Dives

Another wonderful day skijoring with Jack & Rudy in soft snowmobile tracks atop Rabbit Ears Pass!

Whee! Zipping along! I am in a serious ski tuck to keep pace, thus the reason
you can see so much of the carabiner in the lower right of this photo.

We started on the Harrison Creek Trail at Rabbit Ears as was the case yesterday. But, a few miles in and we got to a junction. Yesterday we went straight at the junction, today we turned right to mix it up. As with yesterday, this was still an "out & back" route. So, we had to turnaround at some point. You know what that means from Jack & Rudy:

"Turnaround! Roll around!" goes the snow rolling sillies to cool
themselves off before turning and restarting :)

On the way back, those pesky "rodents under the snow" apparently were very active and caught Rudy's attention. So, off Rudy went rodent diving off trail and into the deep snow. Jack, of course, was quick to follow (with his typical "rodent lunge" versus Rudy's high arching dives).

"I sense rodents! Incoming!" says rodent diving Rudy.
"What? Really? Well I'll certainly join too!" adds Jack.

Today, instead of my usual video highlight showcasing hard working/running Jack & Rudy, I will expose the comedians. Come along for today's episode of diving & dunking and diving & dunking again from the silly kids determined to find one of those rodents under the snow! Goofballs :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Ok, comedy interlude over and it was back to Jack & Rudy the professional sled dogs:

Whee, back to "normal"!

Back to the trailhead and a nice snow wall to climb for end of run treats:

"We heard you laughing! You loved our rodent dive comedy event!" says
the happy kids very proud of their performance on the trail today :)

A nice day for following soft snowmobile tracks and, apparently, a nice day to dive off trail in search of rodents under the snow: 8.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 21 days on the trails covering 164.8 miles with 16,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Not Interested

Cool shot of Flying Jack and Hovering Rudy on the fast nordic trails this morning!

Nobody is touching the ground! Jack is flying, Rudy is hovering. Wheeee!

Today's comedy outtake features Rudy dorking with Jack and Jack clearly stating, "Not interested."

It starts as we were cruising along the trail and suddenly Rudy wanted to scream in Jack's ear and try to bait him into playing...

"I said, TAG - YOU'RE IT!" yells Rudy in Jack's ear.

Sometimes Jack falls for Rudy's bait and sometimes he rises above it to ignore the twerp. When it is the reverse, if Jack tries to bait Rudy, Rudy ALWAYS falls for it. So, it's only Jack who can rise above the antics. Today, Jack simply shrugged Rudy off and moved to the other side of the classic track on the trail to separate from the pest and keep on running.

"Not interested, I'm sliding right to avoid you." responds Jack.

Put it all together and you get today's video highlight of "Rudy the pest" and "not interested Jack". Watch at about 10 seconds into the clip and Rudy dorks with Jack (you can hear him too if your volume is up). Jack simply moves to the other side of the classic track to separate from Rudy and continues running there until he decides it is ok to re-enter the main trail with Rudy. Classic "not interested" reaction from Jack :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

When Rudy was in proper form, we were flying around the trails today!

Airborne Jack & Rudy hovering over the fast trail.

Ok, time for end of run treats. Who earned theirs today?

"I know I did!" says cool Jack.
"Huh, don't know what you are talking about, I was perfect!" replies
amnesiac Rudy.

A quick fast day out on the trails featuring "Rudy the pest" and "not interested Jack": 7.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 25 days on the trails covering 199.4 miles with 17,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Dive, Dig, Dunk

Jack & Rudy were in rare comical form on the trails yesterday morning!

Both silly kids dunking their head in the hole in the snow they dug
searching for rodents!

It did not help that we had tons of "wildlife distractions" to egg on the two silly kids. They do not need extra motivation to be goofy, but had PLENTY of it out on the Harrison Creek Trail yesterday!

