Passing 1200 Miles

Young Jack & Rudy's second consecutive season with over 1200 miles skijoring! Impressive!

1200 miles and counting!
"Ready for 1200 more!" declares the happy kids.

We skijored the trails around Harrison Creek and Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning. The day started on well packed trails that had been groomed within the last 48 hours.

Zooming along the groomie zoomie trail!

Then, after getting a little higher in elevation, we found this incredible endless meadow with a solid crust! It was quite surprising as temperatures were near 40 (F) all morning long! But, the increase in elevation and partly cloudy sky kept this crust perfect for us!

The hover husky twins catching air along a perfect crust
in this endless meadow!

Come along for a fun glimpse into this awesome meadow. Jack, Rudy and I were having a blast making our own path around & across this vast meadow. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As expected, the goofy kids rolled snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point. Talented Jack showing he can roll snow angels and eat snowcones at the same time!!!

"Aahh!" demonstrates Rudy.
"Yum!" adds rolling and eating Jack.

Finally, a great shot with Zorro to end the day. He and Nancy met us a bit up trail to join us for a short stroll back to the Jeep. Zorro was "feeling the 1200 mile" accomplishment as he joined in the group for a fantastic jog with the group back to the trailhead. Go Zorro Go! 

"I remember all my 1200 mile seasons! Nice job kids!" declares
Zorro celebrating the accomplishments with the kids.

Another great long skijor for late April! 9.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 147 days on the trails covering 1202.4 miles with 103,000 feet of elevation climbed.

1300 miles, you ask? Probably not... Despite how great today's photos look, the snowpack really is melting soon. But, we'll see how many more outings we can get...

Fresh Tracks

So happy to be laying fresh tracks in mid-April!

"Yes! Happy, happy, happy!" declares smiling Jack & Rudy.

With fresh snow Thu night and Fri day, we went to some of our "secret" trails this morning that get very little use by others. The result? Perfect as we were still first tracks in the fresh snow on seldom used backcountry trails!

Fresh tracks fun! Wheeee!

Eventually we connected onto the upper trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. The nordic center closed and stopped grooming trails 2 weeks ago. So, we expected to find tracks from others who had made use of the fresh snow over the nordic trails yesterday. But, to our surprise and delight, we were first to lay fresh tracks on the well-known nordic trails too! Nice!

Laying fresh tracks on one of the trails in Gold Run Nordic Center.

Come along for a video glimpse into the surprising "first fresh tracks" time we had on trails this morning. What a fun time!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now, on to the "cool shot" of the day. Here is a great shot of Jack & Rudy in the morning sun whereas the mountains and ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort are still enveloped in clouds across the valley.

Cool sun vs clouds contrast shot.

Next, on to the "comedy shot" of the day from the silly three year olds. Did you know it was possible to roll snow angels as conjoined twins? :)

The goofballs somehow rolling snow angels while
connected at the hips! Goofy but talented!

Finally, on to the "fun shot" of the day as we met Zorro & Nancy a bit up trail. Zorro hopped in line with Jack & Rudy and the fun threesome towed Nancy & I back to the Jeep. Go Zorro!

The retired elder still showing us he has plenty of energy
for short bursts :)

A fun "fresh tracks" day between backcountry trails and closed for the season nordic trails: 7.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 140 days on the trails covering 1143.0 miles with 96,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Bouncing Along

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

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

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

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

Starting out the day on a fresh groomie zoomie!

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

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

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

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

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

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy

I think Rudy had a good time today, how about you?

"I'm having a BLAST!!!!" exclaims ecstatic Rudy.
"Hey, me too!" adds happy Jack.

It was our 3rd morning in a row with perfect trail conditions atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Today's tour took us by Dumont Lake on recently groomed snowmobile trails.

Before we started, though, the silly kids did usual pre-workout stretches:

Yes, snow angels are a pre-workout stretch routine for the silly kids
as well as a cool off routine during any pauses in the trail :)

Once I had my skis on and Jack & Rudy were upright, it was a super fun & fast day:

The hover husking catching air as we start the morning outing.

When we were not hovering over the trail, we were flying along the trail:

Nice wide angle shot of the great conditions as we showcas
flying Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

Done flying? How about back to hovering :)

Hovering again!

Come along for a video glimpse into the great day:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, always such a treat when we can meet up with Zorro and Nancy a bit away from the Jeep and trot back with our favorite mentor, Zorro:

Wheeee, trotting back with Z!

Today's tally: 7.9 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 127 days on the trails covering 1038.7 miles with 87,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Rabbit Ears

Gorgeous bluebird morning for a skijor atop Rabbit Ears Pass!

Gorgeous morning, beautiful trail, flying sled dogs! Wheeee!

We spent this morning skijoring around Rabbit Ears Peak. It is an impressive peak that stands out from just about every viewpoint atop the pass. 

Zipping along Jack & Rudy with Rabbit Ears Peak
in the upper left of this shot.

Come along for the fun video counterpart to the prior photo. If you can take your attention off Jack & Rudy, the mountain upper/left from Jack & Rudy is Rabbit Ears Peak. The two rocks atop the peak are the ears for which Rabbit Ears Peak (and Rabbit Ears Pass) gets its name. Nice view of the peak as we cruise along this great trail.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As we continued cruising along, the peak came into view again head-on instead of to our left:

Jack & Rudy still zipping along :)
Rabbit Ears Peak and its "rock formation ears" dead ahead!

Today's comedy moment from the kids is an interesting conjoined snow angel. Here we have Rudy's head and body with Jack's legs. No Jack body or Rudy legs, just a Rudy body with Jack's legs. Silly kids

Rudy's body with Jack's legs from the conjoined
snow angel sillies.

