Workout

Sometimes looks can be deceiving...

Looks beautiful, huh?

Well, the looks were deceiving this morning. Despite how wonderful the prior photo looks, almost mid-winter like, the snow was actually very heavy, wet and sticky this morning. While we had a great time laying fresh tracks in the backcountry, it was quite the workout to slog through the heavy snow and keep my skis going! Again, not a problem, just a real workout!

Despite being out on the trails early, it was really sticky snow in any sun exposed stretch of trail. 

The kids working hard to move my skis through wet & sticky sun
exposed snow. Looks at those puddle obstacles just ahead too! Eek!

Even with sticky snow, some things always remain the same:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack at our turnaround point.
"Turnaround, woos abound!" sings wooing Rudy.

What else always remains the same? Well, you MUST stop to inspect any and all moose tracks you encounter out on the trails:

"Sniff, sniff, moose was HERE recently!" says the track inspecting kids.

It is always a shame when some of our trails start to melt and dry up. But, it is the end of April, so it is expected. This will probably be our last skijor on this network of trails for this season. Come along for today's end to the outing to see what I mean with lots of exposed ground to navigate through safely. Luckily, Jack & Rudy understand perfectly when to proceed cautiously and how to avoid obstacles! Great partners.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, despite all the melting, the creative kids were able to find the ONLY snow wall in the trailhead parking lot to climb for end of run treats!

"We prefer higher, but at least we found something to climb!" says the
fun & creative kids.

A real workout this morning through heavy & sticky snow; but still a lot of fun: 7.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a modest top speed of 17 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 140 days on the trails covering 1195.3 miles with 118,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Still Going

Opening it up along one of the really nice stretches of trail this morning!

Zooming!!! Whee!

We are still skijoring off of the monster storm we got on October 29th! That is pretty amazing; but the ground is really starting to show here & there on the trails. This morning took us to the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center, hoping that being higher up in elevation would have better trail conditions. As you see in the prior photo, we did find some really nice stretches of intact snow.

But, we also had to proceed cautiously around patches of ground showing through the snow:

Caution - exposed ground coming through the snow between Jack & Rudy.

Today's video highlight follows suit to the highlight I showed from our last outing. Come along and watch as we start out galloping along a nice stretch of trail. Then we come upon a downed tree across the trail. Watch as Jack & Rudy understand perfectly to move to the left so I can pass by on skis (I don't say anything, they do this maneuver all on their own). I love how they both look back to make sure I am really going to get by the tree. Finally, once on by the tree, it's "over to the right" and floor it on a nice stretch of trail again. Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

If you look closely in the video, you will see it is snowing lightly. Thank dog, as we encountered multiple pieces of exposed ground like the following:

"Can't get over this on skis, we should turn around!" suggests smart Jack & Rudy.

Turnaround is what we did at this point. We had come over this patch of ground on the way up. Above this point is where we found all the great conditions, so we redid the section of trail 3 times before finally having to walk over this patch of ground to get back to the trailhead. On our second pass over the same section of trail, we encountered moose tracks crossing the trail that had NOT been there on our first pass! Oh my!

"Sniff, sniff, these are FRESH!" declares track inspecting Jack & Rudy.
Indeed they were, as they were NOT here just 10 minutes ago!

Back to the trailhead to celebrate a successful "early season conditions" skijor:

"It's better than no snow at all!" declares the focused pair.

A short outing due to deteriorating conditions: 6.1 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH. But, the good news is the snow is falling and is supposed to continue all day. Tomorrow we should be back to nice conditions and possibly a powder day!!!

2023/2024 Season to Date: 8 days on the trails covering 61.3 miles with 6600 feet of elevation climbed.

They Get It

The early bird gets.... First Tracks!!!

First tracks on a beautiful stretch of freshly groomed trail!

We got out on the trails yesterday morning just after sunrise and what a treat we found. The groomer had just finished running on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center and we were FIRST TRACKS on the freshly groomed terrain. While the ground is starting to show through the snow here & there, we also found some excellent, long stretches of perfect snow cover. Here is photo of one such perfect stretch:

Snow poofs flying off Jack & Rudy's feet as we zip along
the fresh groomie zoomie trail!

For one section, though, we were second tracks on the trail. Who was before us? A moose!!! You talk about adding a little extra juice to the skijor machine (Jack & Rudy), well try putting some fresh moose tracks on the trail and feel them pick it up another notch!

