Fresh

It was a beautiful morning to enjoy a light layer of fresh snow all over the trails this morning!

Laying fresh tracks in the backcountry on a 1/2 inch or so of new snow!

Everywhere we went this morning was fresh, fresh, fresh snow fun!

Come along for today's video highlight as we are zipping along laying fresh tracks in the backcountry. Watch as Jack & Rudy really kick it into overdrive near the end of this clip. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After laying fresh tracks in the backcountry, it was time to inspect fresh moose tracks crossing the trail and leading into the forest!

"Sniff, sniff, these are VERY FRESH!" says moose inspector Jack.
"It went *that way*, we should too!" suggest Rudy lifting his head to 
scan for the moose itself.

After thoroughly inspecting the moose tracks and scanning the forest, it was back to fresh tracks. This time we were first on the new snow on the upper most trail at Gold Run Nordic Center:

Laying fresh tracks in about an inch or so of new snow at our high point.

After zipping around the upper loop at the nordic center, it was time to cool off in the fresh snow before connecting onto the main trail:

"Rub a dub dub, fresh snow makes for the best snow angels!" says the silly kids.

Then, to our surprise, we were still FIRST tracks on the main trail leading back to the trailhead. This is a rare treat on the popular trail!

So fun to be first on the new snow on this popular trail!

Even when we finally ran into another skier, the trail was still plenty wide for us to lay fresh tracks along one side while the skier took the other side. Wheeee!

"Zooming through! Made you smile!" says always entertaining Jack & Rudy.

Finally, there was fresh snow to sit atop to accept end of run treats:

Cooling our buns in the fresh snow awaiting end of run treats.

Fresh snow all day, YAY! What a wonderful outing: 8.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 29 days on the trails covering 184.0 miles with 20,600 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Peak 7

Fresh tracks fun on the trails on Peak 7 in Breckenridge. Wheeee!

A wonderful layer of fresh snow all to ourselves. Yay!

We were on the trails that will eventually become Breckenridge Nordic Center once there is enough snow to support a groomer. While we expected enough snow for a groomer, it is not quite there. But, there was plenty of snow to support Jack, Rudy and I! So, it was a "backcountry style" outing on the soon to become nordic trails on Peak 7 this morning.

It was 8 degrees (F) when we started the outing. You know what that means, Jack & Rudy had to stop and use the Hallelujah Warming Hut we encountered along the way. This is how a Siberian Husky uses a warming hut:

"8 degrees! So hot! Must stop, drop and roll to cool our jets at the
warming hut!" declares the snow rolling sillies.

While we were first tracks in the fresh snow most of the day, eventually we encountered evidence of others. Not a problem, there was still plenty of fresh snow for us to use next to some other tracks on the trail:

Fresh tracks down the middle of the trail with another set of ski
tracks to our left. Plenty of untouched snow for us!!!

Now come along for some video fun. Watch as Jack & Rudy are having a blast towing me along in the fresh snow as we round many corners on the trail along the way. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, we got a real treat - our first fresh smelling moose tracks on the trail for the 2025/2026 season. Delectable!

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

What was better - the fresh snow, the moose tracks or the end of run treats. Hmmm, I think it was a tie amongst all three!

"End of run treats are ALWAYS special!" declares the happy & focused kids.

Great day laying fresh tracks on Peak 7: 6.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 22.0 miles with 2600 feet of elevation climbed.

Early Morning Spring Crust

The early sled dogs get the wonderful early morning crust!

Nice shot of Jack & Rudy catching air as we zip across a firm
early morning snow crust. Wheeee!

Springtime is good for one thing, and one thing only: the Spring Crust! With warm days (well above freezing) and cold nights (many hours below freezing), a firm crust develops in the morning that can support Jack & Rudy's weight and me on skis. This lets us abandon set trails and skijor any direction we want. Such fun!

But, as the snowpack melts, obstacles do start to emerge from under the snow. Today we encountered many little trees starting to poke through. Not a problem, just obstacles to navigate around:

Sometimes Jack & Rudy have to spread apart to avoid obstacles.
I'll typically follow one of them until we are past the obstacle.

