Rudy Birthday

Rudy turned 4 years old today. Come along for his birthday skijor celebration!

"I'm the happiest 4 year old around!" declares happy, happy Rudy.
"I'm the silliest 4 year old around!' demonstrates snow rolling Jack
(who is also 4, but 5 months older than Rudy).

To celebrate Rudy's birthday, we went skijoring on the trails in Swan Valley that are also used by the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. Rudy (and Jack) love skijoring around the trails with all the other teams. It was quite a fun celebration for Rudy!

The first dog sled team we encountered was crossing the trail in front of us but quite a bit ahead of us. We paused to watch and let them pass.

"Hi guys!!!!" says focused Jack & Rudy.
You can see 2 of the sled dogs ahead and to the right and you can
barely make out the musher (wearing black) and sled in the upper
center of this shot.

Then, coming around a corner and we encountered another team crossing in front of us, but a little closer this time. 

"Hey dudes! Can we join?!?" asks Jack & Rudy watching the team cross.
There are 8 dogs on this team although 4 are already behind the snow wall
to our left. Love the sled dog in the back who is looking directly at us as
he goes on by.

Finally, we got to execute one perfect pass on by a team coming at us on the same trail. I could tell by the behavior (i.e., panic) of the musher that this musher and/or team was not used to passing. So, I shortened the gangline on Jack & Rudy to a very short line before instructing them to pass on by. Unfortunately my arms & hands were blocking the GoPro on my chest as I shortened the line until the camera could see the two wheel dogs and sled of the team we passed perfectly.

"Hello friends! Passing through!" demonstrates perfect Jack & Rudy.

What fun, what fun :) But, ready for a little more fun? We always do a few laps around the trails before going to flirt with the dog sled teams. I like to have Jack & Rudy's initial burst out of their system before seeking out teams to flirt with. Today's warmup laps included topping 24 MPH on a super nice section of trail. Come along for the fast fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a birthday bash!

"Glad the kid had fun!" says mentor Zorro.
"Love celebrating Rudy's birthday!" exclaims Jack (his birthday is
in July, so never as fun as Rudy's :)
"All this for me? Gosh, I'm flattered!" adds cute Rudy.

A great celebration of Rudy: 8.1 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 47 days on the trails covering 369.7 miles with 35,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Flirting

 Such a fun skijor outing this morning, right guys?

"You bet! Fun, fun, fun!" exclaims the happy pair at on of our turnaround
points of the morning.

We had a great time skijoring in Swan Valley this morning. We did an "out & back" on the Middle Fork Trail and then a short "out & back" on the South Fork Trail. Come along and watch the fun coming back on South Fork. Despite how nice the trail looks, it was a bit choppy and icy under the morning's new snow. As a result, you'll see Jack glancing back to check on me a few times after the ski makes a "not so pretty" sound scraping a piece of ice. Thanks for checking Jack!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Once done skijoring Middle Fork and South Fork, it was time to drop into the dog sled trails shared with Good Times Adventures. Jack and Rudy love seeing and flirting with the dog teams.

Here we are paused to watch a team going along a trail parallel to ours:

"Hey friends! Over here!!!" says Jack & Rudy.
You can see the musher & sled clearly in this photo. The tops of
the sled dogs are just barely visible in front of the sled.

Further along and we were transitioning from a side trail to the main trail. As we came over a rise where the trails meet, we encountered a team approaching along the main trail. We stopped to yield to this team and let them go on by. Rudy is the "classic sled dog" in this exchange. No matter how much your sled dog loves you, he's willing to drop you in a second to join a moving team if you are stopped :)

"Woo! Take me with! Take me with!" declares Rudy who is suddenly
willing to drop Jack & I to join the moving team. Classic Rudy and
classic "sled dog" :)

Cruising along later and now we are on the main trail as a team approaches from the side trail. Rules of the road: yield to teams on the main trail:

"Hi friends! Passing through, thanks for waiting!" says Jack & Rudy.
You can see the two lead dogs of the paused team watching us and
willing to drop their team to join us instead. Classic :)

Let's go tell Zorro about the fun day, he'll enjoy hearing about our adventures!

"Kids! Glad you came back!!!" says happy Zorro greeting at the
trailhead parking lot.

