25 MPH Burst

Oh my, what a fast day we had on the recently groomed nordic trails this morning!

"WOO! I feel the need, the need for speed!" belts out wooing Rudy.
"Oh my we were FLYING, need to roll in snow to cool my jets!" adds
snow rolling Jack.

After spending the last 4 skijor outings on ungroomed backcountry trails, today we decided to go floor it on the groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. We were not first tracks on the recently groomed trails but we were 2nd or 3rd all morning long - that's pretty much the same as being first tracks!

The kids, Jack & Rudy, were in super speed mode this morning. I could not believe how fast we were flying around the terrain! Come along and see for yourself...

It was catching air as we zoomed by the Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut:

Flying! Love the snow poofs you can see in sun behind Rudy.
If you look closely, you can see similar poofs behind Jack; but they
are in the shade so harder to see.

It was catching air with views as we flew along this stretch with awesome views to our right:

Poofs off the feet again, catching air again, zooming again!!!!

It was catching air on the approach to FLY by the Hallelujah Warming Hut:

Did the kids ever actually touch the trail today? :)

It was catching air as we hit our top speed of this season: 25 MPH!

Such incredible lift from the hover huskies!

Now come along for the video of Jack & Rudy's 25 MPH burst. The kids maintain 14-18 MPH for extended distances on groomed trails; but we typically get a few speed bursts mixed in along the way. Come along for today's burst. We start out on the approach to the Hallelujah Warming Hut. Then, about 8 seconds into the clip and you see Jack & Rudy kick it into overdrive. Boom! It's quite the amazing feeling to be behind these bursts on skis. What a fun & wild ride :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a way to earn end of run treats by FLYING all morning long!

"That was fun! How about some refueling?" asks the focused, happy kids.

The theme for today's skijor outing? Zoom! 9 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 47 days on the trails covering 392.0 miles with 37,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Views

It was a day of absolutely stunning views from high elevation and freshly groomed nordic trails!

Flying by the Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut with a beautiful
snow covered mountain peak in the distance.

We were first or second tracks on the freshly groomed trails all morning and every direction we turned had really beautiful mountain views!

Jack catching some serious air as we zoom along the groomie zoomie
trail. Rudy is airborne too; but Jack's got some serious lift in this shot.
Oh, and more views of the snow capped Rocky Mountains all around us.

Even when we were second tracks on the trail, all we had to do was move to one side to be first tracks on our side of the trail. Here are the fun kids catching some serious air again as we fly by the Hallelujah Warming Hut with more mountain peaks in the background.

Whee - one skier came up the trail to our left before us, so we'll just
stay right and lay first tracks over here :)

Here we go with yet another cool mountain view shot with Jack & Rudy once again catching some air. You get the idea, it was a fast & fun outing this morning!

The zipping kids with more mountains to take in.

Now for today's video highlight. I love this stretch of trail as do Jack & Rudy. We are near our highest point of elevation of the day in this clip. While we start out amongst some dense trees, watch as the trees thin after about 20 seconds into the clip and then it is marvelous 360 degree views for the rest of the clip. Oh and notice how fast Jack & Rudy are flying today - top speed was 24 MPH.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now for our daily "turnaround time entertainment". We know Jack ALWAYS rolls snow angels at turnaround points. Rudy is the wildcard - it's either rolling snow angels or belting out woos. Well, today Rudy decided to put them together. He first rolled a snow angel (along with Jack) and then flashed me a smile and followed with a beautiful woo from his snow angel down. Talented kid :)

"It's ALWAYS stop, drop and roll for me!" declares snow rolling Jack.
"Stop, drop, roll and WOO! I've got a new combination antic!!!!" introduces
rolling then wooing Rudy. Wonder if he can woo while rolling? It would not
surprise me in the least if he came up with that combination at some point.

Back to the trailhead and we found a really nice snow wall to climb for end of run treats. Such talented kids!

"Love climbing snow walls for treats!" says the happy, happy kids.

What a glorious day on perfect conditions with stunning views: 10.6 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 37 days on the trails covering 308.0 miles with 29,500 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Hey! Fresh!

Zipping along and catching air on the high elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning!

Wheee - hover huskies!!!

We have only had a light dusting to and inch or two of new snow in the recent days; but the temperatures have remained well below freezing. As a result, despite having a bit of use, the trails were still soft, safe with no ice! Yay! As you see in the prior photo, pre-existing ski tracks pretty much spanned the entire trail this morning. Until....

As we approached the Kathy's Viewpoint warming hut, all the human ski tracks converged into a single track on the left side of the trail. I guess everyone wants to ski close to the warming hut. Well, this did not go unnoticed to Jack, Rudy and I as we were thrilled to slide right and be laying fresh tracks on the right side of the trail. Unless the snow is super deep, we all prefer laying fresh tracks over running in existing tracks!