Once past any obstacle, though, it's back to shoulder to shoulder skijoring for the impressive sled dogs:

Moments after the prior photo and the cool kids reconnect
for tight, in team skijoring :)

Oftentimes, power lines provide us some of our best spring crust skijoring. This is because the power companies frequently clear cut trees under power lines. This provides us a pretty much obstacle free stretch of spring crust. Come along for today's video highlight to see what I mean. If your volume is up, you'll hear me call out the occasional "left" or "right" and Jack & Rudy listen for us to navigate along a wonderful spring crust under the power lines. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

There is one thing a spring crust cannot support: MOOSE! Yes, we encountered moose leg postholes in the crust at one point during the outing. You must stop and inspect moose tracks, it's in the rule book :)

What a moose posthole as Jack's head has completely disappeared down
the moose hole! These tracks were apparently very fresh according to
Jack & Rudy's noses!

But, the spring crust is perfectly strong for everything Jack & Rudy want to do: from running to rolling snow angels :)

"Rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling themselves by
rolling the crust. Funny kids.

Finally, who is ready for some delicious end of run treats?

"We are!" says the happy kids who were able to, once again, find a nice
snow wall to climb to come face to face with me for treats.

An early morning skijor to enjoy the crust before it starts to soften: 5 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 98 days on the trails covering 747.1 miles with 73,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

April Powder

Guess who was excited to find upwards of 18 inches of powder on our trails this morning?

"We are THRILLED!" exclaims the happy kids looking back to me
when we paused briefly to catch our breaths from deep powder skijoring!

As I mentioned the other day, Breckenridge Nordic Center decided to stay open for an additional week (this week). We had a marvelous April snowstorm yesterday and went back to the nordic center to enjoy the fresh powder this morning. On Thursday, the nordic center only groomed a little over 2 miles of their upper elevation terrain. I was expecting they might do a little more today with all the fresh snow. But, alas, they did not and only groomed the same 2 miles. But, with all the fresh snow, Jack, Rudy and I did the full nordic loop on our own, breaking trail for roughly 3.5 miles! At our highest point of the trail breaking fun, we found ourselves blasting through upwards of 18 inches of fresh powder!!!

Pow, POW, POWDER day!

Nobody had been out in the deep snow before us and we were thoroughly enjoying the aerobic workout. But, we did have to stop to inspect moose tracks crossing the trail at one point. You HAVE to dip your nose in deep moose tracks, you know :)

"Sniff, sniff! MOOSE!" says the moose inspectors.

I knew we'd eventually reconnect to the groomed stretch of trail and this would be our reward for breaking trail earlier. Sure enough, Jack & Rudy knew what to do once on nordic trails :)

Zoom! Rudy the missile and cannonball Jack flooring it.

Now come watch a fun video clip of us transitioning from deep snow to snowcat tracks to a groomed sprint track with an inch or two of fresh snow on top. For context, we had just been breaking trail in upwards of 18 inches of fresh snow. But, I knew we'd eventually connect with the groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center to reward our hard trail breaking work with a sprint to the finish. Fun watching Jack & Rudy transition from the deep to the snowcat tracks. They sniff a little and then it's like they said, "Hey, wait a minute, we can SPRINT on this!!!" and off we goooooo without me having to say anything :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As I said, Jack & Rudy know what to do with the nordic sprint track:

Catching air laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow over
a groomed nordic sprint track.

What a fun and aerobic day, right guys?

"Oh yes, that was FUN!" states the happy kids awaiting end of run treats.

Some aerobic trail breaking work combined with some nordic sprinting made for a 7 mile outing with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 96 days on the trails covering 735.3 miles with 71,700 feet of elevation climbed.a

Foreshadow

Nice shot of Breckenridge Ski Resort in the morning sun across the valley from us!

Pretty view of the sun covered ski runs at the ski resort as we round
a corner in the morning shade of the mountain we are on.