Fun morning skijoring around Swan Valley and then flirting with dog sled teams: 10.6 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 72 days on the trails covering 577.3 miles with 50,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Fly and Flirt

 Jack & Rudy showing their usual disregard for "trail signs" :)

"Hey, we can't read! Go, go, go!" demonstrates the fast running duo.

We had a fabulous morning skijoring the trails in Swan Valley. We started the day doing an 8 mile loop towards and then away from Georgia Pass. The south direction of the loop was a wide and well-used trial. But once we turned to come back north, we were on a much lesser used trail that winds through the forest:

Winding through the trees on a trail roughly one snowmobile wide.
Laying fresh tracks in about a 1/2 to 1 inch of fresh snow too!

Come along and watch some fun video footage of the romp through the forest. Gliding behind Jack and Rudy as we cruise through the forest. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After the 8 mile warmup lap, it was time to reconnect onto the "dog sled" trails used by Good Times Adventures back closer to the trailhead. I paused to listen for teams to decide which direction to go. Well, I stopped:

"You stopped, we ROLL!" demonstrates the goofy kids.
Love the look on Jack's face :)

I did pickup what I thought was the sound of teams in the area, so off we went to flirt with the teams on the trail. Here is a nice shot of us paused for a team coming towards us before veering off on a trail to our right:

"Hi friends! Bye friends!" says onlooking Jack & Rudy.
They LOVE running into teams on the trail to flirt with :)

A great day with a fast 8 mile warmup lap and then 2+ miles of "seek & flirt" with the dog sled teams. We need to tell Zorro all about it:

Happy trio at attention for the 'end of run' party!

10.3 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 64 days on the trails covering 512.3 miles with 45,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Huh

 Huh?

"What did that sign say?" asks Jack zooming on by.
"Huh, what sign?" adds Rudy.

What?

"What? Another one? What does it mean?" asks Jack.
"I'm only three, I can't even read!" adds Rudy :) 

We had a beautiful morning on the fast & fun snowmobile trails at Swan Valley. Come along for a glimpse into the great outing. It was fast & fun all day long!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

In addition to great trails, we also like skijoring Swan Valley as we get to see and run with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. I take Jack & Rudy for a 7+ mile skijor first (their warmup lap) before we enter the trails where the dog sled teams are typically found. On the way to the dog sled trails and look what we encountered - a 2 wheel drive passenger car STUCK in the trail. Oh jeez, this person had to pass a minimum of three "No Vehicles: Nov through May" signs to get to this point! On top of that, how did he get this low end car so far up the trail (we are over a mile from the trailhead at this point).

"Uh, dude, no cars allowed! You can't read signs either?" asks Jack & Rudy
slowing to trot by the 'shouldn't be here' vehicle.

We did not realize at the time of the prior photo that all dog sled teams were being held back at the trailhead until a snowcat could come up the trail and pull this car out. So, Jack, Rudy and I did some laps around the "dog sled trails" wondering "Where is everyone?" Eventually we gave up and came back to meet up with Zorro. Once with Zorro, the car came down the trail behind the snowcat and then all the dog sled teams started out for the morning. So, no flirting and running with the teams on the trails, only a glimpse of them at the start:

Zorro, Jack & Rudy watching a dog sled team head out for the morning.

Oh well, at least we got to see two teams start. Back to the important part of the day: end of run treats!

Such happy faces on Jack & Rudy.
Such focus from Zorro!

A great day on the trails although a stupid car interrupted our chance to flirt and run with dog sled teams: 9.6 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 60 days on the trails covering 474.4 miles with 42,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Crust

Another beautiful morning for a skijor with my handsome & happy pals :)

"We are having a GREAT time!" expresses the happy trio at a turnaround
point this morning.

The highlight of today's skijor? Well, the Spring Crust is set!!!! Every season, at some point in March or April, the spring crust will develop over our solid snowpack. Once we get to a stretch of warm days followed by cold nights, the crust over the snowpack solidifies such that it can support our weight every morning without punching through. You never know when the crust is going to solidify; but we have been in a warm spell recently with the warm days/cold nights needed to solidify the crust. It is so fun once the crust is solid as we can abandon set trails and skijor any direction we want for miles and miles!