Two-toed moose print in the lower left of this photo with a line of prints
extending up the middle of the trail. The tracks diid not go unnoticed to
Jack & Rudy, of course, and they had me whipping around the trail in
pursuit of moose. Luckily we never came upon the beast and eventually
the tracks went off into the forest.

Today's video highlight may be one of my most proud as it really demonstrates that Jack & Rudy "get it" and perfectly understand the concept of snow, skis and keeping the human upright!

The video starts with us flying along a nice stretch of trail. Then, about 15 seconds into the clip, we come around a corner and see a large swath of exposed ground ahead. Watch as Jack & Rudy start slowing due to the exposed ground before I even have a chance to call out "easy" (to slow us down). I then see a strip of ice I can probably ski over gently. So, I say "over to the right" and Jack & Rudy move with me a proceed slowly and cautiously over the ice. Once past the obstacle and the trail is still a little choppy, so the masters (Jack & Rudy) continue a cautious pace until the trail becomes perfect again. Once perfect and OFF we go! These two really "get it" and probably could have done this whole episode without me saying anything as they were ahead of me in the correct actions through the entire clip. Amazing kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

While they are stunningly amazing teammates, they are also hilarious comedians. Yesterday's turnaround antics? Well, snow angels from Jack of course and woos from Rudy this outing :)

"Rolling, rolling, love snow rolling!" goes goofy Jack.
"WOOOOOO!" sums up wooing Rudy :)

Finally,  yesterday's "end of run" treats were very well earned by my perfect partners keeping me upright amidst multiple terrain obstacles.

"Of course we know what we are doing! Love snow, must keep the
human alive to keep going!" declares the happy & smart kids.

Yesterday's tally: 7.9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH. 

Unfortunately, with a warm & dry week behind us, we are off the trails until the next snowstorm. That is forecast for mid-week, so everyone PRAY FOR SNOW!

2023/2024 Season to Date: 7 days on the trails covering 55.2 miles with 6000 feet of elevation climbed.

Record Season Finale

Yesterday was our final outing of a record setting skijoring season!

Way to go Jack & Rudy!!!!

"We did it! 1444.0 miles traveled! We set the record!" declares the happy kids.

Our record season had been 1433.5 miles traveled with Max & Zorro in 2016/2017. I knew going into this season that Jack & Rudy were primed to give the record a challenge. All we needed was the snow to hold up. Well, despite ending in late May (we often skijor into early/mid June), the impressive kids set a season record for our pack!

Our final outing of the season found us at Buffalo Pass. This location typically has the deepest snowpack in all of Colorado. But, it's a real haul and challenge to get to; thus, we typically do it only once or twice a season. Come along for the highlights of our season finale.

We started out on VERY sketchy conditions with little snow and spans of no snow at all!

Starting up on a narrow ribbon of snow with exposed ground ahead of us.

Why not drive past this point of the trail, you ask? Well, we start out driving up Buffalo Pass until we can drive no further. What happens is we will encounter a very deep (usually shaded) impassable span of snow at some point on the way up. Even with our 4WD Jeep, we will get to an impassible span at some point. So, we must start the skijor from the impasse, even though we know we'll encounter tough & exposed sections like the prior photo on the other side of the impasse.

We also know, though, that the further & higher we go, the better it will get!

Ah, nice deep snow covering the entire trail!
Notice the power in Jack & Rudy as my hands are on my hips as I ride
the Siberian Tow Rope up this stretch of trail.

Along the way, I paused at the location of some of Max and Zorro's ashes. While Jack & Rudy never got the chance to meet special Max, they did learn everything they know about skijoring from wonderful Zorro. As I paused to reflect back on Max & Zorro, Jack and Rudy did their "pause usual" :)

Rolling snow angels in snow over the location of Max and Zorro's ashes.

Then, as expected, we found some incredible conditions up high. Wish there was an easier way to get here, we'd come back every day if so :)

So, so, so nice up high!

Now, come along for our final clip of the season. We are a bit lower in elevation in this clip compared to the prior photo, so we start out cruising along nice albeit soft snow. Then, near the end of the clip, you get to see Jack & Rudy slowing to perfectly navigate me on skis through two narrow passages before opening up the throttle again. Perfect partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We cannot end the season without one final hover husky shot!

Catching air again. Wheeee!

Finally, concluding the season with our final end of run treats. No snow walls to climb this time, it must really be the end of season :)

"We LOVE snow!" declares the cool dudes awaiting end of run treats.

A monster outing to complete the season. You have to make full use of the difficult trek to get on snow at Buffalo Pass: 14 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2022/2023 Season  Total: 164 days on the trails covering 1444.0 miles with 130,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Very Impressive Jack & Rudy! Very Impressive!!!!

