24 Hours

What a difference 24 hours can make...

We skijored this stretch of trail yesterday and the water to our left
was NOT there just 24 hours ago!!!

It is pretty amazing that so much melting can happen and so much water can become exposed in just 24 hours. But, it is the middle of May with warm daytime temperatures. Yet, it is still "toes on snow" and skijoring the most we can while the snow lasts, right guys?

"We'll do anything to keep the season going!!!" exclaims the happy kids.

Despite a lot of melting happening in the last 24 hours, we still found some stretches of "perfect for May" trail to open up the skijoring engine:

Zooming along the remnants of a packed snowmobile trail from the
past winter. Wheeee!

We even found one wonderful & endless meadow of firm snow to skijor across. Keep in mind that there is no road under this snow but just miles of bushes in the summer. Come along for a video glimpse into the fun:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As nice as that video clip looked, by the time we reached the end of the meadow, the sun had already softened the snow and we would have punched through if we tried to go back across the meadow! As planned, though, we connected onto a snowmobile trail over an actual dirt road to continue going (snow over a road stays solid longer than snow over bushes). Of course, it didn't help that the goofballs paused to 'stop, drop & roll' 3/4 of the way across the meadow. Come on guys, we have to get over the meadow before it gets too soft!!!

The 'stop, drop & roll' twins :)

Another wonderful day to report back to retired mentor Zorro:

Yay for 'end of run' treats with our elder!!!

After the dwindling conditions of the past 24 hours, I was tempted to call today our last outing of the season. Yet.... there is a Winter Storm Warning forecast for late Thursday night through Friday and into Saturday morning. If this storm really materializes into what is forecast, we'll be back on the trails soon after the snow lets up. But, if the storm does not deliver, we may be done for the season.

Stay tuned and Pray for Snow!

Today's skijor tally: 7.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 154 day on the trails covering 1287.4 miles with 120,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Vast

A beautiful shot of the vast & endless conditions atop Rabbit Ears Pass this early March morning!

Endless snow as far as the eye can see! Wheeee!

Jack & Rudy were in alternating goofy and trucking mode all morning long. 

They started the day rolling snow angels at the trailhead. One would think the silly kids had not been running on snow for days or weeks given the silly trailhead antics. But, no, it had been only 22 hours since their last skijor!

"Rub a dub dub, aaahhh! Yesterday was so long ago!" demonstrates
the silly, silly kids.

Once the silly antics were over, it was time for serious skijoring on the endless terrain!

The cursing pair catching air as we cruise along the trail.

Eventually it was time to stop and turn around. Well, back to the silly kids!

"Feels so good!" says happy rolling Rudy.
"Wheeee!" adds silly Jack with his tongue poking out :)

Turnaround, roll around snow angels done, so it's time to go, go, go again...

Fast flying kids zipping along.

Today's video highlight? Well, here is what Jack & Rudy look like at the end of a 10+ mile skijor. Pretty much the same as they look at the start of any skijor. Impressive kids running strong all 10 miles today!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Zorro, any idea where they got their "snow angel" antics?

"I taught them to skijor. Everything else is not my fault!" declares Zorro.
"Whee, we are only three!" adds the silly kids.

A fun day of endless skijoring in between silly antics from the 3 year olds: 10.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 103  days on the trails covering 843.0 miles with 73,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Climb

Nice wide angle shot of Jack & Rudy galloping along nice snow up high with vast views of the rest of "snowless Colorado" below and to our right :)

Whee - still perfect up here; but look at the endless brown & green to our right.
Yikes, the snow is really melting!

Temperatures did not get below freezing at the base of Rabbit Ears Pass overnight, so we knew finding firm (instead of soft & slushy) snow to skijor would be a challenge. The solution? Well, we started on the Harrison Creek Trail. This trail has a quick rise in elevation (through lots of shade) and, as a result, is always the last trail at Rabbit Ears to maintain snow and survive through warm nights. With a quick rise and the potential for soft/slushy conditions, we decided to start the outing without elder Zorro.

The result? SUCCESS!!!! After the quick climb from the start, this trail eventually levels out on an upper elevation shelf 100s of feet in elevation above the trailhead. Here is a nice shot of the incredible conditions once we crested from the initial climb. Beautiful!!!

Firm snow and fast Jack & Rudy having a great time on the beautiful
upper elevation conditions!

Once we got up in elevation and saw the incredible firm spring crust, it was time to abandon set trails and go touring through vast meadows with the youngsters!

Wide open and perfect, endless crust once you climbed up high enough!