What a perfect crust as we are making our own path across a
vast meadow. Just 1 week ago, we would have been punching through
the snow and could not skijor these meadows.
Love the fun footprints on the crust behind the three
(especially behind Zorro :)

Come along and watch as here we go for our first "crust skijor" of the 2019/2020 season. Note the snowmobile track on the crust as the video starts. We were originally on the set trail far off to our right when I noticed the snowmobile tracks on the crust in this vast meadow. Well, if the crust can hold a snowmobile, it can most certainly hold us. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We were out in Swan Valley this morning when we discovered this wonderful crust. Our plan was to do a warmup lap out the Middle Fork Trail before coming back to the main trail. Well, it ended up being a super fun warmup lap on the endless meadows of crust near Middle Fork and then we dropped back onto the main trails to flirt and run with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures.

Unfortunately, the "dog sled trails" were not too busy today. But, we did get to stop and flirt with 2 teams we encountered on trails nearby us.

Look real closely. The wheel dogs of the team are just to the left of Jack's tail
and the musher/sled is just to the right of Jack's head.

A little further along and we stopped to watch a team go up a trail parallel to us.

You have to look real hard on this one.
The wheel dogs are to the right of Jack's head just before the tree branch.
The musher is wearing white but look for him to the left (and almost touching)
Zorro's head.

As I said, only a couple of flirt opportunities in Swan Valley today, but still a fun time had by all:

"Whee, any and ALL skijoring is FUN skijoring!" declares the happy trio
as we end the day's run.

A fun day as we traded "flirting with dog sled teams" for "skijoring the crust over endless meadows": 6.1 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 121 days on the trails covering 821.0 miles with 74,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Z Lead

Everyone having a good time this morning?

"You bet!!!!" exclaim super happy Zorro & Jack.
"Yes, but why are we stopped!" asks Rudy.

Today's outing was one of our favorite "weekend routes" as we go to the trails in Swan Valley to run with dog sled teams and avoid the overcrowded amateur trails in town. It is so refreshing to run with the professionals instead of dealing with tons of tourist crowds :)

As always, today was a smashing success as we got to flirt and run along with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. Here is a fun shot of us paused to let a team cross the trail perpendicular to us.

6 dogs of the 8 dog team in front of us and the musher on the sled
to the right of Jack's head.

Doesn't Jack look so well-mannered in the prior photo as he is sitting to watch the team go by. Well, fast forward to a different trail and we are stopped again to let a team cross in front of us. This time Jack does a complete 180 from above and he is a bucking bronco lunging forward trying to get me to release us to join and follow the team :)

Oh Jack, you are one strong bucking bronco! He was able to slide me
forward about 5 feet before I used all my strength, skis and poles to
keep us still!

After a few perpendicular passings as you see in the two prior photos, we finally got on the same trail as a team in front of us. Time to play "fly & follow" with the team in front. Wheeee!

My fast running partners as you see the musher and 8 sled dogs going
around a right bend in the trail ahead of us.

Today's video goes with the prior photo. Come along and watch closely as you can make out the team in front as they go around bends in the trail. Then watch closely at about 30-35 seconds in the video and you'll see the team exit the main trail onto a side trail to the right. Zorro clearly saw this too as he proceeds to back out of the middle of the team to move himself to the right to try and make sure we go the same way, which we do once we get to the same side trail. Everyone follow Zorro, he knows where to go :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Such a fun outing leads to well-earned 'end of run' treats!

"Dish them out! We had a blast today!" says the focused & happy trio.

A wonderful way to avoid weekend crowds by joining the dog sled teams in Swan Valley: 6.1 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 114 days on the trails covering 771.1 miles with 70,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Extra

Smiles all around during a quick pause on the trail this morning!

"Having a GREAT time!" declares the happy trio.

We went to the trails at Swan Valley this morning and did our usual pattern on these trails. That is, we do a quick out & back on one of the side trails before coming back to the main trail for the real highlights of the outing.

Flying by a silly SLOW sign during our warmup lap :)

"Hey, we are PAST the sign, so it doesn't apply anymore, right?" says the speedy trio.

The highlight of these trails is, of course, running & flirting with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures on the main trails. Good Times' contract with the forest service allows them to run sled dog tours through March. So, you can view this year's February 29 as an extra day to run & play with the dog sled teams on the Swan Valley trails!!!

