Single Track

Cruising on by the historic Sallie Barber Mine on this morning's skijor in fresh snow.

Nice photo of the mine, nice photo of cruising on by Jack & Rudy,
nice accumulation of fresh snow this morning!

Today's outing took us up the front side of Sallie Barber, then down & back up the back side, then a little out & back on a side trail before returning back down the front side. As is usually the case with comical Jack & Rudy, we pause to roll snow angels to cool off after the initial climb to the mine:

"Rub a dub dub!" goes snow rolling Jack!
"DUNK!" goes upside down head dipping Rudy!

The front side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail is very popular with both locals and tourists; but most stay on the front side and go up and down that part of the trail. The back side, though, is more of a local's trail and gets much less usage. Today we found the pre-existing single track on the back side of the trail to be pretty narrow. But, it was just wide enough for Jack & Rudy to fit side by side while running fast:

The pre-existing single track barely two Siberian Huskies wide :)

A video will do much more justice to showing just how narrow the single track trail actually was. The snow outside of the trail was very deep, so Jack & Rudy needed to both fit in the trail to keep pace with each other. Come along and watch as the fun kids are packed in tight while still running fast. 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

On the way back up the back side of the mine, a rodent hunt broke out. It was pretty funny to witness. First Rudy did a dive off trail, then Jack lunged next to him and the Rudy backed up, went behind Jack and dived yet again off trail. Clearly the rodents were moving forward under the snow :)

"Dunking for pesky rodents! Where are they?" asks head dunking Jack.
"They are moving up this way!" says beautiful diving Rudy.
The big indentation in the snow next to Jack is the location of Rudy's
initial dive before he backed up, went up trail behind Jack and the did this
new dive off trail.

Despite lots of exploration under the snow, neither came up with a rodent in his mouth (although it has happened before :)

Finally, back down the popular front side of the mine which is almost always plenty wide from lots of usage to fit my two pals comfortably side by side.

Zipping down the front side. Wheeee!

Back to the trailhead and Jack & Rudy found yet another snow wall to climb to receive end of run treats:

"We'll climb up to you! How about those treats?" says the polite kids climbing
up so I don't have to kneel down :)

A fun backcountry day in fresh snow: 7.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 115 days on the trails covering 986.9 miles with 96,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Like Z

What's better, moose views or mountain views? Depends on who you ask :)

Jack & Rudy being lured off trail to peak over this snow ledge in the
search for moose. Meanwhile, I paused with them to take in the pretty
mountain views.

This morning took us on a skijor on Boreas Pass. My original plan was to go 4-5 miles up Boreas and then turn around and come back down. But, we have had a lot of recent snow and, as you go up Boreas, the set trail gets thinner and thinner (due to fewer people making it so far without sled dog assistance). As we were nearing Baker's Tank (which is only 3 miles up Boreas), the set trail was becoming so narrow that Jack & Rudy could barely fit side by side:

Rubbing shoulders to fit in the narrow set trail.
The snow outside the set track was somewhat punchy, so neither kid
could run there.

By the time we reached Baker's Tank, the set trail was too narrow for Jack & Rudy to fit side by side. So, we had a choice: continue past Baker's Tank in single file skijoring or turnaround. Well, I chose turnaround with an alternate plan. Wait, did I say turnaround? Yep...

"Turnaround - roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround - woos abound!" belts wooing Rudy.
Also, a nice shot of historic Baker's Tank from when Boreas Pass was the
railroad into Breckenridge in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Now look at how nice and wide the trail was down lower as opposed to the narrow single track in the prior two photos. Oh, and nice view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us too:

Ah, nice and wide here with pretty views.

I mentioned an "alternate plan" above, what was that plan? Well, we came back down from Baker's Tank until we got to the much wider set trail as you see in the prior photo. We then went back & forth and redid some nice stretches of trail 5 times. Of course, each redo required turning around. While most turnarounds got snow angels and/or woos from the silly kids, one did get this nice happy face shot instead:

"This has been unusual! We keep redoing stretches of trail! But,
we are still having a great time!" says the happy kids.

Now come along for one of the nice stretches that we redid twice. We start out cruising along as we approach and pass on by a snowshoer who paused, smiled and waved (I waved back). Then, if you can take your eyes off fun Jack & Rudy, look left through the bare aspen trees and you can see the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort on the mountains across the valley from us. On first redo of this stretch of trail, we passed by and entertained two oncoming skiers. By staying well below Baker's Tank, we were near the trailhead and, thus, encountered quite a few other skiers and snowshoers on all our redos.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead and this moment almost brought tears to my eyes. Our wonderful, but departed Zorro, was the smallest of all 6 Siberian Huskies we have had in our pack (you'd never know it from his skijoring passion and power; but he was on the smallest end of the breed standard). Being small, Zorro developed this habit of climbing on my leg with his front two legs to prop himself up higher for end of run treats. I always loved feeling Zorro climb up on my leg. Well, today Rudy did a Zorro-like climb on my leg for end of run treats. Of course, big Rudy does not need any propping; but the action and feeling a Zorro move on my leg was astonishing and heart-warming!