Come along for today's comedy show. Notice my parallel, on trail, skis as the video clip starts. We were trotting along nicely until this comedy act broke out. Watch as both Jack & Rudy are simultaneously distracted off trail by rodents under the snow. Then watch as the goofballs proceed to dig & dunk in the snow in their quest for rodents. Silly kids....

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As I said, the number of wildlife distractions on the trail only egged these two on :)

Both goofs drifted off trail again to stand in moose tracks as they
scan the trees for the moose.

A little further along and those pesky rodents were clearly very busy and loud under the snow yesterday morning...

"Digging!!!!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"INCOMING!" contributes Rudy with a beautiful rodent swan dive.

Even when I got them on trail to skijor, it was still distractions everywhere. Notice anything unusual in the following photo?

Next to my right ski - those are frozen elk footprints in the trail.
Notice the elk prints go down the center of the trail.
Jack & Rudy certainly noticed :)

Ok, we really did skijor more than hunt. Here's one beautiful stretch of distraction free trail:

Whee! Skijoring! :)

Of course, Jack & Rudy are quite proud of their behavior and antics. It's rare that BOTH are in super comical moods on the same outing...

"Hey, we heard you laughing! You loved it!" proclaims the proud goofballs.

7.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed, a top speed of 20 MPH and many, many comical wildlife distractions.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 12 days on the trails covering 81.3 miles with 6750 feet of elevation climbed.

Season Finale

Despite the nice photos you will see below, today was our finale for the 2020/2021 Skijoring Season!

Laying fresh tracks midway up the trail from the top of Vail Pass
to the top of Shrine Pass.

We returned to Vail Pass this morning for what we expected to be our last outing of the 2020/2021 season. With deteriorating conditions in the open meadows we usually skijor in May and with fresh snow overnight, we were able to use the main trail that takes you from the top of Vail Pass (our starting point) to the top of the next pass, Shrine Pass. Here's a fun shot of Jack & Rudy plowing through some deep snow as we are now at the top of Shrine Pass.

Powder plowing kids. Wheeee!

Ok, now you have probably looked at the last two photos multiple times and are asking, "How in the world is this our last outing of the season?" Well, it is subtle to notice in the photos. But, the new snow was very wet and heavy and the surface under the new snow was slush and/or mud. If you look closely in the first photo, you can make out some dark footholes behind Jack - this is mud/slush his foot poked through to contact. If you look closely in the second photo, you can see some similar footholes behind Rudy. Basically, despite these two very nice looking photos from this morning, the reality is all this snow will be gone and the trail back to slush after a few hours of sunshine. The sun is now out as I am typing and the 2020/2021 skijor season has come to and end.

Back to today's outing, we went up from Vail Pass to Shrine Pass and then skijored across the top of Shrine for a while before turning around to come back down. Oh, did I say "turnaround"? I bet you are expecting the usual turnaround snow angel photo next. Well, nope, Jack & Rudy like to keep you guessing what form of comedy they'll produce at turnaround points.

Today's comedy act? Rodent dives and digs.

Rudy showcasing his patented "rodent swan dives" at our
turnaround point.

Not to be outdone, Jack had a very nice rodent dive of his own. He is not known for the high arching swan dives of Rudy, but had some today!

A high arching swan dive from Jack! Impressive!

It only seems fitting to close out the 2020/2021 season with a comedy (instead of skijoring) video. After all, the three year olds, Jack & Rudy, have provided constant entertainment this season. Come along for their funny sequence of rodent dives and digs atop Shrine Pass this morning. Oh, and "no", they did not actually catch any rodents :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead for our final 'end of run' treats for the 2020/2021 season. Rudy would like to point out to everyone what a "mellow & chill" adult he has become. Yes, our wild red boy has become Mr. Smooth :) But, don't worry, Rudy is always one woo away from his wild side :)

"Poke, poke - me first!" Zorro reminds me.
"What a fun season!" adds happy Jack.
"Chilling!" declares mellow Rudy.

