Deep

 A very fun & aerobic deep snow day in Indiana Creek this morning!

"Deep is fun!" declares happy Jack & Rudy at a pause on the trail as
I try to determine which direction to go.

The forest service and county has spent the last 6ish years trying to reduce visitors to Indiana Creek as it had grown out of control due to being too popular. The last time we skijored Indiana Creek with any regularity was 2013. Well, the forest service has accomplished their goal as virtually no visitors/tourists know about Indiana Creek any longer and only local, serious backcountry skiers venture there any longer! All the tourists are now over in French Gulch and, thus, the reason we have abandoned skijoring French Gulch and reintroduced Indiana Creek to our trail set.

We started the day on a narrow single track:

Shoulder to shoulder in a narrow single track as we start trotting up
Indiana Creek.

But, after just a mile or 1.5 miles at most, all existing ski tracks ended (it's a lot of work to cross country ski 2-3 miles roundtrip in backcountry conditions :)  Once the existing tracks ended, we had our choice of three trails to continue on, all requiring serious breaking trail in 15-20 inches of powder. The first photo above is of us paused as I assess our trail choices. Well, apparently I took too long in my assessment:

"Wooooo - Let's Gooooo!" exclaims impatiently wooing Rudy :)
"Looks good to my left!" adds patient Jack.

Despite taking way too long to pick a direction, according to Rudy, my selection turned out to be perfect. We looped back to my left (not the direction Jack picked above) to break trail out in the sun and deep snow. What was so perfect about my decision? Well, only one animal had been on the trail before us: a moose!!!! 

Moose tracks to follow in front of Jack & Rudy!

A tall, long-legged moose does NOT make an easy, packed trail to follow in deep snow. Notice the deep snow Jack & Rudy are still plowing through above. This was quite the trail breaking exercise but had "moose juice" added to give them extra motivation and power :)

We broke trail in 15+ inches of snow, following the moose tracks, until the moose abandoned the main trail after 2ish miles:

Jack & Rudy off the main trail sitting in moose leg holes.
"Moose went this way! Can we too?" asks the moose seeking kids.

No, we didn't follow the moose off trail. Instead it was time to turnaround and head back. We did have the fun of now being able to run a little faster in the track we set on the way out. But, a single ski track in 15-20 inches of snow does not make for a packed return track (you need multiple passes to pack the trail):

Kicking up powder as we try to fit and run in the single ski track I
set on the way out. Wheeee!

Finally, well earned 'end of run' treats with Zorro at the trailhead:

Such focus as all three patiently await their end of run treats!

A fun return to Indiana Creek after many years off. We'll be going back to this trail for serious trail breaking exercise on/off this season. 5.8 (trail breaking) miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 17 days on the trails covering 126.6 miles with 11,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Fast Packed

A ridiculously fast packed trail at Indiana Creek this morning!

Flying Zorro + Airborne Jack + Launching Rudy = Zoom!

The trail at Indiana Creek was thin & fast packed terrain this morning. Almost too fast as you see patches of shiny ice instead of snow in the photo above. But we did it as I was riding my skis hard to keep the 3 pack under control all outing :)

Today's short video clip demonstrates what I am talking about. Come along as we are on ridiculously fast packed terrain. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

To date, Rudy had been perfect at all our skijor starts. Perfect meaning he was "lined out" with Zorro & Jack and took off with them. This morning, though, he was so busy talking about how much fun he was about to have that he forgot to line out and almost missed the start. Silly puppy!

Zorro & Jack taking off as little Rudy forgot to line out with them.
"Wait for me! Wait for me! Here I come!!!!" screams Rudy :)

Love this fun shot of the tightly configured 3 pack. Airborne Zorro leading the youngsters hanging off each of his shoulders.

"Keep with me kids!" declares lead dog Zorro.

As usual, lots of breaks since it is still "training mode" when young Rudy is along. And, as usual as well, snow angels from Jack at every break!

"Rub a dub dub!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"So many breaks, but still a ton of fun!" expresses Zorro.
"I love love love skijoring!" declares happy Rudy.

