Cold

Cruising the Sallie Barber Mine Trail behind fun Jack & Rudy!

Whee we go!

One thing to notice in the prior photo: both Jack & Rudy are very ALERT in their body language and head & ear positioning. I know this "alert posture" from years of skijoring with these two. Both clearly caught the "scent of moose" wafting through the air. After noticing this posture from them, I was on high alert. But, alas, we never spotted the stinky moose who was clearly within "nose range" but not eyesight!

Today's outing was, well, FRIGID! It was -11 (F) when we started and -9 (F) when we ended. Along the way, we climbed up the Sallie Barber Mine Trail which means it only got colder along the way! With such cold temperatures, I was planning on a short run today. 

Typically when we skijor around Sallie Barber Mine, we will make 2 to 4 passes by the mine. Jack & Rudy like to execute all sorts of antics when passing by the mine, but usually they reserve one comical skit for each pass by. Well, today they clearly got the "mental memo" from me that we were only making one pass by the mine. So, it was a double comedy from the goofs today :)

First act: we paused to roll snow angels (Jack) and sing woos of pleasure (Rudy)
as we approached the mine.

Second act: flying by the mine (this is moments after Jack finished rolling
and Rudy finished singing in the prior photo).

So, the smart & talented kids knew to get in all their antics on the one pass by the historic mine.

We then completed the day laying fresh tracks down the popular side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. But, with such frigid temperatures, we had the fresh snow and whole length of the popular side of this trail to ourselves this morning. Fun!

You need temperatures around 10 below Zero to be first tracks on
the popular stretch of this trail! No complaints from Jack & Rudy and
I just tucked all my extremeties into warm equipment.

So, here we go for today's video highlight: laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow on a frigid morning that clearly scared everybody else inside!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead and we found a mini snow wall to climb to get end of run treats at my waist level:

"Ready!" says focused Jack!
"Where is everybody, it's wonderful out?" asks nosy Rudy who loves
to flirt with crowds at this usually busy trailhead (that was empty today).

A quick, due to frigid temperatures, outing today; but any outing is better than none at all: 3.6 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 37 days on the trails covering 271.2 miles with 25,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Preston

With all our recent snow, the backcountry trail in Dry Gulch was a bit narrow this morning!

Jack & Rudy trying to fit shoulder to shoulder in the pre-existing single track.

The single track got so narrow at points that Jack & Rudy had to run single file (taking turns who was in lead). I rode out of track behind them this entire section of the outing in an attempt to widen the set trail for us the next time we want to use it.

Our goal was to use the backcountry trails in Dry Gulch to eventually connect onto the groomed trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. As we were completing Dry Gulch and about to enter the nordic center, moose tracks appeared all over the place! From Jack & Rudy's intensity at sniffing these tracks, I knew there were fairly fresh. Jack always points in the direction the moose went (Rudy is hit or miss on pointing the right direction :) But, both aligned the same way this morning, sniffed for a bit and then popped their heads up as if to say, "Moose when this way! We should too!" 

"Sniff, sniff, these are FRESH!" says the moose inspectors.

Unfortunately for me, we eventually had to go the direction Jack & Rudy were suggesting to get to the trailhead. Fortunately for me, another trail at the nordic center had been opened last Wednesday. This trail is a large loop in the direction AWAY from the moose tracks, phew. I convinced Jack & Rudy that we should do the loop going away from the direction of the moose. Once they got a few feet away from the tracks, they agreed. After all, they LOVE this upper loop!

Flying around the Preston Loop as we (or I) hoped that gave the moose
enough time to leave the vacinity before we arrived back!

This Preston Loop is one of our favorites during the season. It is often one of the trails where we hit between 24-26 MPH skijoring. But, it's still November and the trail is not perfect for full throttle yet. But it was VERY nice for a wonderful November skijor. Come along and see for yourself:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Once we completed the Preston Loop, it was time to head to the trailhead in the direction of the moose tracks. I needed to catch my breath before starting this final leg as I knew it would be a wild ride. Well, catching my breath meant I stopped :)

"Stop, drop & roll! Let us know when you are ready to go find those moose!"
says the snow rolling sillies.

Well, as expected, it was quite the wild ride behind "moose juiced" Jack & Rudy on this final stretch of the outing. I came around every corner on the trail ready to hit the ground if a moose was in the trail. I could read Jack & Rudy's body language and the "scent of moose" was clearly in the air!