An aerobic run in wet & heavy snow to end the season: 5.8 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2020/2021 Season Total: 154 days on the trails covering 1253.2 miles with 107,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Thanks for sharing in the fun this season. Check back in June or July for our "2020/2021 Season in Review" highlight video.

Comedy

Nice "shot from the front" as we arrive at the trailhead to end this morning's fun skijor.

Happy boys! Yes, I am snowplowing pretty aggressively as the trail ends just a few
feet in front of us!

We had a fast & fun run on the groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. Most of the day looked like the following photo:

Catching air as we fly along the fast trail!

While most of the day looked like the prior photo, we had a few comical diversions. Come along for the comedy...

At our turnaround point of the outing and guess what everyone did :)

"Rub a dub dub - I'm a headless snow angel!" demonstrates goofy Jack.
"He's at it AGAIN!" states Zorro.
"Cooling my belly!" adds funny Rudy.

And then it is Rudy's turn...

"Ahhh, rolling in Jack's angel imprint!" demonstrates goofy Rudy.
"Not him TOO?!?!?" states Zorro.
"Hey, snowcones are almost as much fun as snow angels!" adds funny Jack snacking on snow.

Here is an interesting shot from the day:

"Hi dad - you are funny!" says silly Rudy.

How on earth did I get that previous photo with my ski sideways? Well, come watch the video comedy of the day. We are just about to enter an extremely steep piece of trail. I had stopped to get myself together before entering the steep section. But, as I start to go, my ski tips cross and I topple over. You can hear me utter "wait" once to get everyone to stop; but I quickly realize the trail is to steep for me to stop! So, I don't try to enforce the wait and simply slide down the trail on my butt instead. Buttjoring at its best :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Like I said earlier, a primarily fast & fun outing on groomed trails with a little comedy mixed in: 5.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 249.6 miles with 22,350 feet of elevation climbed.

Poles

The sled dogs are sprinting while I'm still putting my poles in place.

Who needs ski poles when you have sled dogs? :)

Clearly I do not really need poles :)

Now for the video counterpart to "who needs poles". We are at our turnaround point on the trail and I am in the process of turning the skis around. My pals are REALLY ready to go, so as soon as my skis are lined out I mutter a very soft "ok" (need your volume up to even hear it). But, my pals hear it and BOOM - off we go. Meanwhile I don't even have my ski poles on properly. It takes me the first 10ish seconds of the video to align my equipment even though we are flying along the trail behind the fast sled dogs. Once finally aligned and it is a beautiful run on the groomed nordic trails. Clearly I do not really need ski poles :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We spent most the morning on the groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. So fast & fun to be on the groomie zoomies:

In a fast sprint tuck as all 3 are airborne.

All three love encountering people on the trail to zoom on by:

"Hi... Bye... ZOOM!" demonstrate the sprinting trio bringing a smile to the face
of the onlooker.

A milestone for young Rudy today - it was his first time skijoring three days in a row! We are still keeping his runs short; but three in a row is quite an achievement. How did it go?

"I was born for this!" declares happy Rudy.
"Can't wait until it is three long runs in a row!" adds Zorro surveying the terrain.
"I love all runs - short, long, anything!" adds happy Jack.

A fun day proving that I really do not need ski poles, just sled dogs! 4.7 miles traveled with 450 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 43 days on the trails covering 229.6 miles with 20,450 feet of elevation climbed

Hurdle, Dodge, Go

A nice "airborne hover husky" shot of the skijor trio on this morning's run!

It's not a "perfect" hover husky, but we are all airborne. Look closely and Zorro's back right
foot is off the ground, it is just hard to see given the shadows unless you look really closely.

Today's skijor took us on the Blue River Rec Path. This is a mostly flat to downhill path connecting Breckenridge to Frisco. A great trail for young, but growing & maturing, Rudy.