Skijoring over, time for "end of run" treats!

"Slurp, yum, yum!" says Jack taking a pork treat from my hand.
"Hurry back to my turn!" says Zorro.
"Me next, me next!" little Rudy is saying to me :)

Another short, fun & easy Rudy training run: 1.9 miles traveled with 100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH (Rudy's fastest speed yet!)

2018/2019 Season to Date: 10 days on the trails covering 43.9 miles with 4250 feet of elevation climbed.

Nice Top Layer

The top layer of crust was just hard enough to support a husky (and a person on skis) as we were able make our own trail far back at Indiana Creek and all the way through Indiana Gulch!

Trotting along the hard top layer (on what is a few feet of snowpack under the crust) as we
approach the abandoned "Father Dyer Cabin" to the right. Wheeee!

After a day of silly antics on the trail yesterday, my partners were back to all business today as we toured the adjacent forest and gulch of Indiana Creek this morning...

Off we go starting up the main Indiana Creek Trail (the creek is in the trees to the right).

We caught the scent of moose early on today and Max & Zorro's "moose radar" was on high alert the entire outing. Eventually the radar was rewarded with a distant moose sighting:

"Beep beep! To the right - moose moving through the trees!!!!!" say the intense moose
spotting pair. It was far away, so nothing to be concerned about; but still fun to reward
your radar with sighting, no matter how far away.

A slight breeze was blowing behind us on the "out direction" of our outing. Suddenly a "scent of moose" clearly blew in from behind us as only the smell of moose can bring Max & Zorro to a halt on the trail!

"Sniff, sniff - aahh, wonderful Scent of Moose!" states Max taking it all in.
"My kind of air freshener!" declares Zorro pausing to fill his nose.

Our normal route at Indiana Creek consists of an out & back in the forest as the gulch containing the creek is often soft and/or water exposed. A few times a year (typically in March or April), the snowpack has covered the creek and the warming/freezing pattern of the day & night has built a hard crust in the wide open gulch. When this happens, we will take the forest route on our "out direction" and then test the crust to make sure it can hold 45 pounds of Siberian (and support a human on skis) and then skijor back in the middle of the wide open gulch. A fun way to make a loop out of Indiana Creek!

Jogging down the middle of the gulch containing Indiana Creek - what a treat!
Notice the storm clouds in the sky: some fresh snow to add to our snowpack is
on the way - yay!

A fun day - see for yourself:

"So much fun, so much fun!" declare my thoroughly happy pair at our turnaround point far
back in Indiana Creek.

A fun morning with a nice top layer down the center of the gulch: 7.8 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 103 days on the trails covering 890.8 miles with 94,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Moose Tracks

We had moose tracks to sniff & follow on every trail at Indiana Creek today!

Fresh Moose Tracks!!!
"Must head dunk and inspect!" demonstrate my moose focused partners.

We traversed a few different trails today - from packed to deep and every trail had the same theme: Moose Tracks! Clearly more than one moose had been walking the trails at Indiana Creek earlier this morning as Max & Zorro found the tracks to be fresh everywhere we went! See for yourself:

Packed trail with Moose Tracks to the right.
Max & Zorro are picking up the pace as they sense the tracks intersecting the trail just ahead.

Max trotting in the set single track and Zorro bouncing along in the Moose Track right next
to the single track. "I think I am as big as a moose, so I'll run in the moose track!" says Zorro.
Note that you cannot run in a moose track for long and keep up with your brother in a set single
track; but Zorro kept trying his hardest to run like a moose and keep up :)

Shoulder deep powder with a Moose Track leading the way up the trail!
(notice the moose track in front of Max & Zorro)

We paid a visit to Zorro's favorite old mining cabin far back in Indiana Creek and we discovered the moose had been here too!

"Moose tracks to the left, moose tracks to the front. You check one & I'll check the other!" say
Max & Zorro as they each inspect one of the tracks for freshness and direction.