Hey! Untouched snow on the right! Yay Freshies!

Come along for the video counterpart of this wonderful discovery. As we approach the hut, Jack is the first to notice the untouched treat to the right and he slides on over. Once I see Jack do this, I am thrilled to slide to the right with him for fresh snow. Finally, Rudy sees Jack (and probably feels me) and it's, "Hey! fresh snow to the right! Here I come." as he hops over to join us and off we go on this great stretch of untouched snow.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We did an out & back skijor this morning. So, of course that meant we had to turnaround at some point. Well, you know the drill: Turnaround, Roll Around!

"Aaaahhhhh!" says Rudy as he is all smiles rolling in the snow at our
turnaround point.
"Rub a dub dub dub!" adds rolling Jack (who I guarantee you has a smile
on his face too :)

Aside from turning around once, any other reason to stop this morning? Well, yes, MOOSE tracks!!! We've seen moose tracks entering, walking and leaving these nordic trails almost every outing this year; but we have yet to get a visual. Those elusive moose!

"Moose went this way! Can we too?!?" asks the moose patrollers.
Sorry guys, no going off trail into thick trees behind moose tracks!

Back to the trailhead and time to gather for end of run treats. No good snow walls this morning, so I had to kneel down to my pals. Excuse Nancy's big thumb in the lower right of the photo. She tells me it's hard to get end of run photos without her paws in the way :) Although I use this same camera in the summer for hiking/water shots of Jack & Rudy and my fingers have never been in view - you'll have to ask Nancy :)

Happy kids getting end of run treats with mom's big thumb added in :)

Fun nordic outing: 7.8 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 21 days on the trails covering 167.8 miles with 16,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Huts

Beautiful shot from one of our favorite "view stretches" of trail at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning.

The views to the right are simply stunning from this stretch of trail.
Oh, nice view of Jack & Rudy catching a little air in the morning's fresh
snow too :)

This morning found us enjoying a light layer of new snow on the trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. Along the way, we pass by 2 warming huts where you can stop, go inside and warm up. Hmm, what do Jack & Rudy think of stopping to warm up? 

"We are speeding up if you are even thinking of stopping! What on earth is
a warming hut for?!?!?!" declares the kids flying by the Hallelujah Hut.

Further along and here comes another warming hut. Any need to stop?

"We are ALREADY warm! Speeding up!" declares the speed demons as we
fly by the Kathy's Viewpoint warming hut.

Ok, put the following two photos to their video counterpart. Come along and watch what Jack & Rudy think of a warming hut - something to zoom on by, twice :) Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

So, no need for those silly warming huts, anything that we do need to stop for?

"YES! Roll snow angels to cool off!!!!!" go Jack & Rudy.
Yep, the Siberian Husky version of warming hut :)

At our highest elevation point of the outing, we found a wonderful stretch of trail with a couple inches of fresh snow all to ourselves!

Fun snow poofs coming up from Jack & Rudy as we enjoy the best snow
of our outing at the highest elevation.

Back to the trailhead and, despite recent melting, the kids are still able to find snow walls to climb for end of run treats. I don't know what we'll do when these walls finally melt and I have to kneel down again :)

In close for the treats!

Gorgeous morning! 9.5 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 135 days on the trails covering 1201.3 miles with 109,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Yep, surpassing 1200 miles for the season! Yay! Do I see 1300 (or more) in our future. Most likely, stay tuned....

Woo

We had a wooing great time skijoring Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning!

"Woo indeed!!!!" adds silly wooing Rudy.
"Great time indeed, but it's a little noisy out here!" adds happy, happy Jack.

Rudy is the talker in our household and today he had many WOOs to add to the outing. What was he wooing about? Well, Jack & I will simply say, "Don't ask, it's Rudy!" :) Seriously, he was just very talkative about the fun he was having on the trails this morning.

In between the woos, it was a beautiful bluebird morning to zoom around the trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center and take in all the views. Come along for the ride...

Cool shot of speedy Jack & Rudy with Peak 7, 8 and 9 of the ten mile range that houses Breckenridge Ski Resort in front of us:

Top of Peak 7 straight up from Rudy.
Top of Peak 8 is the little hump to the left of 7.
Top of Peak 9 is the large peak to the far left.

Is there a Peak 10 in the ten mile range? Yep (there are actually 10 peaks across this span of 10 miles, pretty cool) and here you see the top of Peak 10 straight up from Jack:

Zooming on the trail with Peak 10 coming into view.

Nice views of the peaks? Well, how about some nice views of the warming huts sprinkled throughout the nordic center?

7 of 8 feet off the ground as we approach the Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut.

