Baldy

Do you think Jack is enjoying upwards of 2 feet of fresh powder on Baldy Mountain this morning?

"I'm having a BLAST!" exclaims ecstatic Jack.
"Me too, but why are we stopped?" adds Rudy.
That is the historic Iowa Mill in the background from the Breckenridge
mining days. We are stopped as I needed to wipe frozen snow off my
sport sunglasses so I could see (Rudy didn't like that explanation :)

This was our first skijor on Baldy this 2024/2024 season. This terrain is very steep in places and extremely rocky when bare. So, we need a lot of snow to cover the rocks and then I need a lot of powder to slow Jack & Rudy down on the steep descents. Well, 2 feet of snow falling overnight made Baldy a dream skijor!

We stuck to the main trail for most of the outing. A few other powder hounds had been out on the trail before us, so we had some very soft but set tracks to run in on the main trail:

Cruising along in an existing track. As you can see, very few had been out
so the set tracks were still very soft & fluffy!

We did venture off the main trail once to go snorkeling in deep, deep powder. Wheeee!

Jack & Rudy blasting through roughly 2 feet of fresh, untouched snow
on a side trail. Powerful kids!

But, as I said, we did spend most of the outing on the main trail. Come along for today's video fun as snow is dumping all around us as we hop, skip and glide in the soft terrain. Yes, the video gets pretty blurry from snow collecting on the camera partway through this clip. I'm happy to report it was near impossible to keep the camera clear of snow for very long :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now I get to pat myself on the back and show that I have some use (other than vetoing moose hunting) on the trails. In the prior video you see lots of existing tracks for Jack & Rudy to fit in side by side. But, occasionally there were stretches where all the previous humans had followed one another. We did an out & back on the main trail this morning. On the out direction, every time the trail condensed to a single set track, I would ski out of the track to pave they way for Jack & Rudy to fit comfortably on the way back. See, I have something to contribute!!!

Rudy in the set track from people out before us.
Jack in MY track I set on the way out so both could fit side by side on
the way back. Nice job human :)

All this fresh snow meant for some very frisky kids all morning long. Two unauthorized games of "tag & wrestle" broke out during the outing - 1 started by Rudy (that's typical) and 1 started by (usually perfect) Jack. Of course both joined in the "tag & wrestle" - it doesn't matter who starts it, both contribute :)

"Just try and touch me!" says play bowing Rudy.
"I'm going to flatten you!" responds silly Jack.

With all the new snow, the "snow walls" are starting to come together everywhere for Jack & Rudy to climb for end of run treats:

The fun kids climbing a snow wall to get even with my hands for easy
handing out of the treats.

Skijors on Baldy always trade off distance for elevation (it is very steep as I mentioned): 5.1 miles traveled with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 15 days on the trails covering 115.8 miles with 11,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Yay Baldy

Rolling snow angels to cool off at the historic Iowa Mill on Baldy Mountain!

Synchronized snow angels from the comedians at Iowa Mill :)

Today was our first outing of the season on Baldy Mountain. This is one of our favorite trails but two things: (1) it is VERY steep in places and (2) the terrain under the snow is VERY rocky. As a result, we need lots of snow before we can skijor Baldy and we always need fresh snow the day we skijor it. Well, today was finally that day for the 2023/2024 skijoring season.

We did three laps around the historic Iowa Mill that you see in the first photo. Each pass by the mill, I stopped to check our time out on the trails and, thus, each stop by the mill got snow angels from silly Jack & Rudy.

To add entertainment to our outing, we also left the main trail twice to go find fresh, untouched powder. Here we go with Jack & Rudy blasting through some deep snow as they tow me along!

The impressive powder plowing Jack & Rudy.

As we were cruising along this wonderful, untouched side trail, we came across some other skiers coming up the trail. They hollered, "Nice, looking good!" as we flew on by and waved :)

The cool kids entertaining the oncoming skiers.

Now let's get the video counterpart of the last two photos. Come along and watch impressive Jack & Rudy blasting through deep, fresh powder and then see the oncoming skiers wave to us from the right at the end of the clip. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the main trail by Iowa Mill and, as I said, we did three laps by the mill. The first we were second tracks on the trail. The second pass had a few more tracks (ours included) so Jack & Rudy could speed up a bit as they were not blasting through powder.

Running fast in existing ski tracks with still lots of soft
powder all around us.

By the third and final pass, quite a few other skiers had come up this popular trail. What did that mean? Well it meant it was a soft packed trail for Jack & Rudy to floor it!

Final pass, pedal to the metal :)

We love skijoring Baldy, right guys?

"So much fun! We LOVE powder!" declares the happy kids.

Super fun day in fresh powder on steep Baldy: 8.2 miles traveled with 1500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 61 days on the trails covering 515.5 miles traveled with 50,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Powder Day

Laying fresh tracks to start this morning's skijor on Baldy Mountain!

