choppy shoulder. But, it only takes him a few seconds to recover and slide left to rejoin Rudy on the smoother surface. 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

May brings on warm temperatures, even in the morning. So, you know what that means...

Rolling, rolling, rolling - rolling snow angels to cool off :)

After a week off from skijoring, curious Rudy was wondering if he gets to be first for 'end of run' treats now (instead of his usual 3rd in line):

"Me first today?!?" asks cute Rudy.
"Silly youngster, when will he learn?" adds smooth Jack.
"Ahem, ahem - ME first!" declares elder Zorro.

The end of the 2021/2022 season is definitely close; but we are still able to get in some short runs on what snow is left: 4.8 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 153 days on the trails covering 1280.0 miles with 120,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Parting Clouds

From overcast skies to sun & shadows, all in the same outing :)

Starting the day under very overcast skies.

Compare & contrast the former and following photos. Then realize these two photos are less than one hour apart. From overcast skies to sun & shadows in a manner of 10s of minutes!

Less than an hour later and we are cruising under a bright morning sun!

In between the clouds and the sun, we had a variety of fun activities skijoring near Dumont Lake atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Come along for some of the fun.

The day started on rough & bumpy snowmobile trails. Jack & Rudy are having no problem cruising over this terrain. I, on the other hand, am bouncing around on my skis and moving back & forth to find the smoothest surface for me to glide over.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, as the sun started to peek through the clouds, apparently the rodents under the snow started to wake and stir. Just ask Jack & Rudy:

"Yes little bro - dive & dig right here!" says Jack to excavator Rudy.
"Got it, INCOMING!" demonstrates Rudy the professional rodent digger.

Then, as the clouds started to really disappear, we watched a snowmobile run over frozen Dumont Lake. With the lake still frozen enough to hold a snowmobile, I instructed Jack & Rudy to take me across the lake as well. If you came and looked at this lake in the summer, you'd be amazed we skijored across a body of water this big!

Laying fresh tracks over frozen Dumont Lake. Fun!

What a fun and interesting day. Let me get some 'end of run' treats organized in my hand to distribute out :)

"Don't drop them!" warns focused Zorro.
"Looks like enough for three!" says approving Jack.
"Don't forget ME!" adds Rudy in the background.

A very entertaining day to make our own path & tracks around and over Dumont Lake as we transitioned from dense clouds to bright sun: 8.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 140 days on the trails covering 1184.9 miles with 111,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Bouncing Along

All smiles from the mature sled dogs at a pause on the trails this morning!

"We are having so much fun!" declares the happy pair.

We had a great morning skijoring around Buffalo Park at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning. Come along for the fun.

We started the day on a freshly groomed snowmobile trail. Freshly groomed? Zoom!

Starting out the day on a fresh groomie zoomie!

Unfortunately the groomer turned away from Buffalo Park within the first 1/2 mile. Not a problem, though, since it is April, we simply abandoned trail too and made our own route across the endless spring crust.

A firm and endless spring crust as far as the eye can see!

There was one slight drawback to the crust this morning. There were occasional snowmobile tracks crossing perpendicular or diagonal to us. These intersecting tracks cause no problem for Jack & Rudy; but imagine the human on skis. I had to bounce through and over each intersecting track. Jack & Rudy simply passed through or over such tracks. Over? Yes, check out Jack in this shot!

Jack doing his best superman impersonation as he takes
flight over a set of intersecting snowmobile tracks!

Despite the intersecting track here & there, it was still a great crust skijor this morning. Come along and watch for yourself. Fun gliding along the untouched crust and then bouncing the human through the occasional intersecting track. Bounce and go skijoring!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Remember that 'mature' comment I made before the first photo above. Despite being very adept and professional sled dogs, Jack & Rudy are still three years old too.

"Hey, we tried 'mature' above! Overrated!" says the
silly play bowing three year olds.

Finally, a wonderful end to the outing as we were able to meet Zorro & Nancy up trail a bit and then jog back with Zorro. Lead us home Zorro!

Gently trotting with our wonderful mentor, Zorro.
Love a light jog with the fun retired Zorro to end the day!

Fun, albeit bouncy, crust skijor this morning: 7.3 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 129 days on the trails covering 1052.8 miles with 88,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Bumpy

 Cruising by onlooking Zorro (with Nancy) as we complete this morning's skijor:

"Looking good kids! I taught you well!" says onlooking Zorro.