The kids catching air while on high alert in moose country!

Luckily, for me, we never encountered the moose. It was just a fast & furious ride behind moose juiced Jack & Rudy. What a way to earn your end of run treats:

"We were working HARD! Well earned treats are in order!" says the
fun kids atop another snow wall for receiving treats.

A fun romp in Dry Gulch and the sprint around Gold Run Nordic Center this morning: 7.1 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 17 days on the trails covering 132.3 miles with 13,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Wildlife Alert

Everybody having a great time on this morning's skijor outing?

"YES! We are having a BLAST!" exclaims the happy, happy kids
at our turnaround point at the Jumbo Overlook.
Oh, don't worry, we had two turnaround events today and the first was
executed with the usual "stop, drop & roll" from the snow angel brothers :)

Today's outing was very similar to yesterday's with a few modifications along the way. We once again started on the backcountry trails in Dry Gulch:

Zipping along in the backcountry as Jack & I are focused forward while
nosy Rudy glances for anybody to flirt with on the trail going left :)

Once again, after doing a backcountry lap, we dropped onto the wide trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. The secondary trail (Preston Loop) had not been groomed since yesterday morning. So, it was a little tracked up and had a few "deep fat tire bike indentations" in the trail to avoid; but still groomed enough to open up the skijoring throttle!

Jack & Rudy flying along the somewhat tracked up nordic trail. 

As we were on the trail in the prior photo, I heard the groomer running nearby. So, I knew once we transitioned onto the main trail it would be a fresh groomie zoomie. Indeed it was as we were first tracks on the freshly groomed main trail! Wheeee!

Hovering Jack next to Rudy the Missile as we floor it on the freshly
groomed nordic trail!

One significant difference from yesterday's outing was Jack & Rudy catching the "scent of moose" and running on high wildlife alert!

Rudy glancing left into the trees while Jack is in "high alert" body
language as we cruise along.

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. For background, we are in well known "moose territory" during this clip and we have seen moose and evidence of moose many times. I know Jack & Rudy's body language and both are on clear wildlife alert during this clip. You'll see Rudy making frequent glances into the trees to our left and Jack is running "on alert" (I know his wildlife alert body language). Once I saw their body language, I was on high alert too, constantly scanning the trees for moose. Despite the intensity from Jack & Rudy we never actually saw a moose, phew. This clip may be only 45 seconds long but it feels like an eternity in real life when you see them this "on alert" and are scanning the trees yourself!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another successful skijor outing means another enjoyable "end of run" treats session with my pals:

"Fun! But too bad we didn't find the stinky moose!" says the happy kids
up on a snow wall for end of run treats.

Another quick, but very entertaining, outing this morning: 6.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date; 72 days on the trails covering 607.6 miles with 59,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Mountain Shade

The fun kids, Jack & Rudy, all smiles as usual as we finish this morning's skijor outing.

Ok, not the best photo with the intense, bright sun right behind us; but I had
to share anyway as you can make out the kids big smiles :)

We got an early start this morning and spent the majority of the morning with the rising sun still behind the mountains to our east. This made for some interesting & darkish lighting, so I've brightened the photos as much as I could...

We started the morning zipping along on narrow backcountry trails:

Catching air in a backcountry single track - wheeee!

We then dropped onto the trails of Gold Run Nordic Center and found ourselves still shaded from the rising sun by the mountains to the east:

We are heading due east in the photo and the rising sun is still behind
the mountain directly in front of us.

Now, want to see an amazing difference when the sun finally got over the mountains? Well, here we are in the same location as the prior photo but 30 minutes later in the sun! 

We redid this stretch of trail twice: once in the morning mountain shade
and then again once the sun had risen over the mountains.

Now come along for today's video highlight. We are cruising along the fast packed nordic trail; but this is also known "moose territory". So, watch this stretch of trail where Jack & Rudy keep getting distracted by something to our left and Jack dips his nose a few times to check the freshness of moose tracks on the trail. Needless to say, I was on high alert after seeing their distractions; but, alas, we never actually saw any moose (phew).

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, redoing any section of trail means you have at least one turnaround point; and, that means you have stop, drop and roll snow angels from Jack & Rudy :)

Still in the shade of the east mountains; but the kids still had to 
stop, drop and roll snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point.