See you all in September (we hope) or October for the 2023/2024 Skijor Season beginning.

 

Deteriorating

If it is "snow in late May" we'll take it, right guys?

"You bet! We are having a BLAST!" declares the happy kids

We returned to Harrison Creek at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning. We did this trail 4 days ago and the conditions from then to now were deteriorated. We chose this route because it gets to upper elevation terrain quickly which is usually less melted than down low. But, at our highest point of the morning, quite a bit of shrubbery was breaking through the snow!

Still enough snow on the trail to go; but the view from here 4 days ago was
all white versus shrubbery coming  through on the shoulders today.

Getting to the upper elevation was also quite a challenge at first. We had many "barely enough snow to go" narrow sections of trail:

Just enough snow for me to keep going on skis.

Then, we had a lot of this ugliness! 

Yikes, how to proceed?!?!? 
I'm actually able to keep my skis on and step slowly across the dirt.
Jack & Rudy know to go slow until we are all back on snow. Good boys!

Now, a nice "nearing end of season" skijor clip of talented Jack & Rudy. Come along as we start the clip proceeding cautiously due to lots of exposed ground and narrow snow cover. But, as soon as the exposed ground disappears, Jack & Rudy kick it into overdrive as the conditions are now safe to GO. All of this without a single verbal command from me, just great understanding of the conditions from the smart kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The conditions were still nice up high despite a lot of ground starting to show on the shoulders. But conditions are really deteriorating on the way up and then back down the lower terrain.

Still good snow on our favorite upper elevation ridge line.

Of course, any snow is good snow for rolling snow angels...

Rub a dub dub!

Finally,  we were even able to find a small snow wall at the trailhead to climb for end of run treats:

"Yay, we found a mini wall to climb!" says the happy kids.

A short outing due to deteriorating conditions and rising temperatures, but it was still skijoring in late May: 5.8 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 163 days on the trails covering 1430.0 miles with 129,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Was today our finale? I think (hope) not, but we have very few outings left. Stay tuned...

 

Nice up High

The snow is still so nice up high, if you can get there....

Beautiful conditions at our highest elevation point along the Harrison
Creek Trail.

"If you can get there" is the key phrase in that introduction above. We had to traverse numerous hazardous openings in the snow in the initial climb to the upper elevation goodness. Here are a two examples;

"Woo is me, I don't want summer!" woos Rudy.
"We can still make it if we hug the snow to the left!" states lead dog Jack.
Jack, of course, is right, but I still had to stop to slow us down to proceed
cautiously on the thin strip of snow to our left.

Did I say "thin strip of snow"? Well, how about this one...

Yikes, barely wide enough for my two skis to fit.
But notice how perfect Jack & Rudy are getting in tight to stay on the
little snow there is. They know to keep me on snow to continue to go!

But, as I said above, it was still so nice up high! This particular route starts with a steep initial climb (across lots of hazards this time of year) and then levels out into miles of gently rolling high elevation terrain. So nice up high!

Cruising along a wonderfully snow covered ridge line.

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. A beautiful stretch of trail yesterday morning, especially for late May. But, getting to and back from the nice conditions is getting really difficult!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The snow up high was also great for rolling conjoined snow angels :)

Where does Rudy end and Jack start?
Silly kids rolling conjoined snow angels at our turnaround point.

It was also a day of wildlife entertainment for Jack & Rudy. First we encountered coyote tracks to follow along the trail for a while. Then we encountered elk tracks to sniff and follow for a short stretch. Finally, the highlight was finding fresh smelling moose tracks crossing the trail and going off into the trees. You must stop for fresh moose tracks, you know :)

"Sniff, sniff, these are fresh!" states the moose inspectors.
Notice the big two toed print between my two skis.

Despite all the tracks, we never got a visual of any of the wildlife. I am just fine not seeing a coyote; but I do enjoy seeing the big vegetarians (moose, elk) from a safe distance, as do Jack & Rudy!

We had a camera failure with Nancy's camera at the trailhead. So, we don't have our usual "end of run" treats shot to close out the blog. In place of that, we'll conclude with a shot of the happy kids looking back when I needed to pause momentarily to rest my burning legs on the difficult terrain down low on the way back from the great conditions up high.

"Just let us know when you are ready to go!" says the happy kids patiently
waiting for my burning legs to get a quick break.

So nice up high, so iffy down low; but it was worth it for a wonderful skijor on the upper terrain: 9.8 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 162 days on the trails covering 1424.2 miles with 129,000 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.