First on the trail to enjoy the morning's fresh snow! Wheeee!

What's that building, you wonder? Well, it is an old abandoned cabin from the mining days in Breckenridge in the 1800s. Need proof it is really 150+ years old? Well, look to the upper right corner of the photo and you see the outhouse that was this cabin's bathroom back when it was inhabited :)

With 6+ inches of fresh snow this morning, we went to one of our favorite powder day destinations: the steep trails on Baldy Mountain. We did two laps around the historic Iowa Mill. Well, it has become a ritual with Jack & Rudy at the mill this season: snow angels from Jack and woos from Rudy. Silly kids.

Rolling and wooing at Iowa Mill.
Yes, this is at least the 4th "roll & woo" photo we've had at Iowa Mill
this season!

On the second lap by the mill, we climbed a couple 100 feet above the mill to get on an untouched side trail. It was powder plowing on this trail!

Breaking trail and blasting through 6-8 inches of powder. POW!

Come along for today's powder day video. We begin this clip breaking trail and blasting through 6-8 inches of powder on an untouched side trail. Then, we round a corner at the historic Iowa Mill to take off in a few pre-existing tracks on this popular main trail. As we get to the mill, if your volume is up, you'll hear me call out a "left" and then "right". I do this so Jack & Rudy will drift left at first so I can begin the right corner on my skis before calling them back "right" to rejoin me once I've rounded the corner (if I only said "right", the fast kids would cut the corner tighter than I can make it on cross country skis). Perfect listening/performing skills from my great partners.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, as is always the case, we got to fly by oncoming skiers on the popular main trail and put smiles on faces :)

"Hi! Bye! Made you smile!" says fun Jack & Rudy cruising on by.

After an aerobic powder day, the kids are really ready for end of run treats.

"Ready to refuel!" declares the happy, hard working sled dogs.

Great powder day on steep Baldy Mountain: 6.5 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 106 days on the trails covering 937.8 miles with 86,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Blustery

It was a blustery morning on Baldy Mountain, that had no impact on Jack & Rudy :)

Hard to capture blowing snow (white on white) but you can see a bit of the blow
with the snow against the trees to the left.
Skip ahead to the video below for real evidence of the wind.

We started (and ended) the skijor in single digit temperatures (F) and there were gusting winds. So, I wanted to pick a route that kept us in the trees and definitely below treeline for the entire outing. The solution was to get creative in the backcountry and connect Boreas Mountain to Baldy Mountain. Fun!

We started the morning laying fresh tracks on Boreas. Surprising to be first tracks on popular Boreas; but, as I mentioned, it was single digit temps with below zero windchill. 

Laying fresh tracks up Boreas!

After cruising up Boreas for a bit, we cut over to the Baker's Tank and the Mountain Pride trails. These trails are very heavily forested, so plenty of tree protection from the wind. But, these trails are also infrequently used, especially Mountain Pride which is far back in the forest and very technical.

Testing all of my skiing abilities on the narrow, barely 2 Siberians wide,
Mountain Pride Trail!

Eventually we connected onto Baldy Mountain at the historic Iowa Mill. What do Jack & Rudy do at the historic mill? Well, roll snow angels and woo of course :)

Nice shot of Iowa Mill. The kids are slightly out of sync as Jack is finishing his
snow angel as Rudy is starting his woo. Usually they roll & woo in harmony!

Once to Iowa Mill, Jack & Rudy LOVE the skijor here on down to the trailhead. Come along for a video glimpse into the fun. If your volume is up, you can hear the wind whipping against the camera microphone. You can also see the wind blown snow flying across the camera, especially during the last 30 seconds or so of this clip. 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The only downside of far below zero windchill? Well, not many others were out on the trails. Normally we encounter a lot of backcountry skiers on Baldy and Jack & Rudy love to flirt with them. Today, though, we only encountered 2 solo skiers. Oh well, 2 flirts are better than none :)

"Hi! Bye! Coming through! Made you smile!" go the flirts cruising by this
oncoming skier.

Jack & Rudy thought it was a beautiful morning, just see for yourself!

"Anytime we end the outing with frozen heads was a GREAT day!" says the
silly kids with icicles frozen all over their happy faces.

Fun day in the backcountry hiding from the wind: 8.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 87 days on the trails covering 761.0 miles with 70,000 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Powder Plows

Paused at the historic Iowa Mill on Baldy Mountain. Anyone besides me into history?

"Nope; but you did stop...." goes stop, drop & roll Jack.
"Nope, but WOOOO!" adds wooing Rudy.

We spent the morning on Baldy Mountain to enjoy the new snow that fell overnight. The amount of new snow was in the neighborhood of 6 inches with a little less lower in elevation and a little more higher. Baldy is so much fun to skijor when there is fresh snow!