Today's video highlight is a comical start to the skijor. Watch closely as we start in Zorro/Jack/Rudy configuration but Rudy immediately decides he wants to be "in the middle" so he hurdles Jack, lands and off we go. But, then there is a large branch to avoid on the trail (well, I have to avoid it with skis), so it's a quick dodge on my part. Finally, we are through with hurdles and obstacles so off we go. Hurdle, Dodge, Go -- Zoom :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

That video clip is "classic Rudy". The polite way to change positions skijoring is demonstrated by Jack in the Changing Lanes blog entry. That is, slow down a bit, cross behind your brother and then speed up into your new position. This is also the way Zorro always changes positions while running. Rudy, on the other hand, simply throws himself into and over Jack to change positions. Nothing polite from rude Rudy, haha :)

The rec path parallels Highway 9 connecting Breckenridge and Frisco. Occasionally it comes close enough to the highway to see in the cars going by. Every car I glanced at had one passenger pointing out the window at the cool sled dogs towing the crazy human along the path.

Zooming sled dogs as you see some of the cars on Highway 9.

The only downside to the rec path is that it crosses roads multiple times. So, it is "stop, take off skis, walk, reattach skis then GO." Everyone has a different opinion of the road crossings:

"Look both ways, I know what we are doing!" states veteran Zorro.
"This is so much fun!" declares happy Jack.
"Couldn't we just hurdle the road too?!?" asks 'never wants to stop' Rudy :)

End of the day and here's cute Rudy:

"Hi Mom!!!!!" says cute Rudy looking back at Nancy.
Meanwhile, the adults (Zorro & Jack) know to ignore Nancy and get their end of run
treats from me.

A comical start and then a fast run on the groomed rec path: 4.2 miles traveled with 100 feet of elevation gain and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 29 days on the trails covering 151.6 miles with 13,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Risk Reward

It was a "risk/reward" day attempting to skijor French Gulch...

"The risk was WORTH IT!" exclaim extremely happy Max & Zorro on great snow far back
in French Gulch.

The risk? Well, lower French Gulch dries out fast this time of year. We got a nice dump of new snow on Tuesday and we hoped it had lasted until this morning. Well, not really - see below:

Yikes! We are risking skijoring this narrow ribbon of snow to get far back in French Gulch.
Zorro riding the ribbon with me (Zorro will keep his toes on snow at all costs :)
Max dropping out onto the ground to keep us going.

The reward? Well, we knew far back and higher up in French Gulch would be worth the effort to get there. We found a beautiful spring crust to trot along for miles far back in the gulch. The crust was not hard enough to support a sprint (Max & Zorro would punch through with sprint force) but was plenty hard enough to support a trot. So, Max & Zorro automatically slowed to a gentle gallop as we toured the great terrain in upper French Gulch.

So worth it to get to this!

The additional reward? Rodent dives! We were skijoring along when suddenly Max & Zorro slowed as something caught their attention under the snow crust. Both went into "hunting mode" and did their fox-like rodent dives to puncture the crust and dig for rodents!

Zorro has completed his dive to puncture the crust so he can dig for rodents.
Max in a beautiful "rodent dive" as he is coming in to puncture and dig too.

Today's comical video is the rodent dive & dig. I've put the video into slow motion so you can watch Max & Zorro's perfect dives to digs. A 10-point dive for each on the olympic scale :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Risky down low but so rewarding up high! 8.9 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 122 days on the trails covering 1019.1 miles with 108,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Friskies

Max & Zorro had a "case of the friskies" on the trails this morning. Silly Siberians :)

"Hey bro - wanna play 'tag & tackle'?!?" says Max & Zorro simultaneously to each other.

Anyone with a Siberian Husky knows what happens after two sibes exchange a look like the one shown in the prior photo.... Tag & Tackle!

"Coming in for the tag!" declares 'coming low' Zorro.
"Back at you with a tackle!" declares 'coming high' Max.