Did I mention these trails are in known moose territory? Well, Jack & Rudy are WELL aware of that too :)

"Moose went this way, can we too?!?" asks the silly kids looking at a pair
of moose tracks that crossed the trail and went into the trees.

A very entertaining outing this morning with lots of "moose alerts" but no actual sightings: 9.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH (the trail was a little too packed and slick for me to be comfortable going faster than this; so I was holding us back). 

2023/2024 Season to Date: 36 days on the trails covering 297.4 miles with 28,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Hi Mom

Our first ever "triple synchronized 'Hi Mom'" glance from the end of this morning's skijor :)

"Hi Mom!!!!!" says the silly trio looking up to Nancy with the camera
instead of at the musher (me) with 'end of run' treats!

We gave Zorro the entire outing off this morning as he had a short-lived & slight limp in one leg yesterday afternoon. He was walking fine later and this morning and it was very short-lived; but we'd rather be safe than sorry with our fun old man and give him a day off today for many more later.

So, it was Jack, Rudy and I going out for a fast skijor atop Rabbit Ears Pass. We did not stay out too long as we wanted to rejoin Zorro; but the kids made the most of a high intensity outing!

At one point, we were cruising along a fast trail at a nice clip when Rudy launched himself off trail. Rudy, what are you doing?!?!?

"Boing - launching off trail to the right!" demonstrates silly Rudy.
Notice that Jack is in a 'sprint tuck'. As I said, we cruising along pretty fast
when Rudy launched into this off trail antic!

As you can tell from Jack's glance above, he was certain to interrupt his sprint and see what Rudy had discovered. Likewise, I snowplowed to a stop as fast as possible. Although I am not as quick and coordinated as the kids so I glided past them before coming to a stop :)  Once stopped, I backed up to see what was the big deal. Well...

"MOOSE!" says the intense pair now lined up off trail where Rudy leapt.
It is camouflaged in the trees in front of us in this photo as moose
camouflage SO well. But, all three of us saw it before she wandered
deeper into the forest!

Rudy's off trail launch, while not encouraged, was perfectly understandable once I saw it was directed at a moose. So, how about that, young Rudy found a moose before either Jack or I! If I'd been with just Jack, we may have skijored right on by without ever noticing it. Young Rudy becoming the professional mooser - who would have imagined 6 months ago :)

Anyway, back to skijoring. Here is an amazing photo showing what is so great about Rabbit Ears Pass in March, April and May: a firm crust across vast and endless terrain!

Skijoring the crust with Jack & Rudy as the wide photo shows just
how vast and endless skijoring the crust can get atop Rabbit Ears!
Love the little footprints in the crust behind Jack & Rudy :)

As I was enjoying the endless crust with Jack & Rudy, I had a sad realization. This is the first time in my life I have skijored a spring crust without either Max or Zorro :(  So much fun to do it with the youngsters but so sad to realize Zorro really is slowing down and SO sad to be without Max :(

Off the crust and back onto the set snowmobile trails and Jack & Rudy know what to do - zoom! Look closely and you can see Rudy's tongue flapping in the air to the left of his face. Anyone who followed Michael Jordan back in his NBA heyday knows this action. Whenever Jordan was "at his best" his tongue was always hanging out. I've noticed Rudy doing this more & more as he has progressed this season (his first full season skijoring). How about that - Rudy is a little Jordan :)

Flying Jack with Rudy Jordan hovering alongside :)

So, here we go with flying Jack and Rudy Jordan zooming along the snowmobile trail atop Rabbit Ears Pass! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with the day and time to let Zorro join in with the group for 'end of run' treats. As you can see in this photo, Rudy is to the right of Zorro versus being to his left in the first photo. They all had a couple of 'end of run' treats in this configuration before they decided I was reliable enough to give them all out so they could move a little and flash a smile at mom :)

"You have our attention, let's get started with the treats!" says the focused trio.

A very entertaining day with young Jack & Rudy atop Rabbit Ears: moosing, crust touring and imitating jordan: 7.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 124 days on the trails covering 842.2 miles with 76,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Glancing

All smiles with an almost "connected" Zorro & Jack as we run to the finish of this morning's skijor.

Such happy kids!!!! I just love the smiles and connected bodies of Zorro & Jack.
Rudy has a nice smile going too; but the "connected joy" of Zorro & Jack is priceless!

Elder Zorro took the day off from most of the outing but, as you see above, he thoroughly enjoyed his short sprint to the finish once he joined the team.