Today's outing came with a big foreshadow from Jack & Rudy. We were gliding along a nice nordic trail when the kids came to a stop and took their attention off trail. I know from their body language (and seeing their noses twitch) that they caught the scent of moose. But, there was a constant breeze this morning, so the moose could be pretty far away and still have its scent flowing to Jack & Rudy.

"Sniff, sniff - we smell moose in the area!" says the professional moose
seekers.

It so happens, if you follow Jack & Rudy's gaze in the prior photo, across the meadow in front of them and through the next set of trees is the trail we will be on in 10-15 minutes from this point. So, off we went away from the "direction of scent" originally before turning into those far away trees in the prior photo.

Once we got into the trees, sure enough, MOOSE TRACKS all over the trail! 

A two-toed moose print at the tip of my left ski with more flowing
down the trail in the direction we are going!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. Watch as Jack & Rudy are very "moose juiced" and have it pedal to the metal through this whole clip despite my snowplowing as we near any corner to be ready to throw myself on the ground to stop if we encounter a moose. A pair of moose tracks (thus two moose) are on the trail this entire clip (and beyond, I had to stop the video at some point :) Luckily, we never encountered the actual moose; but Jack & Rudy were sure juiced by what have been pretty fresh moose tracks!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

All that energy expended seeking moose means you really need to roll and cool off at any pause during the outing:

"Roll to cool the jets then restart the moose quest!" says the goofs.

Eventually, the moose tracks finally went off trail and into the forest. With our moose quest over, it was time to head towards the trailhead. We were thrilled to be first tracks on the freshly groomed main trail. Wheeee!

First tracks on the groomie zoomie - wheeee!

Nothing like a little moose juice to energize the day!

"Yes, we've earned our end of run treats from an intense moose quest!" says
the focused & happy pair.

Today's tally: 8.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 48 days on the trails covering 358.9 miles with 33,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Track Follow

Fun shot from the front as we finish yesterday's skijor at Gold Run Nordic Center.

Whee, happy kids towing me to the finish yesterday.

I did not have time to writeup yesterday's outing; but I wanted to include the fun shot from the front above in today's summary.

On to today... We had a blast following soft snowmobile trails into the backcountry at Rabbit Ears Pass. Look at this wonderful photo of Jack & Rudy catching air in soft & deep snowmobile track:

Whee - zipping along! Look at how deep this track is in the awesome
soft snow! Pretty nice for December 2nd!

Besides snowmobiles, there is one other thing Rabbit Ears Pass is known for: MOOSE (and elk, too, but moose are the most interesting to Jack and Rudy)! 

"Moose went this way! We should too!" suggests the silly kids trying to
convince me to leave the trail and search for moose. Haha, I vetoed that :)

Well, since the big bully human vetoed the off trail moose excursion, we might as well gallop along in these nice & soft snowmobile tracks again. 

Whee we go along this nice shelf with awesome views of Colorado below
us to our right.

Now let's have some video demonstration of the day's fun. Come along as we bounce & gallop along in these wonderful soft snowmobile tracks. Oh, you can catch some of the nice views to our right in the gaps between the trees, if you can take your eyes off fun Jack & Rudy that is :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We did an out & back on the Harrison Creek Trail at Rabbit Ears. Well, that meant we stopped to turnaround at one point. Yes, you guessed, it... turnaround antics from the comedians:

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround, WOOOOOOs abound!" sings entertaining Rudy.

Back to the trailhead and who is ready for end of run treats?

"Me, me, me!!!! READY!" says the app & focused fun kids.

Today's fun following snowmobile tracks into the backcountry: 6.9 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 20 days on the trails covering 156.1 miles with 15,300 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.

Classic

A rare photo with one of my skis in the "classic ski track" as I fly along behind Jack & Rudy!

Right ski in the classic track. Shift my weight to the right leg and we FLY!
Shift my weight to the left leg to regain some control and braking :)

I use classic (versus skate) skis to skijor with Jack & Rudy. Why is the prior photo rare? Well, the ski in the classic track (my right in this photo) becomes an almost frictionless device. Jack & Rudy are trained to go as fast as they can propel me unless I verbally ask them to slow down. So, a ski in the classic track turns me into an almost weightless resistance object and Jack & Rudy GO! You'll never see me with both skis in the classic track, that would be pure suicide. But, I occasionally put one ski for fun knowing that I can shift my weight to the other ski if we start going too fast!