If you thought the last photo was cool, wait for the next one :)

Jack & Rudy catching air as they hover over the trail to fly by the
Hallelujah Warming Hut on this beautiful bluebird morning.

With so much fun video to show, what to highlight? Well, today I'll pick the zoom by Kathy's Viewpoint. I like this clip as we start out in the shade and then transition around a corner into the morning sun to fly by the warming hut. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Did I mention Rudy was in a goofy mood this morning? Here we have Zorro & Jack front and center for 'end of run' treats while 'la la land' Rudy is doing his own thing on the snow pile next to us!

"Front, center & ready!" declares focused Zorro.
"I'm right here too!" adds Jack.
"Slurp, I can taste the treats in anticipation from way back here!" says
silly slurping Rudy (notice the tongue slurping around his nose).

A zooming fun bluebird morning: 7.6 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 57 days on the trails covering 453.7 miles with 42,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Zoom to Zoooom!

Jack & Rudy "catching air" as we fly on by the Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut!

No need for Jack & Rudy to "warm up", so fly on by we go :)

We were playing on the trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. The trails were in very good shape for a busy holiday week when we came upon the groomer running around the trails. At first I stopped to let the groomer pass but then the driver pulled to his right and waved us on. So, I let Jack & Rudy restart and trot on by the groomer. Most of the drivers we encounter on the trails LOVE to see Jack & Rudy so they typically pause and wave us on. So, here we are trotting on by the paused groomer. Interesting to note that Rudy typically takes the outside position on passing to let Jack lead the way :)

"Hey dude, thanks for grooming!" say the kids trotting by.

Once past the groomer, Rudy pulled out to the middle of the trail to show his appreciation as we FLOORED it on the fresh groom. Zoom!

Whee! Fresh Groomie Zoomie.

Eventually we traveled further out than the groomer had been. Yet, it was still a nice packed trail from previous skiers and a nice view too!

Great views of the Rocky Mountains to our right. Nice trail ahead :)

Once we out skied the groomer's path, we turned around to retrace where the groomer had been out on the trails. Come along for a fun "packed to groomed" video clip. We start out on a fast packed trail that takes us by Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut. Once past the hut, we connected to where I knew the groomer had been. So, a "left" request from me and Jack & Rudy veer onto the fresh groom and go, go, go! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We then spent the rest of the morning retracing the groomer's path for a super fast & fun skijor on perfect trails. Love the hover huskies and their shadows in the sun.

Cool hover & shadows on the fresh groomed trail. 

Back to the trailhead to let retired Zorro know how much fun we had today!

"Nice, I remember the groomie zoomies from my younger years!" says Zorro.
"So fun, so fun!" declares giddy Jack & Rudy.

A very enjoyable 10.1 mile outing with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH. Actually, it sure felt faster than 23 a few times to me; but that's what the GPS reported.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 40 days on the trails covering 315.8 miles with 29,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Room for Turkey

 After 15+ miles of skijoring the last two days, we have made room to enjoy some Thanksgiving turkey!

"We'll accept pork as well!" declares the focused trio happy to get
'end of run' pork on Thanksgiving :)

It was a beautiful bluebird day skijoring the trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center yesterday:

What a beautiful morning! What incredible conditions! Zoom!

Along the way, Jack and Rudy decided to make use of one of the warming huts situated throughout the nordic center. What does a Siberian Husky do at a warming hut?

Yep, you roll snow angels at warming huts :)

Need some video evidence of yesterday's beautiful morning? Here you go:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We only had time for a quick 6.8 mile outing yesterday, so did 8.4 miles this morning to make sure we got 15 "turkey earning exercise" miles. We decided to try French Gulch this morning:

Snow, but super thin coverage in French Gulch.

It was quite disappointing to find the coverage in French Gulch this thin 24 hours after we had a foot of snowfall. I have come to the decision it is time for me to retire French Gulch from our list of skijor trails. It is hard for me to let go, given its history. It was the first trail in Breckenridge we ever dog sledded with our first two sled dogs, Paco & Cisco. It was Max & Zorro's favorite trail (for both pristine snow and seeing moose) for years & years. But, even in Max & Zorro's later years skijoring, French Gulch was becoming increasingly overused and beaten down. I kept trying to hold on to this trail for Jack & Rudy, but it has continued to get more overused and more mistreated every year. I've decided to remove it from Jack & Rudy's list of skijor trails so that I can always have fond memories of the incredible outings I had with Max & Zorro on this terrain. I don't ever want to forget those Max/Zorro memories due to what is now a beat up and abused trail. Not to fear, I have other trails that did not exist in Max/Zorro's tenure that will becomes cornerstones for Jack/Rudy's career instead.