"I remember our mentor, old man Z, always did this, I'll try too!" says Rudy
who you can see has his two front paws on my leg to prop himself higher for treats.
"Silly Rudy, he's already HUGE!" adds cute Jack.

A fun outing of "lower elevation redos" on Boreas with a Z like conclusion from Rudy: 9.7 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 68 days on the trails covering 576.2 miles with 56,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Oops

This morning's "Oops, unauthorized tag & wrestle" moment on the trail :)

"Tag, you're it!" says Jack!
"Bring it on!" replies Rudy :)
Notice how the gangline is straight and taut. This unauthorized
game of tag broke out as while we were moving! Silly kids.

Aside from one short game of tag, it was a beautiful morning to skijor the backcountry. With a little bit of fresh snow, we found ourselves laying fresh tracks in pre-existing snowmobile tracks for miles and miles.

Laying fresh tracks and zipping along!

We even found one solo snowmobile track leading deep into the forest, so we hopped in that narrow track for some tight, shoulder to shoulder, skijoring. Wheeee!

Fun solo track leading deep into the dense forest.

As we were on our final leg of the outing, I paused to check our time out on the trails to see if we were early, late or on time. Well, I paused...

"AH! What great snow to roll in!" declares snow rolling Jack.
"Yep, rub a dub dub!" adds rolling Rudy.

It was overcast and snowing lightly most of our outing. But, near the end, the snow let up a little and the clouds started to lift. If you look closely in the upper right of the previous photo, you can start to see the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley beginning to show through the morning clouds.

A few moments later and a little more cloud clearing:

More of the ski resort starting to show across the valley from us.

Now come along for some video fun from the morning. We start this clip rounding a corner as the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort come into view across the valley. Then we continue on a fast straightaway. Finally, we all slow so the human on skis can take the hairpin right before opening the throttle back up again. Love how Rudy looks back as we approach the hairpin to make sure I'm ready to drive the skis around the corner :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and the kids are proud to accept their end of run treats:

"What game of tag? All we remember is carrying you safely on skis
through 5 hairpin turns!" says the selective memory twins :)

A little chilly for me this morning but still a very fun backcountry outing: 8.2 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 57 days on the trails covering 486.1 miles with 46,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Early Talk

Jack & Rudy FLYING along a narrow side trail in the backcountry this morning.

Zoom, zoom, zooming!

Rudy started this morning's skijor in a very chatty mood. He kept wooing in Jack's ear for the first mile or so. Mellow Jack simply ignored the loud pest and kept trucking along. They may both be 5 years old, but they are worlds apart in personality & demeanor :)

Talented Rudy showing he can "woo and trot" without breaking stride.
More talented Jack showing he can completely ignore the loud kid.

With so much early talk from Rudy, I knew he'd be into rolling snow angels instead of wooing at today's turnaround point. Jack, of course, always rolls snow angels!

"Ah, rolling to cool the jets!' go the silly kids.

In between early wooing and rolling snow angels, we did get in some serious fast skijoring (see the first photo above :) We started in the backcountry on narrow trails and then dropped into the wide trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. The upper nordic loop had not been groomed since yesterday but that was ok because not a lot of other skiers make it this far to track up the trail. It was safe to zoom on the day old groom up high:

Day old groom, but still safe enough to ZOOM!

After two passes on the upper loop, it was time to connect onto the main trail back to the trailhead. This trail gets a lot of use, so I was happy to see it had been groomed just minutes before we connected onto it:

Catching air on the fresh groom. Wheeee!

For today's video highlight, let's go back to the first photo on narrow side trails. The kids were flooring along this fun trail. But, given how narrow the trail was, I had to really ski too! Every time you see Jack & Rudy dip out of the camera, that is because I'm in a tuck working the skis hard to keep up with them. Great workout partners :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Wooing to zooming, what was the most fun?

"I liked when the kid shut up so we could zoom!" states happy Jack.
"Aw come on, you know you love my woo!" adds cute Rudy.

A great, fast day on all kinds of trail conditions: 10.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 90 days on the trails covering 789.1 miles with 72,400 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Talents

Fun shot of Jack & Rudy "catching air" on the fast packed nordic trail this morning!

