Vail Pass

Jack & Rudy running strong on the front side of Shrine Pass at Vail Pass!

Zoom!

We decided to bring Vail Pass back into our regular trails this season. For years, Vail Pass was a staple for Max, Zorro and I to skijor 10-14 miles. It has wonderful, endless terrain. But, we had to take Vail Pass off the trail list for a few years after Max passed away. First, we were training young Jack to skijor alongside Zorro. Well, Vail Pass is not very good for training runs. Then, we were training young Rudy to skijor alongside Zorro & Jack. So, again, not a good option for training. Then, once Jack & Rudy were over 2 years old, we were winding elder Zorro down (as he was over 11 years old). So, similar reasoning, Vail Pass was not a great option for going easy on Zorro and letting him run part of the outing.

Now here we are in 2022 and Jack is 5 years old and Rudy is 4 (soon to turn 5). Well, the kids are in the prime of their lives right now. As a result, we brought Vail Pass back into our main repertoire of trails; just as we did when Max & Zorro were in their prime. Fun memories today of Max & Zorro while running this great terrain with Jack & Rudy!

One thing about Vail Pass, you share the trails with snowmobiles. No problem, Jack & Rudy have no problem running near snowmobiles. But, it does make for some fun flirting opportunities. We came upon one group of 3 snowmobiles paused on the trail. Rudy proceeded to woo at each snowmobile we passed. Jack flashed his beautiful smile and swooshed his fun tail.

"Woo!" says Rudy to the snowmobiler. Silly kid.

A few moments after we passed this group, they restarted and passed us along the trail. Here's the thing: Max & Zorro HATED to be passed by anything. Zorro taught Jack & Rudy the dislike in being passed. Now, mature Jack & Rudy are the same - they HATE being passed by anything. So, once the three snowmobiles went on by, the kids launched into overdrive to try and keep pace. Funny kids.

"Oh no, you don't pass us!!!!" declares the monsters launching to chase
after the third snowmobile.

Jack & Rudy have done a few skijors at Vail Pass before. But these were all in May when we go to skijor the spring crust on the front side of the pass. The kids had never skijored the pass "in season" like this morning when you can go forever! Here they are on their first ever skijor on the backside of Shrine Pass.

New trail, same results. Zoom :)

We then headed up the Lime Creek Trail - another first for Jack & Rudy. Time to turnaround on a new trail. Well, new trail, old trail - same turnaround goofs!

"Turnaround! Roll around!" demonstrates the silly kids.
Nice face full of snow by each!

Finally, here we go coming to the finish of today's 11+ mile skijor. Impressive video especially when you consider Jack & Rudy had been towing me running & jogging for over 10 miles before this clip!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a fun day on new terrain for the youngsters!

"We loved it! Now, how about those end of run treats!" says the
happy & focused pair.

11.1 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22mph.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 40 days on the trails covering 334.1 miles with 28,950 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Let it Snow

A beautiful October morning on Vail Pass with a layer of fresh snow and active snow falling all around us - wheee!

Laying fresh tracks along the Lime Creek Trail.
Perfect shoulder-to-shoulder, synchronized skijoring machines!

It started snowing a couple of hours after midnight and continued through the early morning hours. With a few hours of accumulation before sunrise, we knew the trails at Vail Pass would be perfect. We spent the majority of the day on the rolling terrain of Lime Creek (the highest of the trails at Vail Pass) and boy did we experience absolutely perfect conditions as we laid fresh tracks and broke trail all morning long!

Outstretched Max & Zorro as we lay fresh tracks on the main Lime Creek Trail.

Off the main trail and onto a side trail forking off Lime Creek.
Breaking trail in 8+ inches of fresh powder - POW!

Put it all together and you get the following short video clip from the day's outing. Sprinting along, laying fresh tracks and light snowfall sprinkling on us - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

How good was the snow on Lime Creek - let's ask the experts:

"Amazing. Just Perfect!" exclaims ecstatic Max.
"Couldn't be better!" declares approving Zorro (notice his snow covered head).

As I mentioned, we spent most of the morning on the main Lime Creek Trail as well as exploring two side trails. After cruising along one side trail for a while we encountered a snow-covered fallen tree. It was time to head back to the trailhead, so I used this tree as our turnaround obstacle. Apparently only I found this to be an obvious turnaround obstacle...

"What? Turnaround? Why, we can hop over and continue breaking trail FOREVER!" demonstrates
determined Zorro.  "I can see over the tree, so why turnaround?" questions tall Max.

Laying fresh tracks and breaking trail all day at Vail Pass: 8.4 miles covered with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 40.0 miles with 4200 feet of elevation climbed.

Zoom

Today's skijor outing can be summarized in one word: ZOOM!

Shoulder-to-shoulder all out sprint - wheeee!