The "friskies" were out between these two most of the morning. Usually this means they are going to break out into a wrestlefest as we are sprinting along the trails. Amazingly, though, I was able to 'catch and correct' all imminent wrestlefests! Watch today's short video clip for an example of what I was seeing all day long... Partway along the fast terrain and I see unapproved glances starting so call out "Forward" to remind everyone what we are supposed to be doing. Then a "Hey, Hey" to keep everyone focused and finally a "Good" compliment once they abandon this attempted wrestlefest. It was all morning long - it's a wonder I didn't lose my voice :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, all sibes are proud of their frisky behaviors...

"What?!? We are having a great frisky day!" say my innocent & happy partners at our turnaround
point of the outing.

Frisky run out & back in French Gulch: 8.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 81 days on the trails covering 660.2 miles with 71,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Silly Max

Most of the day was "perfect skijoring" as shown below. Most.....

Perfect form as we sprint along the fast packed trail.

Okay, "most of the day" was perfect; so what was "not perfect"? Well, Max lost it. A few times each season either Max, Zorro or both "lose it" on the trail and decide we are playing "tag & tackle" instead of "skijoring". Today was one such day as Max got the wild idea that tag & tackle at 15-20 MPH was a fun idea. Here we go with excerpts from the silly Max incident:

"Hey little bro - want to play 'tag & tackle'?" yells Max to Zorro.

"Apparently you did not hear me, I'll come a little closer... Do you want to play 'tag & tackle'?"
asks Max again after moving closer to Zorro.
"No - go away, I'm skijoring!" responds Zorro the adult.

"Tag - you're it!" performs Max the silly puppy brain!

Put the previous photos together and you get the following video showcasing "puppy brain Max". I see it starting and call an "ah ah" which usually corrects any thoughts of tag & tackle. The "ah ah" doesn't work so I try calling Max out by name - failed again. Last resort as I call out "forward, forward" trying to interrupt Max's silliness. Well, failed again as Max proceeds to tag and toss Zorro off the trail and into the shoulder snow. Tag done and Max (& Zorro) realign and start skijoring again. Silly Max!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with the day's run, look who is perfectly happy with his performance this morning :)

"Who me? What are you talking about - I had a PERFECT day!" declares happy & satisfied Max.

A mostly perfect skijor with one case of Max the maximum puppy thrown in for comedy: 8.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 344.7 miles with 35,250 feet of elevation climbed.

Bucking Bronco

Max the Bucking Bronco losing patience with the "paused dog sled team" on the trail in front of us this morning :)

"Get Going!" screams Max at the paused team in front of us and he bounces and bucks
up in the air to add some gusto to his scream.

Today's video clip is a must see. I do not usually load long clips but today's 2 minute clip is a "Max Classic". The video starts with us flying along the trail behind a dog sled tour from Good Times Adventures. But, after a couple of turns we screech to a halt as we encounter a "man down" on the trail (the musher & passenger fell off the sled).

It is a narrow trail, so we have no choice but to wait for the group to get organized and restarted. Watch how impatient Max is with this restart effort as he keeps bucking up in the air and yelling at the team to "get going!" (you probably need the volume up high to hear Max as the GoPro was in a waterproof case).

Note that Max starts this episode on the left of Zorro but ends up hurdling over him in impatience to end up on the right of Zorro before we finally get restarted. Funny Max :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It is hard to top that hilarious video. But here is a little more fun from the day...

Catching and passing a paused dog sled team on the trail:

"Hi buds - coming through!" demonstrate sprinting Max & Zorro executing a perfect pass.

Pausing at an intersection of trails to let a team go by:

"Hey friends! We'll be right behind you!" state Max & Zorro.

What a fun day!

"Great time - glad I exhibited such patience all day!" exclaims silly Max.
"Am I the only one with 'trail composure'?" asks innocent little Zorro.
Sorry to cutoff part of Zorro, he was coming at me at this pause point and did not
fit in the whole GoPro field of view.

Running with the dog sled teams on the trails around Good Times Adventures: 9.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 90 days on the trails covering 766.0 miles with 81500 feet of elevation climbed.