Baby Steps

We hooked Jack up with Zorro and I for his first ever little "mini skijor". Wheeee - he really gets it!

Jack giving it his all to keep up with Zorro.

Zorro and I did a 7ish mile skijor around Sally Barber Mine before arriving near the trailhead to hookup Jack for a short intro to skijoring. We purposely put ourselves on a section of trail with a downhill and flat grade so that Jack's only task would be to "free run" next to Zorro and try and keep up. Notice in the photo above that the gangline is taut from me to Zorro (e.g., Zorro is doing all the real work) whereas the gangline is 90 degrees to Jack (e.g., his sole mission was to "keep up" for this short distance :)

Come along and watch Jack's first little skijor with Zorro and I. So much fun to see Zorro towing me while Jack "gives it his all" to keep up for this short sprint. Pretty good for a first skijor run!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Okay, back to the real outing. Zorro and I skijored up, around and down the Sally Barber Mine Trail and added two side tours for distance and fun.

The first side tour was an untouched powder cache. We broke trail in 8-12 inches of snow along an untouched "power line trail" before turning around and retracing our freshly carved tracks.

Zorro hopping through 10ish inches of fresh, untouched powder as we break trail on an
unused power line trail.

The second side tour took on the narrow Trail of Tears. This is a fun, albeit very tight, trail that weaves you through dense trees. The trail had been used by others before us, so it was a packed fast track through the trees:

Zipping along behind Zorro towing me through the trees.

Back to the day's highlight: hooking up Jack for a tiny intro run... Finished skijoring and everyone has earned their "end of run pork treats":

"I earned mine, I earned mine!!!!" says happy little Jack.
"I get more! I did more!" proclaims cute & focused Zorro.

3 phases of fun with Zorro: fast & wide Sally Barber Mine Trail + fast & narrow Trail of Tears + trail breaking on a power line trail. Then, a short run to finish the day with Jack's first hookup. 7.1 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 11 days on the trails covering 77.9 miles with 7100 feet of elevation climbed.

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I Want to Go

Catching air skijoring Rabbit Ears Pass with Zorro - wheeee!

Airborne Zorro as we zip along the packed snowmobile trails at Rabbit Ears.

Today we feature silly little Jack - our adorable puppy who REALLY wants to come skijoring with Zorro and I. Jack gets to come to the trailhead to send us off and then meets us at the end of our runs. In just a matter of a few outings, Jack has gone from "watching us start" to bucking up & down declaring "I want to go too!!!!!" as Zorro and I take off. He is still too young to come along; but he is certainly giving all indications that he will take off with us once we hook him up!!!!

"Let me go! Let me go! I want to go too!!!!!!" declares bucking bronco Jack as Zorro and
I start the days run. Nancy is getting a good workout holding Jack back :)

Out of sight of the silly puppy and Zorro and I opened it up as we cruised the trails near the offiical Rabbit Ears Pass Marker. Come along and watch as we zip along the packed snowmobile trails as the Rabbit Ears Marker comes into view on our right (the large rock that appears in the video). There is a plaque on the other side of the marker from our approach that declares this the official geographical point of Rabbit Ears Pass.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Skijoring done and back to silly little Jack. We cannot stop laughing about how much skijor outings wear him out! He "participates" at the beginning and end of the runs and then goes for a gentle walk with Nancy in between. So, Zorro and I run while Jack waddles; but Jack always seems to be the most tired at the end of every skijor outing :)  Jack's favorite "post skijor" activity: curling up on Zorro and passing out :)

"Phew, EXHAUSTED!" demonstrates little Jack curling up on Zorro to rest from the day's
big outing. Zorro lays down to rest too; but it is hilarious that little Jack immediately curls
up on Zorro and passes out!

Another fun day running the trails at Rabbit Ears Pass, right Zorro?

"Yes, fun indeed!!!!" states happy Z!

Today's outing was a short & easy route. It is mostly flat or downhill with one little uphill rise. A perfect short run to put on back of yesterday's long run: 4.7 miles traveled with 200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 9 days on the trails covering 62.5 miles with 5900 feet of elevation climbed.

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Soon Jack

A beautiful bluebird day to skijor the fresh snow up & down Boreas Pass!

Cruising along behind Zorro as a nice shot of the snow-covered runs of Breckenridge Ski
Resort comes into view across the valley.

About 6-12 inches of new snow fell overnight in and around Breckenridge (6 at lower elevations, 12+ up higher). Zorro and I set out to skijor the new snow on Boreas Pass. It is still hunting season, so Boreas is open to 4WD vehicles. Hunting ends this weekend and, then, Boreas is closed to motor vehicles until May and it becomes one of the most popular cross-country ski and snowshoe trails in the area. But, the benefit of it still being hunting season - well, look at the photo above and video below... When there is enough snow, then a vehicle traveling the pass serves to pack the terrain and produce a nice fast-packed trail to skijor!

Come along and watch a short video clip of Zorro towing me along the packed tire track on what turned out to be a beautiful bluebird morning with lots of fresh snow. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Here is a great shot from the front of happy Zorro towing me along as we near the end of our run up and down Boreas:

"Wheeee! Look at me!" says happy Zorro towing me along.

Who took the prior "shot from the front"? Well, Nancy of course. Not just Nancy; but Nancy and Jack!!! Introducing Jack, our new little puppy and Zorro's future skijor partner. Jack is still a baby at this point, but we will start introducing him to short & easy skijor runs in a month or two and plan to have him up to medium length skijor runs by the tail end of this season. As you can see from the photo below, Jack believes he is ready NOW as he is airborne, bucking up & down to get loose from Nancy and join Zorro. Soon Jack, soon...

"I want to come! I want to come!" exclaims bucking bronco Jack.
"Soon kid, you couldn't hang with me yet!" says Zorro running by.

A better shot of Jack with his big brother Zorro as our parting shot of the day:

"Love you big bro!" says cute little Jack sleeping on Zorro.

A fun cruise with Zorro up & down Boreas Pass: 6.7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 33.8 miles with 3400 feet of elevation climbed.

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