Normally I have an idea when we hit our "top speed" of the day and I can usually isolate it on video. Today's top speed was 23 MPH and there were at least 15 different times, over the course of about 12 miles, that I was convinced we were hitting top speed. The Siberians were pumped to go fast today! Here are 2 of the 15 "maybe we hit 23 MPH" video clips of the day:

Sprinting along an open stretch of Lime Creek Rd. 23 MPH? Maybe...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Sprinting through a narrow and curved section of Shrine Pass Rd. 23 MPH? Maybe...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The day started "moderately" as we climbed Shrine Pass using the snowshoe trail. But, when we ascended Shrine Pass in record time, despite using a slower trail, I should have known what was to come when we hit the wide open snowmobile trails. ZOOM!

Climbing Shrine Pass via the snowshoe trail. An uphill & narrow trail and we still ascended
Shrine Pass in near record time (the "record time" usually happens when we take the
wide & groomed Shrine Pass Rd up).

Flying into the sun :-)
Another one of the countless times we may have hit our top speed of the day.
Zoom, zoom, zoom!

A fast trip up Shrine Pass, down Shrine Pass, up Lime Creek, down Lime Creek, up Shrine Pass and down Shrine Pass: 11.9 miles with 1500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

Fast & Pretty Day

It was a "fast day" with lots of pretty views skijoring around the Vail Pass Recreation Area.

Nice views of the snow covered Rocky Mountains all day.
It even looks like Max & Zorro are taking in the scenery :-)

We did a 13 mile tour on the Vail Pass snowmobile trails today. The trails were packed but not icy - just a perfect day to go fast up, down & across the terrain...

Having a great time galloping along the top of Shrine Pass - whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

(1) It was fast uphill:

Sprinting up the fast trail on Lime Creek Rd.

(2) It was fast downhill (as always):

Hitting some nice speeds along a down section of Lime Creek Rd.

(3) It was fast along the straightaways:

Sprinting across a flat section of Shrine Pass Rd.

Basically, it was a fast day with tons of great views of the Rockies... Our outing totaled 13.1 miles with 1650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH. A beautiful outing...

15 Mile Day

Tuesday was a real power day: 15.1 miles, 2100 feet of elevation climbed, a top speed of 20 MPH and one potential speeding ticket - WOO!

Well, the sign says "15 MPH" as we approach a blind curve in the road.
I did not check the GPS for our exact speed, but I do know that whenever Max & Zorro are
in an "airborne sprint" (as above) then we are going well over 15 MPH and in the 20 MPH
range. Oops - good thing cops do not patrol the trails in the winter!!  :-)

Tuesday morning was a beautiful day at the Vail Pass Recreation Area. Blue skies all around and fast, packed trails for miles and miles. Vail Pass is popular with snowmobilers, so the trails were packed for speed and went as far as we wanted to go. We opted for an exhilarating 15 mile run through a range of elevations as follows:

1) Out Direction (just over 7.5 miles): 900 feet up, 600 feet down, 300 feet up, 300 feet down, 300 feet up - take a quick 3-5 minute break.
2) Back Direction: 300 feet down, 300 feet up, 300 feet down, 600 feet up (rest the human for a quick 3 minutes) and 900 feet sprint back down to the trailhead.

Sprinting along Lime Creek Rd, approaching the "15 MPH" sign at speeds
well over 15 MPH :-)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Most of the day was spent cruising around the trails in perfect form. Yet, every once in a while an "instigator" starts something on the trails. I refer to the source of the instigation as either the "z-stigator" (Zorro started it) or the "red-stigator" (Max started it). Typically the z-stigator starts 90% of the instigations; but now & then silly big Max will get all giddy and declare, "I'm going to mess with my brother!" - as shown below, the red-stigator:

I can just hear Max... Poke, jab with his right arm, "Hey little bro, look at this fast track,
what do you got? I'll race ya!" instigates Max with "no-back-down" Zorro who will try
to meet any challenge (even though tall Max can out sprint him on any terrain :-)

"Really? That's all you got? Catch me if you can!" toys Max with Zorro as he lunges ahead
and looks back to continue messing with his little brother...

Naturally, the instigations never last very long as the "will to go" overrides the "will to instigate" within seconds or minutes - it is just hilarious to watch the red-stigator or z-stigator start something and let it play out... But, back to professional skijoring shots:

"Hey bro - wide open fast conditions! What do you say we uncork it for some real speed!"
Max & Zorro say to one another as we crest from our initial 900 foot climb onto a fast and
flat track before hitting the upcoming sprint down a 600 foot decline.

At our midpoint break, 7.5 miles out from the Vail Pass trailhead. As you can see, the
Siberians were not sold on needing a break or deciding to turn around, "Look at the
beautiful trail continuing in front of us, why stop? Why turn around? Woo!"

Beautiful views, far reaching blue skies, wide open & packed trails as far as they eye can see!
Wow, what a perfect day for a 15 mile run!

This was our longest single run at Vail Pass - maybe next time we'll try for 16+ miles! Tally for the day: 15.1 miles, 2100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

Vacation Albums

One of Max & Zorro's favorite "happenings" on the trails - Getting in so many people's Vacation Albums!