Zoom!

Today, Jack & Rudy would like to share with everyone their extensive list of skijor talents. Such skillful guys, come along for the fun.

First, Rudy would like all to know it is possible to woo while trotting. No need to stop for wooing, just belt them out while trotting along.

"WOO!" goes Rudy without breaking stride!
"Not interested." is what Jack & I had to say in response ;)

Second, Jack would like all to know that it is possible to eat snowcones WHILE rolling snow angels. Talented!

Rolling while eating snowcones, impressive :)
"Not interested." says Rudy

Third, the kids would like all to know how perfect they are at getting shoulder to shoulder to fit in narrow, single track trails!

Packed in tight to propel me along the single track through the trees!

No matter now narrow it gets, as long as they both can fit, they do it!

Even tighter shoulder to shoulder sprinting.

Finally, we have a video showing Jack & Rudy's innate ability to preserve the human! The video starts on the extremely fast packed trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. I share this clip to showcase Jack & Rudy's great ability to adjust for trail conditions. Notice the discolorization of the trail from about 29 seconds to 39 seconds. This is "thin cover" with the possibility of exposed dirt & rocks. Notice how Jack & Rudy expertly slow at the 29 second point until about 39 seconds when the trail is white again so they know it's safe to speed up. All of this without a single verbal command from me. These two understand slowing for sketchy conditions to preserve the human on skis! Impressive!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

That's a lot of skills to showcase in one outing: woo trotting, snow eating while rolling, tight trails and naturally slowing to preserve the human. Impressive: 8.3 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 38 days on the trails covering 315.3 miles with 27,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Zooming on by

Nice shot of historic Sallie Barber Mine as Jack & Rudy run on by.

Our first of 3 passes by the mine this morning.

Sallie Barber is a really fun trail but very short by Jack & Rudy's standards. So, when skijoring by the mine, we add a bunch of side trails to fully exercise the kids. The side trails, though, are very narrow. It takes a lot of trust in your team to skijor such narrow trails through the trees!

Notice my skis - there's not enough room to snowplow if I wanted!
But, Jack & Rudy always tow me gently & perfectly on this narrow trail.

We ended up doing 3 laps on the narrow Trail of Tears, then another lap on the nearby V3 Trail and also did 2 laps on the main Sallie Barber Trail. The reward for taking me gently through the trees? Well, the reward is opening up the throttle on the wide main trail. Zoom!

Zooming along the wide main trail.

Sallie Barber is one of the more popular cross country ski trails in Breckenridge. Jack & Rudy love entertaining the crowds by zooming on by. We get smiles, claps, cheers and gasps as we zoom on by :)

"Hi.... bye... made you smile!" demonstrates the kids zooming on by.

Come along for the video counterpart of zooming on by. We start alone on the trail galloping along and, then, when Jack & Rudy see an oncoming skier, they floor it to zoom on by. Fun kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A very fun morning doing all kinds of laps around Sallie Barber Mine!

"We had a BLAST!" says the happy, happy kids.

8.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 192.2 miles with 16,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Widths

Oh those silly kids rolling snow angels when I paused us briefly on the trails this morning :)

"You pause, we roll!!!!!" demonstrates the silly snow angel twins.

Today was a really fun outing with Jack & Rudy. Well, every outing is fun, but some just have an extra fun feeling than others.

Today's extra fun? Well, laying fresh tracks in new snow almost the entire outing and skijoring in all widths of trails. From very narrow to very wide! Come along for the fun...

We spent the beginning of the outing with fresh snow over a narrow snowmobile track weaving through the forest. The musher (me) has two things to watch for on such narrow and forested terrain. First, watching my skis as we whip through and around the trees. Second, watching my head for low hanging branches! It's not enough to just watch Jack & Rudy as I have to keep track of what's "taller than them but shorter than me" such as low hanging branches. What a workout for the human!

Working the human as we weave through the forest!
Look out for that tree!

Next, we transitioned onto much wider and open terrain but were still in fresh snow over a snowmobile track. Finally, I can stop looking up for branches and concentrate on keeping pace with Jack & Rudy!

Wide & open terrain but still in a snowmobile track under 
the fresh snow.

Finally, we moved onto ultra wide trails. We were still laying fresh tracks, but the packed trail under the new snow was as wide as a snowcat. Time to uncork Jack & Rudy to set the speed while I glide over the morning's fresh snow. Zoom.

The Jack & Rudy bullet train as I'm working the skis the best
I can to keep pace :)

My favorite part of the outing? Well, that's a hard one. Today I'll pick the "mid width" stretch of trail. Come along as we are really flying along in fresh snow over a snowmobile track on wide & open terrain. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead with our retired mentor, Zorro. What was everyone else's favorite part of the day?