Here we are at a trail intersection as we pause to let an 8 dog team go perpendicular in front of us:

"Hi friends!" says my flirtatious trio.
If you look closely, you can see at least 3 of the team dogs giving flirting
glances back :)

Rudy cracks me up in the following photo. We are at a Y in the trail stopped on one branch of the Y while an oncoming team takes the other branch of the Y. Rudy started out next to Zorro watching the oncoming team. Then, as the team proceeded up the other side of the Y, Rudy backed up, lined himself with the team and tried to get us going parallel with them. It was as if Rudy was saying, "If I line us up with the team, maybe dad will let us go along with them!" Funny Rudy!

"Hi more friends!" says Zorro & Jack watching the team go up the other side of the Y.
You see the two wheel dogs and the dog sled in this photo.
"Lined up to go with you!" adds silly Rudy :)

Watching the teams pass by trail intersections is fun; but the most fun is running with them! Here we are following a team ahead of us on the trail. It helps that the musher is wearing a bright yellow coat. Look in front of the bright yellow to see the dark blobs of the sled dogs in front of the musher.

"Here we come!" says the sprinting trio.

Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo. We start out FLYING along the fast trail knowing that a dog sled team is far ahead of us. Eventually we come to a bend in the trail and I see the team stopped around the bend so I bring us to a stop too. We always wait and see if the musher group in front is going to wave us "on by" or not (typically, they do and we get to execute perfect passes). But, today the group did not wave us on. So, I cut out the section of video with us paused until the team restarts again and we proceed to fly & follow them on the trail. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

An extra day of "sled dog flirting" this leap year, so we made the most of it! 6 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 109 days on the trails covering 738.6 miles with 67,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Misaligned

Happy fellas watching a dog sled team from Good Times Adventures run on a trail parallel to us.

"Hey friends! Love watching you run!' says the happy watching trio.

We went out to the trails at Swan Valley to do one of our favorite skijor activities: run alongside the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. It was a very fun day with lots of excitement on the trails.

Here we are executing a perfect pass by a team stopped on the side of the trail. You can see the 2 lead dogs of the 8 dog team next to the snowmobile. Notice the leader on the right is talking up a storm as we go by :)

"Hi... Bye!" says my trustworthy 'on by' partners.

Unfortunately, that is the best photo of the day. Unknown to me, the camera on my chest got shifted to the left of my body during the day's excitement. It was just after this photo that the camera got misaligned. You can see a team coming down the trail in front of us as I get my partners under control on the side trail. But, notice Zorro is lining himself up to go too. I had to kneel and keep ahold of the gangline to keep us from taking off as this team went by. In all the "control work" by me, I accidentally moved the camera far left on my chest and did not notice the rest of the day.

"I'm coming too!' says powder plowing Zorro getting ready to join!
"We are ready too!" says Jack & Rudy getting ready to join.

How misaligned was the camera after the prior photo? Well, here we are paused on a side trail watching another team go perpendicular. I am lined up straight but the camera is on the left of my body so you can barely make out Rudy on the right.

The misaligned camera getting only a smidget of Rudy's mouth but a nice, full
view of Zorro & Jack watching the team go by.

Just how misaligned? Well, here we are executing another perfect pass yet all you can see is Rudy. Trust me, Zorro & Jack were executing a perfect pass out of view of the misaligned camera.

"Coming through!" says trotting Rudy.

Oh well, sorry for all the misaligned shots. But, back to the originally aligned camera. Here we are executing our first pass on by a paused team on the trail. We start in a quick jog along the open trail until I see a stopped team around the bend in the trail. So, we slow, shorten the gangline for safety and then perfectly pass on by. Once on by, I need to call out a little encouragement to my partners before we restart going fast along the trail again.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A very fun day with, unfortunately, a lot of misaligned footage: 6.9 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 96 days on the trails covering 655.7 miles with 60,450 feet of elevation climbed.

Klutz

The happy sled dog trio getting their well-earned 'end of run' treats!

Smiling, focused and READY for treats!!!

We went to the trails in Swan Valley this morning to run alongside and flirt with the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. Zorro, Jack & Rudy LOVE getting out on the trails with the other teams. Come along for a fun, fun, fun skijor!