"Hey, my favorite cabin!" states happy Zorro glancing to his cabin to the upper left.
"And moose like it too, nice cabin bro!" says Max glancing to the left as well.

A moose seeking day in Indiana Creek covering 7 miles with 850 feet of elevation climbed.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 31 days on the trails covering 251.4 miles with 27,150 feet of elevation climbed.

Short and Deep

We only had time for a short outing Wednesday morning.

The plan was for a quick 6 mile run. The reality was a trail breaking 4 mile trot.

We started on the recently plowed road to the Indiana Creek trails, seeing that we could run in the plow tracks. An easy warmup leg to the outing:

Jogging in the freshly plowed road. If you are on the road right after the plow (and it is not
warm or sunny), then the plow typically leaves enough snowpack to glide along nicely.

After about 1/2 a mile, we transitioned from the plow track and the main Indiana Creek Trail. The snow was untouched and we began an aerobic trail breaking trot.

Beginning of the Indiana Creek Trail and breaking trail in about 8 inches of powder.

Further we went, the deeper it got:

Plowing through about 12 inches at this point - wheeee!

At our deepest point, we encountered fresh moose tracks to give Max & Zorro a little "moose juice" to power through the snow.

"Fresh Moose Tracks!!!! Need to investigate!" state the snow plower pair veering right to
inspect the fresh moose tracks. Note we are in about 18-24 inches of snow at this point!

"Moose went this direction, we should too!" say my head dunking partners.

As appealing as it might sound to use the moose tracks as our trail (i.e., the moose has already broken trail for us), there is one major problem with this thought... The end of the trail will be a moose! Sorry, guys, I re-routed us back onto the real trail and off the moose trail :-)

Only time for a short outing today, but we used 8-24 inches of trail breaking snow to get some serious exercise out of the event: 4 miles with 500 feet of elevation climbed.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 25 days on the trails covering 194.5 miles with 21,750 feet of elevation climbed.

Sunday Funday

It was a "Sunday Funday" skijoring around Indiana Creek this morning. 

"Sunday Funday!" says happy Zorro glancing back when I asked, "who is having fun?"
"You're ok little bro!" expresses Max giving Zorro an approving peck on the cheek.

A new encounter for us on the trail today - DUCKS!!!! Apparently the ducks think winter is over and have migrated back to Indiana Creek for the summer. We have never encountered ducks on a skijor outing before as it took us all by surprise and was quite entertaining for those who like duck meat...

We were cruising up the trail nicely when all duck broke loose to the right.
You can barely see one of the ducks circled in this photo. There were 3 ducks that were
apparently as surprised by 2 Siberian Huskies as we were by 3 ducks as they all took flight
as we approached.

You can see 2 of the 3 flying off in the circle in this photo.
You can see 2 very intense hunters watching from the trail!
"Duck food!!!! We never imagined encountering duck food while skijoring!"

We skijored two different "out & back" trails in Indiana Creek. Here we are at the turn around point of on one of the trails...

"Cooling off rolling a snow angel!" demonstrates Max.
"Digging for gold!" exhibits hole digging Zorro.

Oh yea, we did do some skijoring in between all the antics pictured above :-)

Trotting along the first of our "out & back" trails that winds through the forest near
Indiana Creek.

Hopping along the second of our "out & back" trails that takes us along the shores
of Indiana Creek.

A Sunday Funday jogging around Indiana Creek: 7.4 miles with 800 feet of elevation climbed.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 129 days on the trails covering 1114.4 miles with 129,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Wide, Narrow, Deep

The trails on today's skijor outing went from wide to narrow to deep as we toured around Indiana Creek.

"Wait? What for?" ask my inquisitive pair looking back to question my command.
Meanwhile you can see my left arm battling tree branches trying to clear a path for me to proceed.
Some of the hazards you encounter when your lead dogs are under 2 feet tall and you are almost
6 feet tall (e.g., they went under the branches just fine while I ran into them :-)

As is usually the case, the trail started packed & wide at Indiana Creek:

Putting our shoulders into the harness to haul the human up the packed & wide start
to the outing.