After miles of touring the meadows up high, I paused to send Nancy a text of our expected arrival back at the trailhead. Well, texting requires stopping.... Uh, oh, you know what that means :)

"Stop, Drop and ROLL!!!!!" says the goofball kids rolling their usual snow
angels at any stop point.
Nice view "snowless Colorado" in front and below us.

Apparently I took too long enjoying the views and then sending the text. What happens when two 2 year olds pause for too long? Well, the snow angels turn into play bows :)

"You took too long - Stop, Bow & Play!" demonstrates the goofs transitioning
from snow angel rolling to play bow silliness :)

Ok, text sent and wild playing animals separated by the musher - time to skijor agian.

Come along for a glimpse into the day's fun. We start out in the shade on a somewhat bumpy trail until we transition into the open sun where the terrain smooths out. Despite how much the camera (and, thus, me) are bouncing, it really wasn't a hard trail to ski. I just rode the dips behind my skijoring engines as they towed me along.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another successful day exercising the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, while giving elder Zorro most of the day off. A perfect outing for all results in 'end of run' treats for all :)

"Ready, ready, ready!" says the focused & happy trio.

A great plan for warm temperatures to find perfect conditions! 7.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 169 days on the trails covering 1157.1 miles with 106,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Synchronized

Jack and Rudy practicing & perfecting "rolling synchronized snow angels" :)

Synchronized snow angels.
Synchronized comical, young goofballs :)

Don't tell Jack & Rudy that the Olympics have been canceled this year - they are convinced "synchronized snow angels" is a real event and they are aiming for gold :)

Aside from practicing (and perfecting) synchronized snow angels, we decided to skijor this morning too. We started with elder Zorro in the team on the Buffalo Park Trail at Rabbit Ears Pass. The beginning of Buffalo Park is a vast & wide meadow. The meadow was completely snow covered with a solid spring crust to start the morning. The surface was a little bumpy (from repeated thaw every day and refreeze every night); but was still perfect for May 7th. Zorro, Jack & Rudy decided to make use of the wide terrain by testing the left-to-right limits of the gangline:

This is just about as far apart at the trio can get within the
confines of their gangline. How polite of them to separate wide
so as to provide a wide angle view of the terrain as well :)

We did a short "out & back" with Zorro for the initial leg of the outing. Once we turned around, everyone pulled in tight to make the most use of our leg with Zorro!

Back together as the fast & tight team as Zorro takes the middle to lead
us to the end of his portion of the skijor.

Zorro was "all smiles" as we ended his stint and was happy to stay behind with Nancy while the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, took me on an extended "out & back" at Buffalo Park. Here is an absolutely stunning and unbelievably cool shot of "May 7th at Buffalo Park":

The conditions - wow! Snow covered & firm crust as far as the eye can see!
The youngsters - cool! Flying Jack on the left with hovering Rudy to the right.

Come along for today's video highlight from Jack & Rudy and watch the mature kids who have just about mastered skijoring. We start out in the shade on a well-packed and somewhat bumpy snowmobile trail. The youngsters are galloping along keeping the speeds to a minimum as the terrain is a bit tough on me. Eventually we transition out of the shade and onto wide open terrain. Watch as I glide right onto much smoother snow. With smooth conditions, I am able to put the skis parallel and the kids "feel" this release and proceed to FLOOR it on the wide open trail. Smart guys!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Those are some pretty incredible photos and cool video for May 7th. But, we must admit that summer is really hovering just around the corner. The "signs of summer" will start to show more and more as we proceed through May - boo! But, YAY for such incredible conditions for this morning's May 7th.

Oh my - those "signs of summer" to our right as a fast flowing
"snow melt river" is rushing by!

Back to the trailhead and time to rejoin forces with Zorro for well-deserved 'end of run' treats:

"Me first - ready!" declares Zorro.
"Me next!' adds focused Jack.
"Whee, I'm happy, happy number three!' says patiently waiting Rudy!

A wonderful morning to skijor Buffalo Park at Rabbit Ears Pass: 7.3 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 165 days on the trails covering 1129.2 miles with 103,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Endless Beauty

The happy, happy foursome arriving at the end of a beautiful late April skijor

(look closely, you can see my smile too :)

What a fun, fun day!!!

This morning's outing to us high up on Vail Pass. We knew there would be a firm "spring crust" high up on the pass early in the morning but were also treated to 1-2 inches of fresh snow the entire outing!