Back to the trailhead and we were able to meet Zorro and Nancy up trail from the Jeep. Time to line up with Zorro and trot back to the Jeep with our original skijor mentor:

Yay, Love to trot with elder Zorro!!!!

A gorgeous morning with lots of fun views of Rabbit Ears Peak: 7.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH

2020/2021 Season to Date: 125 days on the trails covering 1019.4 miles with 85,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Fast Packed

At the trailhead putting my skis on, "I'm coming Jack!"

"Hey dad, got those skis on yet? I'm ready to go!" asks happy Jack.
"I wish we were going!" adds forward looking Rudy.

We did some fun skijor laps around Sally Barber Mine this morning. 

The trail was fast, packed and wide on the popular front side of Sally Barber Mine:

Zipping along the fast, packed and wide trail. Wheeee!

The backside of Sally Barber gets a lot less usage than the front. But, it was still fast & packed on the back, just a little tighter and narrower than the front:

Zipping along the narrower but still very
fast & packed backside of the min.

Sally Barber is known moose territory. At one point, Jack & Rudy abandoned trail to lock their focus into the forest. We did not actually see a moose, but I know only the "scent of moose" can draw them off trail with this much focus and intensity!

"We smell you, where are you?!?" asks the moose seekers!

Outside of this one momentary "scent of moose" distraction, it was fast & packed skijoring all morning long. Come along for a fun section of trail where we start with a couple of corners and then floor it on a wide open straightaway. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if  no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and we met Zorro & Nancy around the corner from where they parked. Zorro joined in next to the crew for us all to trot gently back to the Jeep with our favorite retired elder!

A gentle glide back to the Jeep with Zorro by our side!!!

A fast packed fun morning with a little moose entertainment along the way: 7.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 120 days on the trails covering 979.1 miles with 82,500 feet of elevation climbed.

NWANW

Fun shot of Jack & Rudy zipping along a single track trail winding through the forest!

Zoom we go zipping through the trees.

Wondering about the blog title: NWANW? Well, here we go. The 1st 'N' is for starting the day on narrow single track trails.

The 1st 'W' is for dropping out of the forest and onto wide trails to uncork the skijor engine:

Laying fresh tracks in the morning's new snow. Wheeee!

Look directly above Jack and to the top of the prior photo. What is that white dot? Well, it's a snowflake hitting the camera.  We had light snowfall coming down on us all morning.  The snow is supposed to really pick up in intensity later today; but, hey, you have to start somewhere. Come along for the fun video clip of us gliding along amidst light snowfall.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After the first N and W, it was time to transition from wide to narrow trails again.  But, a transition involves slowing down to change trails. Slow down? How about roll a round?

'A' is for rolling snow angels when slowing to
transition from one trail to another.

The 2nd 'N' is for galloping along in narrow single track trails again:

Galloping along narrow, shoulder to shoulder, trails.

Next, you guessed it, the last 'W' is for opening up the throttle on wide trails again. Now you get  the NWANW title: narrow, wide, angels, narrow wide :)

Zoom! Once again, all the white speckles you see in
this photo are snowflakes. Yay for flakes!

Finally, a really enjoyable trot with elder/retired Zorro to end the outing. He and Nancy met us up the trail from the Jeep. Frisky Zorro wanted to turn around and trot back to the Jeep with his little brothers. He taught them everything the know after all!

Yay for frisky Zorro gently trotting along next to Jack & Rudy
to conclude the day!

A fun day alternating between narrow and wide trails again and again: 7 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 108 days on the trails covering  882.5 miles with 76,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Finish Trot

 When the human stops for "no apparent reason"... :)

"Bring it on little bro!" proposes play bowing Jack.
"Bringing it!" declares 'never back down' Rudy.

Technically, I had a reason to stop - I needed to adjust my sunglasses. But, Jack & Rudy saw "no apparent reason" to stop and, as a result, decide to wrestle to determine just whose fault it was that we stopped in the middle of the trail. When there is a reason to stop (typically turnaround points), Jack and Rudy will roll snow angels waiting for the slow human to turn his skis around. But, "no apparent reason" to stop brings out wrestling, not snow angels, from the goofy kids. Oh those three year olds :)

When I was ready to go (slow human :) we did two very fast laps around Baldy Mountain. There was just enough fresh snow for me to feel comfortable letting Jack & Rudy floor it on steep Baldy. Here we are flying along during our first lap:

Lap 1: Zoom!

Second lap had Jack & Rudy switching sides. Second lap had the same result: Zoom!

Roughly the same location as the prior photo.
Switch positions, still zooming.

Come along and watch the fast & wild fun on Baldy from the first lap. Jack & Rudy LOVE to open it up on this particular trail. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After 2 laps on Baldy, we dipped into the backcountry and then dropped onto the fast & wide Sally Barber Mine Trail. Once again, it was zooming Jack & Rudy:

Wheeee!

We had a super fun group trot to finish the morning's outing. Nancy and Zorro met us on the road near where they parked the Jeep. With enough snow on the road, I was able to keep my skis on. Zorro lined up next to his brothers and we all did a gentle (retired Zorro speed :) trot back to the Jeep. 

Yay! Zorro trotting alongside Jack & Rudy for a short jog back
to the Jeep!

Zorro is ALWAYS ready for 'end of run' treats, sometimes I have to remind Jack and/or Rudy about the finale event :)

"Just give all the treats to me, I'm ready!" declares always focused Zorro.
"La la, la la la land!" from those silly kids :)

2 laps on Baldy, 1 lap on Sally Barber Mine and a wonderful little trot with Zorro to end the day: 9.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 90 days on the trails covering 729.1 miles with 63,900 feet of elevation climbed