When we are near any busy trailheads, the excitement and interest of the onlookers is always so impressive. We are almost guaranteed to have a least one person pull out a camera and take shots or videos of us skijoring on the trails. Occasionally we will stop and discuss skijoring with interested groups; but, typically, we fly by the crowds and hear the gasps of "Oh My God" or "That is so cool" or "I want to try that" or other excited remarks from the onlookers.

With my new GoPro, I can now get shots of the crowd taking shots of us as we cruise by. Some fun shots from yesterday's outing:

Trotting by a group of 3 onlookers. The lady to the right has her video
camera out recording the event. The comment from the pair on the left,
"Oh My God - look at them go!" :-)

Fast approaching another pair of curious onlookers. I had to include this clip with fully
airborne Zorro sprinting down the trail!

Flying past the same two from the previous clip. You can see the iPhone in the lady's right hand
recording the sprinting machines. The comment I heard as I whizzed by, "I have never seen
anything so cool!"

Yesterday's outing found us on Shrine Pass Rd and Lime Creek Rd in the Vail Pass Recreation Area. Max & Zorro were in "mid season form" today even though this was only our 6th outing of the season. We covered more territory on Vail Pass than we ever have in the same amount of time! We were trucking. I can hardly wait to see what "mid season form" will really be this year! A few more shots from the outing...

What a fun shot of the happy huskies! We are at our "break point" and about to get our
hot dog treats before starting back. Such good boys focusing on my every word!

A nice clip of us Max & Zorro towing me along at a nice 11-12 MPH pace.
Sorry the video is a little grainy, I'm still learning how to crop high quality
clips out of my longer GoPro videos...
[see the video on youtube if it is not loading below]

Vital Stats of Yesterday's Outing: 9.6 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain. Top speed of 17 MPH - the terrain is still "too shallow" in snow for me to really uncork the pair and let them hit their desired top speed (too shallow meaning too dangerous to catch an exposed rock if going 20-26 MPH!)

Planet Z

Max "hamming it up for the camera" as we
approach our finish at the Vail Pass trailhead.

Those who have met Zorro know he is the "court jester" of our pack. Usually a go with the flow character, we all know Zorro is one "flip of the switch" away from operating as the looney court jester.

We affectionately refer to this flip as Zorro operating on Planet Z - he's in his own dimension of lunacy and antics that leave you wondering and scratching your head (read last season's top moment from Planet Z)...

Today's skijoring outing had many intersections with Planet Z. The antic of the day from Planet Z - finding it necessary to frequently decide Max needs a "neck nibble" as we are cruising over the terrain. The 4 I remember clearly (there were more, just ask Max ;-)

(1) Not more than 10 yards from our start, Zorro decides Max's neck looks tasty and takes an affectionate nibble. This nibble escalates into a posturing standoff as I try to regain control of the skijoring vehicle.

(2) Less than 1/2 mile into our outing - repeat of #1...

(3) About 3 miles into our outing we are flying down a small dip and I notice Zorro dipping his head into Max to mess with him. "Kid, we are *flying*, what are you doing?!?!" I think; "Forward Zorro!" I call out to no avail. "I'll show him," I decide and I swing to the left and start passing Zorro as he is pecking at Max. Well, one of the most consistent character traits of Zorro is "NONE Shall Pass!" As soon as he noticed me starting to pass ... Zoom! forward he went in a dead sprint, no more interest in messing with Max. Success (for now)...

(4) About 6 or so miles into our outing we are sprinting down a long downhill stretch and I notice Zorro again dipping into Max to annoy his brother. Well, this time Max finally had enough of Planet Z. Tall Max simply lept into the air and hurdled over the short pest from Planet Z. Unfortunately this led to a complete tangled mess of the gangline and I had to quickly cut to a stop to realign the crew.

Neither Max nor I will ever understand Planet Z - where is this kid coming from?!?! Lunatic :-)

The Route: (1) Start at the Vail Pass winter trailhead and skijor out and up Shrine Pass Rd; (2) Take Shrine Pass Rd for a rolling series of ups/downs for just over 4 miles to Turkey Creek/Lime Creek fork in the road; (3) Hang a right up Lime Creek Rd for about a 1/4 mile and do a 180 turn and fly back down to the Turkey Creek/Lime Creek junction; (4) Take a quick break; (5) Sprint back the same path along Shrine Pass Rd to the Vail Pass trailhead.

Vital Stats: 8.6 miles; 89m total time; 74m skijoring time; 23 MPH top speed; 1100 feet of elevation gain. A pretty fast overall outing, especially when you factor in the distractions from Planet Z!

The Turkey Creek (left)/Lime Creek (right) fork in the trail. We took the right
and sprinted up Lime Creek for about 1/4 mile before sprinting back down to
this same point to take our short break.

An unnamed trail going up and into the forest at our break point. Clearly Max
and Zorro are lining themselves up to explore this path. I, instead, suggested
we return back the same route we arrived on and...

Max and Zorro said, "Boooring - return the same route? Pfft, we'd rather dunk
our heads in the snow than do that!" After a little negotiating, we agreed to return
on the same path *IF* I agreed to go FAST!