The wide open and endless terrain atop Vail Pass is quite striking this time of year. With a solid spring crust, you can wander any direction you want and experience endless open meadows for what seems like forever. How vast and endless do you wonder? Well, take a look for yourself:

Wide open and perfect spring crust as far as the eye can see!
Not another sole had been out before us as we had what seemed
like the entire pass of fresh snow atop a solid crust all to ourselves!

Our plan was to bring elder Zorro along for the entire outing this morning as he really loves the terrain at Vail Pass. With Zorro coming along the whole outing, this meant that it was actually a short outing for Jack & Rudy. Along the way, I paused twice to see if Zorro needed a break. Well, hmmm, who does it look like they needed break and who doesn't?

"Really? C'mon man, let's keep going!" says happy Zorro.
"Stop, drop & roll - need to cool the jets!' demonstrates the goofy kids.
Sure looks like the kids needed the break more than Zorro, huh?

With such vast terrain all to ourselves, we took a different path up & down the pass. A beautiful day to lay fresh tracks all morning long!

Whee - freshies behind the powder trio.

Come along for a short video clip showcasing the beautiful, wide open and endless terrain for us to lay fresh tracks all morning long!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

End of the morning run, who had fun?

"Me!" smiles happy Zorro.
"Me too!" declares happy Jack.
"Me, me, me!" adds cute little happy Rudy.

A beautiful morning to lay fresh tracks with Zorro all day long: 4.7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 158 days on the trails covering 1077.6 miles with 98,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Long Jump

They are at it again, aren't they Zorro? :)

"Yes, and I want it on record that, despite being the veteran, I did NOT teach this!"
adds happy Zorro looking back to me while the kids do their usual
snow angel antics at our turnaround point.
"I introduced it to EVERY skijor and I taught it to Rudy!!!!" says comical, goofball Jack.
"Rolling, rolling, don't care whose idea it was! Rolling!" contributes snow rolling Rudy.

Surprisingly for April, we have not had a "spring crust" skijor in almost 2 weeks! That is usually unheard of for this time of year as the crust usually has the best conditions. Why no crust skijoring for almost 2 weeks? Well, it has snowed (a little to a lot) every day for almost 2 weeks straight! Yesterday was the first real let up from the recent snow and, as a result, the warm days/cold nights brought the crust back to life. We'll happily trade 2 weeks of crust for 2 weeks of fresh snow to add to our snowpack to propel us through May and into June!!!

Come along as we are back to skijoring the spring crust on this beautiful April morning. A few fun things to watch in the video. Note the frozen snowmobile track crossing perpendicular to us about 7 seconds into the clip. Zorro & Jack both want nothing to do with this frozen track and watch as they both execute a beautiful long jump over the track (Rudy does a mini long jump too, but he's not as averse to the frozen track as Zorro & Jack). Then, watch as the kids politely look back to see that I have crossed the track safely (veteran Zorro can feel I'm over the track, but the kids need to peek :)  Finally, look at the deep ski tracks we are running between and to the side of. Some poor people forgot to go out early enough to ski the crust and had to slog along breaking through. But, not us, we were smart enough to be up early this morning to get the perfect crust!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

In realtime, I thought I was going to get an incredible shot of a synchronized long jump from Zorro and Jack. But, once I check in slomo, it turns out they were just barely out of sync. Darn...

Here we have Jack in a beautiful long jump over the snowmobile track as Zorro is just beginning to start his long jump:

Flying Jack!!!

Then, milliseconds later, and Jack landing his long jump as Zorro is taking flight. A few milliseconds from a synchronized long jump...

Flying Zorro - go, Z, go!!!!!

After doing a crust skijor around and through the vast meadow you see above, it was time to drop off Zorro with Nancy while the kids and I went out for a bit more exercise.

"Done with my leg - that sure was fun!" says happy Zorro.
"Thanks for leading us big  bro Z, but us kids need a little more!' adds the happy
and ready to continue kids :)

The kids, Jack & Rudy, and I proceeded to go out & up Prospect Hill, then down the backside of Prospect Hill before turning around coming back up the backside and down the frontside.

There's not much to see (except fun white butts in front of me) on the initial up. But, once we got to the backside of Prospect Hill, the view and vast terrain is breathtaking:

Wide angle shot to showcase the vast and virtually untouched backside
of Prospect Hill!

Once we returned to the frontside of Prospect Hill, you get great views that were behind us on the way up. Such a pretty shot of the mountains and ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Jack & Rudy hovering over the solid spring crust as we take in
the stunning views of the ski resort!