Back to this morning's outing. We had a blast skijoring the recently groomed upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. While we were not first tracks on the recent groom, very few others had been out before us. Along the way, we get some really nice views such as the following:

Zipping along with miles of snow capped Rocky Mountains ahead and
to our right. Wheeee!

The recent groom allowed Jack & Rudy to run hard & fast (their favorite activity). But, zooming all day means you need to take a break at one of the warming huts along the route. What do Jack & Rudy, the Siberian Huskies, do with a warming hut? Well, see for yourself:

"Rub a dub dub, need to roll around in the snow to cool our jets!" says the
silly kids. Yes, Jack & Rudy view the warming huts as cooling devices :)

Then, at one point the kids came to a halt. Why? Well a moose had crossed the trail and exited into the forest. You must stop for moose tracks! 

"Moose went this way. We should too!" suggests the silly moosers.
I, of course, vetoed this proposal :)
Notice the snow on Jack's head. He first dipped his head in the tracks
to sniff them and popped right up as to say, "These are FRESH, we should follow!"
Nice try, Jack: VETO!

Since the bummer human wouldn't let us wander into the forest to find the moose, we might as well floor it again :)

Catching air on a perfect nordic trail.

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. As you can see, we were really zooming around the trails this morning!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and time for some well-earned end of run treats:

"That was FUN! We sure earned our rewards today!" says the happy,
happy kids.

A nordic zooming day: 9.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 12 days on the trails covering 95.8 miles with 8700 feet of elevation climbed.

Nordic Zooming

Jack & Rudy were FLYING around the trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning!

Hang on human!!!!!

The hover huskies catching air as the fly along this excellent stretch of
recently groomed trail.

It has been a warm & pretty dry week after a great snowy week before. As a result, all of our favorite backcountry trails have turned to sheets of slick ice after warm days and cold nights. So, until it snows again, our only skijor option is the groomed upper elevation trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center. But, one option is better than none! So off to the nordic center we went this morning...

We went zipping by Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut:

"Who needs a warming hut? Not us!" says the flying duo.

We kept on zipping past the Hallelujah Warming Hut:

"Still not interested in a silly warming hut! Floor it!" says the speedy kids.

With all that zooming around, did we ever stop? Well, one thing can bring Jack & Rudy to a halt: MOOSE! While we did not see a moose today, we did encounter some fresh smelling moose prints on the trail. Apparently moose like groomie zoomie trails too :)

Jack's nose & head firmly planted in a fresh smelling moose footprint.
Rudy inspecting another moose footprint.
Look in the lower left (just below Rudy) and you can see another moose
footprint in the trail. Look just below Jack's head (almost the center of the
photo) and you can see yet another footprint between Jack & Rudy.
I'm told by my pals that these were very fresh smelling :)

Once done inspecting the moose prints and it was off to the races again. Come along for a great video clip of the action as we topped 22 MPH along this stretch. About 28 seconds into this clip and we come upon a right or left option in the trail. 90% of the time we take this right turn. But, today, the trail was in better condition to the left. So, I call out a "Left" then "Forward" to get the team going the non-traditional direction at this intersection. Good listeners :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We also had to turnaround at one point along the outing. We first drifted off trail into the side snow and then the comedians did their usual Stop, Drop and Roll!

"Rub a dub dub!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Ah, I love rolling snow angels!" adds blissful Rudy.

Finally, back to the busy trailhead (this is the only useable cross country ski trail right now) and it was time to get in close for end of run treats:

"You have my full attention!" declares focused Jack.
"This is a close as I can get without climbing on you!" adds tightly packed in Rudy.

A fun nordic zooming day: 8.8 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 9 days on the trails covering 71.9 miles with 6600 feet of elevation climbed.