At one point, I directed us off the main trail and onto an unused and untouched side trail. I love this sequence of action shots of Jack & Rudy the powder plows:

Following my "left" command and launching into the deep and
untouched side trail. POW!

After every plow launch comes a lift to dolphin swim through
the deep powder.

Plow, lift, plow, lift - you get the idea :)
So off we go snorkeling along this untouched side trail.

The powder plowing was a short distance as I knew that particular side trail would connect back to more established trails quickly. But, it was still so fun to break trail in over 2 feet of untouched powder cache for a little ways.

We spent the majority of the morning, though, on the popular trails around Iowa Mill. On these trails, we were running in shallow powder in set tracks from all the skiers that had already been out to get some of the morning freshies. What to do on the main trail? Well, flirt & fly of course:

"Hi... Bye... Made you smile!" goes Jack & Rudy entertaining the
skiers paused to watch us fly on by.

Finally, we get to today's humorous video highlight. If you put anything on the trail in front of Jack & Rudy, they want to chase and catch it. I literally mean ANYTHING - skier, moose, squirrel, dog, fox, ameoba - you name it, if it is in front of them, they want to catch it :) Come along for today's video demonstration of this. The clip starts with us stopped as I am letting a skier in front of us get a big head start on this final stretch of the Baldy Mountain Trail. Then, once I give the command to go and you'll see Jack & Rudy gaining on the skier in front of us until we eventually catch him at the trailhead gate. Fun guys!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Deep powder, flirt & fly, catch the skier - what a fun batch of activities to combine in one outing!

"We had a blast!" says my happy, happy pals.

Powder day fun: 6.7 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 65 days on the trails covering 561.6 miles with 49,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Cruising

Fresh snow this morning meant we could skijor multiple laps around the historic Iowa Mill on Baldy Mountain!

Iowa Mill to the right. Cool Jack & Rudy in the center :)

Baldy Mountain is one of our favorite skijor outings as it is quite unique. The terrain is VERY steep, so I only agree to skijor Baldy with my pals when there is new snow to (1) slow the kids and (2) give me some "powder control" on the skis. It is too steep to ever attempt without fresh snow!

Anyway, new snow this morning found us heading to Baldy for some fun laps. We alternated skijoring on the main (popular) trail and cruising on a few of the lesser used side trails. Here is a shot from one of my favorite side trails. This side trail starts at Iowa Mill and then leads you away from the main trail and into the forest. It's wide enough to avoid trees but also narrow enough to feel yourself flying right by the trees!

Launching along the side trail into the forest! Wheeee!

The main trail is heavily used and, thus, very packed under the new snow. But, with a little bit of safety powder atop the packed trail, I can let Jack & Rudy open the throttle. Today's top speed on Baldy? 24 MPH - wow!

Jack the speed missile next to Rudy the cannonball!

We also know of a few virtually unused side trails. We almost always find an untouched powder cache on these trails. Powder plowing Jack & Rudy:

Powder cache all to ourselves.

At our high point of the day, Jack & Rudy left the set trail to do a little plowing and exploring. After carving a path in the deep snow, both stopped to stare intensely ahead. What did they see (or smell)? Well, I'm not sure as I did not see anything. But, wildlife we have seen on Baldy before includes moose, elk, fox and snowshoe hare. Which of these drew the attention, we'll never know :)

"Our 'wildlife sensors' are on high alert!" declares the hunting pair.
Nice snow troughs behind the powder kids!

Now on to video fun for the day. Come along as we begin cruising towards Iowa Mill. The mill represents a meeting of 3 different trails and, thus, the terrain is a bit choppy from lots of use from multiple directions. So, Jack & Rudy politely slow through the choppiness until we hang a right around the mill and then take off along the main trail. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another day on Baldy is another day to share 'end of run' treats with our wonderful retired mentor Zorro:

"Ah, Baldy, I remember those fun trails!" says focused Zorro.
"Fun, fun, fun!" adds happy Jack.
"You have my full attention!" declares sweet Rudy.

Baldy fun run: 7.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 104 days on the trails covering 872.6 miles with 82,700 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Packed and Powder

Coming by - made you smile!

Our usual interaction with other skiers on Baldy Mountain:
Jack & Rudy flying on by as the skiers step aside to smile and watch
the cool sled dogs cruise on by!

We had a really fun "packed and powder" skijor on Baldy Mountain this morning. We spent the majority of the time on the main Baldy Mountain Trail which had a nice packed track just wide enough for Jack & Rudy to fit side by side:

Zooming along the packed & fast main trail.

If you look closely above, you can see that the snow outside of the packed track was quite fresh and deep. How deep? Well, we went "off trail" a handful of times to veer away from the main trail before returning to it. The side trails were DEEP and untouched - see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy breaking trail as they bust through 2+ feet of untouched powder!