Done giving the kids a some extra exercise and back to enjoy the end of the outing with Zorro:

"Ready for 'end of run' treats!" says focused Zorro.
"Me too!" claims barely visible (but very focused) Jack.
"You can't miss me!" adds big dude Rudy :)

Back to the Spring Crust this morning as we did "meadow tours" with Zorro, Jack & Rudy and the Prospect Hill tours with Jack & Rudy: 6.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 153 days on the trails covering 1046.0 miles with 95,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Whoop

Nice shot of the power trio towing me "on by" Nancy on the side of the trail near the beginning of this morning's skijor. Zoom!

On by we go, zoom, zoom, zoom!

The plan for today was to give elder Zorro a short run at the start of the outing and then take young Jack & Rudy out for an extended, long skijor. Everything went as planned!

We started the day in a fast groove as we quickly did a "4 minute mile" with Zorro, Jack & Rudy as a quick loop near the base of Walton Peak. As you see above, it was quite the successful "4 minute mile" as we flew past Nancy before stopping to give Zorro the rest of the day off. Zorro thoroughly enjoyed his fast mile but was also happy to stop early and hang out with Nancy while the kids took me out for a much longer run.

Jack, Rudy & I proceeded to skijor another 9+ miles on the perfect snowpack around Walton Peak. You cannot get a much more impressive shot than the following for April 9th!

Ultra wide angle to showcase the ENDLESS snowpack around Walton Peak!
This snow will definitely hold up through April and probably through
most, if not all, of May! Yay!

The kids and I did a ridiculously fast "out & back" by Walton Peak. Here we are at our turnaround point and look, what is this, Jack & Rudy are upright instead of rolling snow angels!!!

"Hey, we can stay upright occasionally!" says the happy pair.

We spent the entire either making our own path atop the solid spring crust (as you see in the wide angle shot above) or following some of the established snowmobile trails. The main snowmobile trail had been groomed recently (not today, but within the last couple of days). With light usage from snowmobiles (due to both the COVID-19 restrictions and the time of year), we were able to find perfect groomed surfaces on the sides of the established snowmobile trails. Such fun!

Zooming along the left shoulder of the wide & established snowmobile trail.
A few days old perfect groom on the shoulders!!!

I have mentioned over the years that we do not mind fresh snowmobile tracks or snowmobile tracks that have softened in the sun. But, a hard frozen snowmobile track is dangerous to a pair of skis. Why is that? Well, if my ski (or, heaven forbid BOTH skis) fall into the track from a (wider) snowmobile's ski, then my ski can get trapped and I have to fight to get out of the track.

Sometimes seeing this is easier than explaining it. Come along for today's video highlight. We start out happily gliding along the perfect shoulder of the wide trail. But, at about 27 seconds into the video and a snowmobile track cuts perpendicular across the trail in front of us. I was convinced I could glide over this track as I saw it coming. But, alas, watch what happens. The frozen snowmobile track grabs control of my right ski and starts to take me off trail! Yikes! Then two things happen. First, I am able to push and fight my way out of the frozen track AND my perfect partners automatically slow given the commotion behind them until I recover and give them the "OK" to pick up the pace again. Had Jack & Rudy continued at a fast pace, I certainly would have wiped out given the track pulling me left and them pulling me forward. What good partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Despite the one "whoops" in the video above, we spent the vast majority of the day on perfect terrain. Either making out own path on the crust or cruising the shoulders of the wide trails. Phew!

I mentioned my pals kept upright at our turnaround point. Well, I stopped a second time to get my bearings and, well, you cannot stay upright through TWO stops! Just ask Jack & Rudy:

"Hey, we gave you one upright stop! This one is a stop, drop & roll!" demonstrates
the goofball, snow rolling kids.

Back to the trailhead with Zorro and time to celebrate a fast "4 minute mile" start the day with elder Zorro and a wonderful 9+ additional miles with young Jack & Rudy:

"We ALL earned the treats! Let's dish them out!" says the happy & focused trio.

A fast "Zorro mile" and then an extended Jack & Rudy adventure: 10.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 143 days on the trails covering 979.3 miles with 88,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Hovering Again

Power and smiles from my cool partners towing me to the end of a fun spring crust skijor!

Whee!!!! What a happy & powerful trio!

We had a great skijor this morning once again making our own path over the wonderful and vast Spring Crust. We started the day with Zorro, Jack & Rudy. After a fast lap with elder Zorro, we handed him off to Nancy and then Jack, Rudy & I went out for more exercise for the kids. After giving the kids some good exercise, we met up with Zorro and hooked him back into the team for a final lap with the power trio again. The shot above is the final portion of the day - finishing with Zorro, Jack & Rudy. Fun

As for our first stint with Zorro - another day another triple hover husky shot. Wheeee!