With such poor conditions on French Gulch, we did a quick out & back on this trail and then turned to the Sally Barber Mine trail (which shares the trailhead with French Gulch) to get some better skijoring:

Perfect conditions at Sally Barber Mine while this trails meets up
with an abused and beaten French Gulch just a few miles away!

Pretty parting shot from yesterday's 'end of run' treats with Zorro:

Pretty snow covered peaks in the distant with cute & happy sled
dogs in the foreground.

Beautiful 6.8 miles yesterday. Beat up initial miles this morning and then great miles to finish once we abandoned French Gulch for Sally Barber Mine. Two day total: 15.4 miles traveled with 1250 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 14 days on the trails covering 104.2 miles with 9500 feet of elevation climbed.

A sad farewell to French Gulch; but the fun Paco, Cisco and then Max, Zorro had with Nancy & I on this trail with forever be etched in our fond memories!

Really

"Really, you have to 'drop & roll' right in front of me? Where's my personal space?!?" asks mature Zorro looking at the goofball kids rolling snow angels around and next to him :)

"What's 'personal space'? Rolling - wheeee!" demonstrates the goofs.

We spent most of the morning on terrain like that below: a light layer of new snow with a few pre-existing tracks over what is the groomed trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center underneath the new snow.

Flying along with light powder poofs behind Zorro & Jack as Rudy rides along the
existing track down the middle.

Another fun shot similar to the prior as we fly along in the light layer of new snow as we cruise by the Kathy's Viewpoint warming hut. Zorro, Jack & Rudy love to fly by the huts :)

"Warming hut? How silly - on we go!" demonstrates the fast trio.

Here we go with the video counterpart to the prior photo. Running fast and flying by the hut. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As I mentioned, we were on the trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center. So, what to our wondering eyes should appear, but a freshly groomed trail with only a single other track! With three fast sled dogs so lively and quick, I knew in a moment we'd be flying so quick. On Zorro, on Jack, on Rudy - a zoom, zoom, zoom we go!

Fresh groomie!!!! Zoomie!

Finally, we end the day with the happy trio towing me to the finish.

Not the best shot due to the heavy shading, but you can still see 3 happy faces!

A fast day around Breckenridge Nordic Center with a "groomie surprise" to finish off the outing: 7.9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 34 days on the trails covering 224.4 miles with 22,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Huts and Views

Everybody enjoying today's skijor?

"YES!!!!" says the happy trio looking back to me during a quick pause on the trails.

Today was a beautiful bluebird morning with a couple of inches of fresh snow on the trails. To add to the fun, Breckenridge Nordic Center finally has enough snow to groom the upper trails on Peak 7. As a result, we had 1-2 inches of new snow over a freshly groomed nordic trail. We got to fly by the nordic center warming huts and take in all the great views. What fun!!!

He we go flying by the Hallelujah Hut - one of the two "warming huts" on the Peak 7 trails. I believe we may have all 12 feet off the ground in this shot, but I cannot see one of Rudy's feet and the snow puffs behind Jack blurs one of his feet. But, it sure looks like a "fresh tracks hover husky" photo to me :)

Flying by the Hallelujah Hut - wheeee!

Further along the trail and flying by the Kathy's Viewpoint warming hut. No reason to stop, who needs a warming hut? :)

Flying by another hut...

Eventually we got onto the highest shelf of the Peak 7 trails which offers stunning views of the Colorado Rockies!

Nice panorama of the rockies to our front & right.
Nice view of a perfect trail in front of us.
Nice view of the speedy sled dogs in front of me!

Today's video highlight is a beautiful bluebird morning with snow covered trees all around us. Come along as we cruise by Kathy's Viewpoint as we glide along the great conditions. You may wonder why Jack "backs off" a bit about 30 seconds into this clip. Look closely and you see a trail to the right that we could turn onto. Sometimes I call out "right" and sometimes we continue "forward". Jack is simply backing off a bit to see if I call out "right". Once I do not, he quickly launches back up into the team to continue forward. Nice trailwork by Jack!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Well, you probably knew this was coming, but it is even more comical today than usual. A conjoined snow angel from the silly kids:

"Oh my, look at this! What will they come up with next?!?" asks Zorro surveying the weird kids.
"Haha, conjoined snow angels!!!!" demonstrates the goofball twins. Look closely, you see Rudy's
body in the foreground and those are Jack's four feet in the air coming out of Rudy :)

Finally, a "shot from the front" to end the day. Unfortunately it is not the best with the dark lighting, but you can still make out the happy faces!

Here we come - wheeee!

Today's outing was just shy of 8 miles. To be honest, I did not think 11.5 year old Zorro had any 8 mile outings left in him. Well, he showed me! If we take him on easy & groomed nordic trails, there appears to be plenty of 8+ mile outings left in Zorro's tank!

7.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 147.1 miles with 14,950 feet of elevation climbed.