There's one!!!! Pretty far away here but look up and slightly right of Jack's head and you can make out one of the dogs on the 8 dog team crossing the perpendicular trail in front of us.

"Hi friend! Why are you so far away - come this way!" says the 'wanting to flirt' trio.

That was too far away for fun. But, wait, there is a team on the trail in front of us. Oh boy, "sled dog chase" - wheeee!

Look at that Rudy missile!!!
Look closely and you can see the musher and 8 dog team rounding
the bend in the trail in front of us.

The chase was a blast, now how about some up close flirting? If you haven't seen dog sled tours at Good Times (and similar places), let me explain. You can see 2 of the dogs on the 8 dog team in the following photo with a dog sled carrying a musher and passenger. The large sled in front of us is NOT what the dogs pull :)  This is the "tour sled" attached to a snowmobile so large groups can go on a tour and take turns riding the real dog sled versus watching from the tour sled.

"Hey friends! Nice left!" says my trio to the team turning left on the
other side of the tour sled we are paused safely behind.

A little more skijoring around and we encountered the same group paused in front of us on the trail. Zorro, Jack and Rudy LOVE to flirt & pass paused teams. They are so good at it - quite impressive!

On the approach - "Hi friends, coming through!" says the perfect trio staying right
to safely go on by.

Finally, it's another perfect pass as we get even with the team and simply exchange a happy flirt or two :)

"Hi.... Bye!" says flirting Rudy.
"All business on by!" demonstrates perfect Zorro & Jack!

Today's video highlight... The klutz - ME! Come along as the video starts you can make out a team on the trail in front of us. We had been following this team for 3+ minutes before this video segment and it starts with us continuing the fun follow. But, about 30 seconds in and I see the team pausing around the next bend in the trail. I slow us to shorten the gangline to execute a safe pass. But, then we get the klutz. I accidentally cross my ski tips while shortening the gangline and topple over. What a klutz. My perfect partners wait as I reset the klutz and then we continue to perform our perfect pass.
What a klutz!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fast, fun and flirtatious day: 6.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 83 days on the trails covering 572.3 miles with 53,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Chase

Enjoying some well-earned 'end of run' treats with my happy sled dogs!

"We sure earned them today!" says the happy & focused trio.

We went to the trails in Swan Valley this morning to run amongst the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. My pals love encountering the teams on the trails and playing chase, flirt and/or pass with the teams. Today was basically a "chase day" as we kept coming upon teams from behind but then would miss the chance to flirt or pass before they turned off on different trails. Oh well, it was a very fun chase day!

Here we come upon a team rounding a right corner in the trail in front of us. We were closing in on them but they turned off this trail and went a different direction than us just around the corner.

"We see you! Here we come!" says the sprinting trio.
You can see the musher as the black blob in the middle of the trail in
front of us. You can barely make out a few "sled dog blobs" too.

Further along and we were again gaining on a team on the trail in front of us. Once again, though, this team turned off the trail and went another direction before we actually caught them.

Look in front of us and you again can see the black blob which is the musher.
You can also see 3 smaller black blobs which are pairs of sled dogs
pulling the sled (the teams have 8 dogs but the two leaders are already
around the bend in the trail in this shot)

On we go again and another team appears that we are gaining on once again!

"Wait for us - here we come!" says my sprinting trio.
But, alas, no luck as this team also turned off our trail and went a different direction
before we could catch and/or pass them.

Finally, once again with today's theme of "chase and almost catch". Here's another team just in front of us as you can see the musher in bright blue and the 8 sled dogs in front of her.

"Here we come again - wheeee!" says my excited partners.

Today's video highlight goes along with the team in the prior photo. Come along as we spot this team in front of us and begin a game of "sled dog chase". But, this musher is clearly "riding the brake" as we are gaining much too fast on them. I know there is a fork in this trail ahead but we are gaining too fast to not catch them before the fork. So, I slow us down for about 10 seconds to give them a head start and then release my pals again. Off we go, gaining again, as Zorro decides to change lanes and take the left side of the team. Then, just as I planned, as we are getting real close to the team, we get to the fork in the trail and I take us right while the team continues forward. What a fun game of chase!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fun day of "sled dog chase" this morning: 6.5 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 535.4 miles with 50,100 feet of elevation climbed.