The hovering trio flying across the solid crust.
I zoomed out a bit to show the vast crust and the cool footprints behind
the power three.

The first stint was a perfect run for elder Zorro and then we went further to exercise the kids. The terrain we were on is known for its aspen groves which can make for some fun skijoring in the trees. Back when Max & Zorro were seasoned veterans, we would wind through tight aspen trees in this area. Today was young Jack & Rudy's first real exposure to aspen groves, so we introduced the concept of "tree weaving" in much wider groves that they'll be doing with me after a little more practice. But, a masterful job of the kids listening to my "right" and "left" commands to weave through the wide grove!

Lots of space between the aspens, but you still have to
listen to the human to navigate through!

Jack & Rudy are already pretty much masters as skijoring the vast crust. Whenever we were out of the aspen groves it was go, go, GO!

Zooming along the perfect crust making path!

Today's video highlight is another cool splice. Come along with the fast trio for the first 20ish seconds as we fly along the open & firm crust. Then transition to Jack & Rudy as we make a second pass over the same section of crust for the next 20 seconds. Fun laps across the crust!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Two skijor legs for elder Zorro with an extended leg in the middle to exercise the kids. That's how you all earn your end of run treats :)

"Ready, ready, ready!" says the happy & focused trio.

Another day of perfect crust skijoring. Another day of the triple hover huskies! Another day where I'm not telling you where we went - miles & miles of virtually isolated terrain all to ourselves: 7.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 142 days on the trails covering 969.1 miles with 88,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Wandering

Happy, happy kids at a pause on our outing this morning.

"Hi! We are the happiest sled dogs around!!!!" exclaims the ecstatic pair looking back to me.

This morning was a wonderful outing of "endless wandering" as we completely abandoned set trails and skijored any & every direction we pleased atop the solid spring crust at Rabbit Ears Pass.

We started the day with the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, with the plan to meet and add Zorro into the team for the last 1/3 or so of the outing. The kids and I abandoned the set trails immediately and went off making our own path atop the crust.

We had a great time wandering through openings in the trees:

Perfect crust in this "opening in the trees".
Note, if you get too close to the tall trees, there is no crust.
So, it was a fun time seeking out a firm crust and listening
to the human guiding us left, right and forward safely :)

After a fun weave through the trees, we dropped into some of our favorite terrain atop Rabbit Ears. There are tons of vast meadows that you can tour for miles & miles. Here is a beautiful wide angle shot of airborne & flying Jack & Rudy with endless crust over a vast meadow as far as the eye can see!

A perfect firm crust to go any direction you please!
A beautiful shot of flying Jack & Rudy (notice the fun shadows
showing that both are completely airborne :)

Before we get to adding Zorro into the outing, take a look at the first photo again. Do you notice anything strange? How about the shadow of the ski pole in my left hand which is bent at a 45 degree angle or more. Yes, we had a slight oops this morning and I wiped out on this pole. I was checking the status of the pole in the first photo (as were Jack & Rudy). I thought it might be salvageable for the rest of today's outing; but a few yards after restarting and the pole split into two pieces at the bend. I proceeded to skijor the rest of the outing with only a single ski pole! That made for some interesting work & navigation on my part!

Anyway, who needs poles when you can add Zorro instead :) Here we go towing the one-poled human with the fun power trio!

Fun fact about this photo - we skijoring on the shores of Dumont Lake. In the heart of winter you can snowmobile and, thus, skijor across the lake. But, in the warming days of April and May, it is foolish to venture onto the ice no matter how firm it may appear. We skirted along the crust on the shore for the entire length of one side of the lake.

It may not look clear in the photo, but in real life it is easy to tell
where shore ends and lake ice starts. We remained on the shore! :)
In person, the shore is slightly uneven as you see above whereas
the lake looks completely smooth (as you can see maybe 20-30 yards
to our left).

After skirting around Dumont Lake, it was time to skijor by the Rabbit Ears Pass Marker before heading to the trailhead to end the day. Apparently my pals thought the marker may contain rabbits today :)

"Sniff, sniff - where are the rabbits?!?" asks the marker inspecting trio.
Normally veteran Zorro does not pay such attention to the marker. There
must have been some sort of rodent, if not rabbits, burrowing under the marker!

An interesting day of endless wandering for the sled dogs and a challenging day of one pole skijoring for the human! 6.1 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH (this happened *before* I lost one pole :)

2019/2020 Season to Date: 141 days on the trails covering 961.7 miles with 87,500 feet of elevation climbed.