As for the kids, Jack & Rudy took me on a 9.4 mile tour of Sally Barber and French Gulch. They have really learned the pattern of the Sally Barber Mine Trail. We climb from the back side and then pick up the pace as we crest at the mine. As long as there are no obstacles around the corner (such as moose or loose dogs), then they know I will let them uncork the skijoring engine down the front side of the trail.

Cresting at the mine and starting to open the throttle as all is clear around the corner.

Here we go with the "crest & go" Sally Barber Mine video for today. The conditions today really show the "trail preferences" of Jack versus Rudy. Notice that Jack is almost exclusively in the soft & hardly used snow on the right of the trail while Rudy is almost exclusively in the hard packed and heavily used left of the trail. This has become their personality - Rudy likes the fast & hard packed whereas Jack likes the soft shoulders. As long as the shoulders are not too deep to keep pace, Jack will tend to run on this terrain.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After going up/over the Sally Barber Mine Trail, we went out & back in French Gulch. What is French Gulch known for? Well, MOOSE of course. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that youngest Rudy's "moose detector" is really maturing and becoming fine-tuned like Jack & Zorro. As a result, I now have to start paying attention to things like the following from Rudy!

That looks like a "moose detecting glance" to me!!!!

A month ago and I would have ignored such a glance from Rudy as he was equally distracted by a leaf as a moose. But, not today, I had to quickly scan the gulch to our left based on this moose alarm from Rudy. Despite the glance, we failed to see any moose although I am convinced there must have been some nearby based on Rudy's glance.

No more "scent of moose", so time to floor it on the fast packed French Gulch Trail. Love aerodynamic Rudy in this shot - look at those ears pinned to his head to avoid any drag!!!

Rudy missile alongside sprint-tucked Jack.

You knew this was coming. We did an "out & back" in French Gulch so we had to stop and turnaround eventually. Oh those silly kids!

Jack & Rudy are getting very good at rolling conjoined snow angels.
Where does Jack end and Rudy start?

Back to adding Zorro in to finish the day. A couple steps closer than the first photo and we still have the happy, smiling trio:

Smiles all around! Look at those happy sled dogs!

An entertaining 9 mile tour with Jack & Rudy and then a fun finish to the outing with Zorro: 9.4 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 81 days on the trails covering 559.7 miles with 52,050 feet of elevation climbed.

Glance

Happy, happy boys enjoying their 'end of run' treats this morning:

"We had a great time, now dish them out!" says the happy & focused trio.

We spent the morning zipping around the recently groomed trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. The trio really likes getting out on these trails and uncorking the skijoring engine. Here's a cool shot of hovering Zorro & Jack next to flying Rudy:

Hovering blacks alongside red Rudy the flying reindeer :)

While the trails at Gold Run are super fun, there is one caution to be aware of: moose! This terrain has a pretty dense moose population (well, as dense as you get amongst aloof moose; but still pretty populous). I am always scanning the terrain for moose and watching Zorro & Jack for any indication of moose in the area. Youngest Rudy does not have a reliable moose sensor yet, so you pretty much ignore anything that distracts him; but a distraction to Zorro or Jack is a "moose alert"!

Anyway, we were cruising along when Zorro made a very serious (for him) glance into the woods to our left. Eek, MOOSE ALERT!!!!!

"Beep, beep - to our left!" says glancing Zorro.

We never saw any moose and Zorro's glance was very quick. But, from years of experience watching Zorro, I know his glance was serious. I was on high alert the rest of the outing. Come along for today's video clip and see Zorro's quick "moose glance" to the left at about 25 seconds into the video. Yes, the glance was very short; but the intensity from Zorro told me it was serious...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the day's outing, we did an out & back trail. So, that meant we stopped once to turn around. Well....

"They are at it again, aren't they? I can't look!" says Zorro.
"Stopped means rolling!" demonstrates the goofball twins (you can make out Rudy's
back legs behind Zorro - he is upside down just like Jack, of course :)

Rolling snow angels done but I was not yet done texting Nancy our arrival time. So:

"Ready and waiting!" says happy Zorro & Jack.
"I'm not looking until you are ready to GO!" adds Rudy.

Finally, all smiles as we end the day's run:

"Wheeee!" says the happy trio.

A speedy day on fast trails with a quick yet serious moose alert from Zorro: 7.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 56 days on the trails covering 381.1 miles with 36,700 feet of elevation climbed.