Now come along for a fun video clip putting it all together. The clip starts with us on one of the side trails as we are making our own path through the deep snow. Then, we intersect with the historic Iowa Mill. The mill is a popular "meet & congregate" point on Baldy, so you see lots of random tracks going every which way that Jack & Rudy pick their way through. Finally, we cut around the mill and onto the fast packed main trail and off we goooooo! Wheeee! Powder to Packed fun.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, all that work in the deep side trails means you need to roll & cool off at any break along the way :)

The "stop, drop & roll" goofballs doing their thing!

Back to the trailhead to meet up with retired Zorro and let him know Jack & Rudy were in goofy moods all day long :)

"I'm right here!" declares wonderfully focused Zorro.
"We are playing king of the mountain!" says Rudy.
"I'm king... No, wait, end of run treats? I'm ready!" adds silly Jack.

A beautiful morning to do a couple of laps on Baldy Mountain with the occasional POW powder side trail added in for fun: 8.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 56 days on the trails covering 446.1 miles with 42,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Laps

Nice shot of historic Iowa Mill on Baldy Mountain!

"Stopped for views? Well, then, I'm rolling snow angels!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"Does he ever skip a 'stop, drop & roll' opportunity?" asks Rudy :)

The temperature when we started our outing was 8F, the temperature when we ended was 4F. Our route took us up Baldy Mountain, so our low temperature of the morning was somewhere well below 4F. Did that make a difference to Jack? Ha! Look at the prior photo of the goof rolling in the snow in temperatures below 4! Did it make a difference to me? Well, yes!!! There was also a breeze, so no way was I taking us above treeline and into wind chills far below zero (probably approaching -20F). The outcome? We did three laps around Iowa Mill on Baldy Mountain to stay below treeline our entire outing.

Lap 1: zooming along behind fast running Jack & Rudy:

Zooming on Lap #1.

Lap 2: the kids switched positions at our turnaround but same result :)

Zooming on Lap #2.

By our third lap around Iowa Mill, other skiers had finally started appearing on the trail. So, lap 3 involved flirting and putting smiles on the faces of all we encountered!

Lap #3: entertaining the crowds - smiles all around watching Jack & Rudy
propel me along the trail.

Today's video highlight? Well, how about a minute of fast packed action during lap #2. Come along for the fun. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Three laps + entertaining the crowds - that's a way to earn your end of run treats:

"Been there, done that. How about those treats?" asks focused Zorro.
"Great day! Wonderful temperatures!" adds giddy Jack.
"I could stay out all day long!" says silly Rudy.

Fun laps keeping the human below treeline this morning: 7.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 50 days on the trails covering 396.0 miles with 37,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Laps

Entertaining and flirting with curious onlookers along the trails this morning :)

One of many curious onlookers to entertain today.
Rudy is such a flirt. Notice how he's backed off the gangline a bit as he
is looking at & flirting with the skier on the side of the trail.
Meanwhile, it's a consistent "onward" from Jack :)

We skijored three laps around Iowa Mill at Baldy Mountain this morning. The first lap was "fast & fun" on the front side of Iowa Mill:

Zooming along!

The second lap took us on a lesser used trail on the backside of Iowa Mill. The first picture above is from that lap. The third lap took us on the front side of Iowa Mill again. Third lap same as the first? Almost:

Pretty much the exact same location as the prior photo.
The only difference? Well, Jack & Rudy have switched positions.
Switched positions, same result: zoom :)

Jack & Rudy really love to open the throttle on fun Baldy. Come along for a fast & fun skijor minute from the first lap of the morning. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Passing by the historic Iowa Mill THREE times did not go unnoticed by Jack & Rudy. You cannot pass by the same building three times without at least one "stop, drop & roll":

Our third pass by Iowa Mill and Jack & Rudy declared,
"Enough, we HAVE to stop, drop & roll at least once!" 

Funny moment on our second lap (when we were on lesser used trails). Jack did one of his "Moose, Must Exit Trail Here" moves and drifted into the deep snow off trail. I always pay attention to Jack's moose detector as it is very accurate. I quickly turned to scan the forest with Jack and did not notice at first that Rudy originally missed Jack's moose declaration. Suddenly, as I was scanning the trees with Jack, Rudy got the memo and came launching off trail to join in the search for moose.

Jack & I scanning the trees for moose.
"Wait, what? Moose?!? Here I come to help!" declares 'late to the game'
Rudy suddenly launching himself off trail to join Jack.

Despite Jack's intensity, we never spotted a moose. They are very camouflaged when in thick trees. Oh well, it was entertaining for the kids to smell and scan for moose anyway :)

Finally, such focus back at the trailhead to share end of run treats with retired Zorro:

Such focused attention!

A series of three fun laps on steep Baldy Mountain: 7.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 695.4 miles with 61,000 feet of elevation climbed