Today the "packed & wide" stretch of trail ended after 3/4 of a mile and then we were on a narrow single track for about the next 2.5 miles. If you step out of the track, you sink in snow and cannot keep pace; so it was single file skijoring for this 2.5 mile stretch:

Max jogging point as you can see the narrow trail winding through the forest.

Extended single file skijoring always leads to taking turns running in point.
Zorro leading us along as Max takes a break in 2nd slot.

We never fail to "out ski" the existing tracks in Indiana Creek. A normal cross country skier does not go as far as Siberian Powered Skijoring. We did a loop in Indiana Creek, so did not re-use the narrow single track for the return route. Instead we were breaking trail to laying fresh tracks for over 3.5 miles of the outing:

Powering along in deep snow far back in Indiana Creek.

Continuing to set our own track as we loop down through the "Indiana Creek Gulch" to
return instead of going back on the single track.

Eventually we connected back to the original packed & wide trail to arrive at the trailhead:

Zooming to the finish of the run for the day.

The complex terrain of Indiana Creek always leads to shorter than average outings; but everyone is all smiles after completing a complex run: 7.3 miles with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 122 days on the trails covering 1052.2 miles with 122,000 feet of elevation climbed.

1000 Miles

We surpassed 1000 miles of skijoring for the 2013/2014 season today!

1000 and counting....

"1000 of the happiest miles ever traversed!" state the happy huskies at one of our
turnaround points of the day.

1000 miles and we are still in March! An amazing season. The snowpack is still pretty strong on many trails and better than it was last season at this time. Consider this: last year we got 19, 6 & 1 outings in April, May & June and we have a better snowpack this year than last. So, as long as Mother Nature does not melt the base too fast, we are easily on track for 1200 miles this season! Woo Hoo, please don't melt our snowpack too fast...

Anyway, back to today's fun outing. We had a nice jog up, down & around the trails at Indiana Creek:

Jogging out the mid-meadow that contains Indiana Creek.
The creek is still hidden under snow - nice!

Trotting along a narrow trail that takes us winding through the trees in the forest.
The packed trail is always narrow with lots of trees to weave between so we have to keep the
speeds down to a safe level. But it is so peaceful to trot through the forest.

Airborne Siberians on one of the few wide open straightaways at Indiana Creek where
you can uncork the skijoring machine!

Today's outing covered 7.7 miles with 850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 116 days on the trails covering 1000.5 miles with 116,300 feet of elevation climbed.

1000 miles and counting! 1100 now seems to be a given, will we reach 1200? Will we exceed 1200?!? Woooo.

Indiana Creek Snowpack

A peaceful day jogging along the trails around Indiana Creek.

Sprinting Siberians as we uncork it along an open straightaway.

It may be Spring, but the snowpack in Indiana Creek is wonderful. The following shot gives a good perspective. The trail marker to the right of Max is a 3 to 4 foot marker in the Summer yet is is barely 6 inches above the snowpack today!

"We love trail markers buried in snow!" says an approving Max giving the marker
a glance as we jog by.

It is late March, though, so it is expected for Indiana Creek to start exposing itself here and there. But, in a bad snow year, the creek would be fully exposed in late March. Today we only had fleeting glimpses of the creek as it was still covered by snow for the most part.

A little bit of the creek can be seen to the left.
"No big deal, the snowpack is still great along the shores!" say the happily trotting pair.

Everyone approved of today's fun outing:

"We're a happy family!" express smiling Max & Zorro at one of our turnaround points.

We were making good time on the packed trails so I paused while determining which side trails I could add to the day. I was talking out loud, but to myself, when I looked down and saw I was most certainly not talking to myself! What focus!!!

"You are talking and we are listening. Always listen to the musher!" say my intensely
focused pair!

A nice & peaceful outing covering 7.9 miles with 1000 feet of elevation climbed.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 113 days on the trails covering 973.1 miles with 113,200 feet of elevation climbed.