Nice up High

Beautiful conditions up high this morning at Breckenridge Nordic Center!

The hover huskies, Jack & Rudy, catching air on perfect
trail conditions up high!

I've alluded to our slow starting snow season in recent posts and today, I bring you the "good, bad & ugly" of where we have to skijor. It was an unseasonably warm October and then unseasonably warm & dry November. The snow we do have (from a few good Nov storms) is drying up! We really need winter to start! 

Usually my "good, bad, ugly" posts occur in October, early November, May or June. I don't think we've ever had a "good, bad, ugly" post in December! Egad! Well, come along for the ride as we reverse the phrase and show the ugly, then bad and finally good.

The Ugly: at our lower elevations, we encountered multiple stretches of "dirt only". Yuck!

"Aw man, you can't even roll snow angels on this!" declares Jack looking
for something else to do while I pause to remove my skis.
"Good snowcones on the shoulders!" demonstrates Rudy :)

The Bad: barely enough cover to cross slowly at the mid elevations of our outing. Good thing Jack & Rudy listen and know to lead me over snow/ice and not dirt!

"This way human, we found a snow/ice path through!" suggests smart
Jack & Rudy looking back to let me know to drift right to get
through safely.

The Good: oh my, so nice up high. The first photo above is a beautiful "good shot". Come along for a beautiful "good video" as we had a blast at our highest elevations of the outing. Wheeee! Oh, and yes, my ski hits a sapling sticking through the snow at about 40s into the video and, yes, I almost wipeout but am able to stay upright :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

With bad/ugly conditions at most of our pauses this morning, did Jack get in his daily snow angel (or 2 or 3 or 100 :)? Well, yes, phew. We drifted off trail a bit at our highest point and this allowed Jack to get in his patented angels at our high point turnaround.

"Ah! Turnaround, roll around!" demonstrates funny Jack.
"I'm hunting for rodents instead of rolling angels today!" declares hunting Rudy.

Back to the trailhead with retired Zorro. Everybody squeeze in tight so we can fit all 12 feet on snow and not dirt!

All toes on snow - ready for end of run treats!!!!

The warm/dry start to the season is SUPPOSED to come to and end next week. Pray for Snow!

A quick outing today on what terrain we could find: 6.4 miles traveled with 850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 184.6 miles with 17,650 feet of elevation climbed.

Red Black

Yikes! The signs of "end of season" are starting to rapidly appear!

Yikes! Barely enough snow to for my skis (and Jack :)

The prior photo is actually quite interesting in the context of all our years skijoring. For the 8+ years I skijored with Max & Zorro, I frequently made mention of the following: note how Zorro goes to all extremes to keep his toes on snow whereas Max will drift onto exposed dirt in order to keep going forward. This "risk/reward" blog entry from years ago is one such example of this.

Now fast forward to 2021 and compare the prior photo to my history with Max & Zorro. The black boy (history: Zorro, current: Jack) goes to all extremes to keep toes on snow while the red boy (history: Max, current: Rudy) has no problem drifting onto the side dirt to keep trotting. It must be a "red vs black" thing :)

Back to this morning, given the deteriorating conditions we had a gentle trot up, across and down the Sally Barber Mine Trail. At one point along the stretch the kids decided to discuss whose fault it is that the conditions are deteriorating :)

"Your fault it is melting!" demands Rudy.
"Is not! Dare you to say that again!" responds Jack.

While the conditions on the trail around the mine are quickly deteriorating, we did have one unexpected and pleasant surprise this morning. The spring crust over French Creek was still intact and firm enough to hold our weight! I was completely expecting the crust to have been melted or not firm enough to hold us. But, look at this pleasant surprise:

Wheeee! Flying along the firm crust despite the large number
of bushes starting to poke through!

Look closely at the prior photo. Do you see the snow on Rudy's back? Do you see the snow on Jack's right side? How did then get snow on top of themselves? Well...

When you roll snow angels in wet/sticky snow you then have
snow on your back when you are done :)

Back to the surprise crust. Come along for a short & fun video clip of the morning surprise. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done for this morning's short outing and Jack & Rudy are in goofy moods due to lack of sufficient exercise. Silly kids.

Chilling Rudy sitting up high on a snow wall.
Goofy Jack propped up sideways on a snow wall.
Veteran Zorro at full attention for 'end of run' treats.

Sad to report the season is winding down. We may only have one outing left. Today's condition shortened run: 4.4 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 153 days on the trails covering 1247.4 miles with 106,900 feet of elevation climbed.