We did an out & back run from the Muddy Creek Trailhead at Rabbit Ears Pass. At our furthest and highest points, conditions were really nice:

Beautiful stretch of trail! Wheeee!

But, it has been a few days since we have had new snow and the daily highs have been well above freezing. This means the trail conditions near the trailheads were packed, bumpy and slick in areas. Come along and watch my bumpy ride behind Jack & Rudy. But, also note how both of them auto-adjust their speeds to what they hear from my skis. If the skis are scraping, they automatically slow to a jog or trot! Fun conclusion to the video as we cruise by onlooking Zorro & Nancy, "Hi Zorro!"

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

To rest my knees from the bumpy terrain and give Jack & Rudy some powder fun, we went off trail for a short distance to enjoy the untouched snow:

Plowing through deep snow off trail. Wheeee!

At our turnaround point of the day and we get a mix of comedic interlude. The typical snow rolling Jack but accompanied by a wooing Rudy today :)

"Rolling, aaaahhhh, rolling!" demonstrates always rolling Jack.
"Woo! Get up, let's go!!!" adds wooing Rudy.

Back to the trailhead and I love my occasional private moments with retired Zorro before collecting the kids for 'end of run' treats:

Having a great, private moment with wonderful Zorro.

A nice, gentle cruise with Jack & Rudy this morning at Muddy Creek: 7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 25 days on the trails covering 190.8 miles with 16,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Bumpy Fun

Jack & Rudy demonstrating how proficient they are at rolling snow angels in any (and all) snow conditions :)

What bumpy conditions! But look at talented Jack & Rudy rolling
snow angels while (both) eating snowcones as the same time. Talented!

While there was still a lot of snow on the ground near Walton Peak, the warmer than normal days the past couple of weeks has done some real damage on the smoothness of the snowpack. We started the day with just the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, once we saw just how bumpy the trail was at the start. It was so bumpy to start that we had to proceed at a gentle jog!

Toes on Snow! But what BUMPY snow as we move along
the bouncy trail in a gentle jog.

As we went further (and up), the trail got less bumpy but there were still plenty of other obstacles to navigate on by!

Smart kids moving "over the left" to pass this water obstacle.
Smart kids knowing the "faster you go, the quicker you pass the obstacle" too!

Now, the following may not look different; but believe me, it was. Compare the first photo with the following - can you see it is much less bumpy in the following versus the prior? Well, despite lots of bumpiness to the right and left, we are actually on a much smoother snowmobile trail that is not quite as bumpy as it had been packed daily for the entire winter.

Not as bumpy, so the kids open up the throttle. Zoom!

Come along for the video counter part of the prior photo. Yes, it is still somewhat bumpy, but two things: (1) it is smooth enough to uncork the skijoring engine; and (2) regardless of bumpiness, it's toes on snow on May 21st! Yay!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After a fun, albeit very bumpy, out & back with Jack & Rudy, we joined up with Zorro for a mini finish with the elder gentleman. There was a nice stretch near the trailhead that was not "as bumpy", so we headed there for our run to the finish with Zorro. Well, Zorro was ANYTHING but the "elder gentleman" once he joined today! Once we had the threesome connected, I tried to release us for the mini finish BUT Zorro lunged forward so hard (before I released them) that he pulled me over. Yes, 10 days from 12 years old Zorro was TOO much! That's nice to say, but painful to experience :)

Oh, and look who was concerned about my safety. Perfect Rudy!!!!!

"Whoa dad - what a spill! You ok?" asks perfect Rudy.
"Get up, let's go!" says happy Zorro the MONSTER.
"I'm with Zorro, let's GO!" adds happy, but wanting to go, Jack.

Despite the lunging forward by MONSTER Zorro, I did finally get up and make it to the trailhead in one piece. Time for 'end of run' treats but first a moment to remind Zorro about skijor politeness and not killing the human:

Having a private word with Zorro :)
"Waiting my turn!" says patient Jack.
"If only you had 3 Rudys, you'd be in perfect shape!" adds mellow Rudy.
Hahaha, mellow Rudy, who thought I'd ever say that?!?

A bumpy, but still fun toes on snow, morning with Jack & Rudy and then a MONSTER Zorro pulling the human over multiple times before finishing the day's run: 6.6 miles traveled with 550 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 172 days on the trails covering 1175.8 miles with 108,000 feet of elevation climbed.