"I like you all returning for 'end of run' treats!" states Zorro.
"Gosh, can I love it all?!?!?" asks giddy Jack.
"I like 'flooring it' on ANY terrain!" says 'beautiful stride' Rudy :)

Fresh tracks fun almost all morning long - fun: 9.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 48 days on the trails covering 378.9 miles with 35,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Narrow

Fun day in the backcountry, right guys?

"You bet! Fun, fun, fun!!!!" declares the happy. happy kids.

We have had a lot of very welcome snow the past few days. Enough snow that backcountry trails are getting narrower and narrower the further away you get from civilization! 

Jack & Rudy have no problem breaking trail (as I've shown many times in the past). But, no reason to over exert yourself in deep powder if there is a set track to ride instead. But, today's set tracks were often very narrow and deep. Too narrow to fit side-by-side and too deep outside of the track for one guy to ride "in" with the other "out". No problem, just time for single file skijoring when necessary :)

Cruising along in the narrow single track with VERY deep snow outside
of the track!

Occasionally, though, the set tracks widened to be "Two Siberians Wide". Whenever that happened, Jack & Rudy pulled shoulder to shoulder and off we went! Wheeeee!

Just wide enough for both kids to fit side by side!

Our fun skijor clip from this morning is on a set trail barely two siberian huskies wide. Come along as Rudy & Jack squeeze to fit in the trail side by side to go fast. Notice powder Jack drifts in/out of the shoulder powder for fun; but always squeezes back into the set track in order to keep pace with "in track Rudy". Fun guys. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, once we got near civilization, the set trail really widened. As a result, the last mile of our outing was on fast, wide and packed trails. Zoom!

Wide, packed and fast. Zoom!

Back to tell Zorro all about our backcountry fun this morning!

"Yep, been there, done that! Did the kids do ok?" asks mentor Zorro.
"Haha, hehe, we had a blast!" declares the giggle twins joining in the treat party.

A very peaceful day deep in the backcountry on narrow trails: 8.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 44 days on the trails covering 346.5 miles with 33,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Sally Barber Fun

Our first skijor around Sally Barber Mine this 2021/2022 Season.

A good time was had by all! :)

"Yes! Good time indeed!" exclaims happy Jack & Rudy when we paused
briefly at the historic mine.

We only had time for a quick outing this morning as Jack & I had a therapy dog visit scheduled for later in the morning. Jack & Rudy are able to pack a lot of fun into even the shortest outings!

We started the day on the wide Sally Barber Mine Trail. I was hoping the trail would not be too packed and slick from previous traffic. My hopes were more than exceeded! While the set tracks on the left and right of the trail were quite packed, there was a nice layer of light powder in the middle and shoulders of the trail. Perfect conditions for me to be comfortable letting Jack & Rudy go full throttle!

Zoom we go. Perfect conditions!

After reaching the mine, we did a quick out & back on the narrow Trail of Tears side trail. It takes a lot of confidence in your partners to skijor such a narrow trail; but I have complete trust in my two pals!

Narrow trail, fast kids - hang on human :)

After the narrow out/back, it was time to return to the fast & wide main trail. Come along for a minute glimpse into the fun. This wide trail gently winds through the forest and has a couple of wide open and fast straightaways to really GO (as you see in the last 20s of this clip). Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another successful skijor to report to our retired mentor Zorro:

"Did they do ok?" asks Zorro.
"YES! A short but PERFECT day!" adds Jack & Rudy.

A fast, fun albeit short day ahead of Jack & my therapy dog work later: 5.6 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 26 days on the trails covering 197.8 miles with 19,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Baldy to Boreas

 Notice who is the patient and mature gentleman at our 'end of run' treats gathering!

"Me first!" declares Zorro.
"Remember, I'm next!" injects Jack.
"I hope you tell every *who* was the patient and mature gentleman
today!" says polite, even though youngest, Rudy.
"Yes, Rudy, I've pointed it out to everyone!" says me :)

We had a fun skijor on Baldy and Boreas mountains this morning. This fun network of trails is best shown through pictures.

We start on the wide Baldy Mountain Trail as I ride the "Jack & Rudy Tow Rope" up the mountain:

Up the mountain I get towed!

We then transition onto the lesser used and quite narrow "Baldy to Boreas" connector. I love the following shot. Doesn't it look like Jack is using his tail to hold Rudy in tight as they squish to fit on the narrow trail:

"I'll hold you in with my tail so we can fit!" demonstrates Jack, our natural
leader on the trails.

Finally, we transition onto the popular (and, thus, well-used) Boreas Pass Trail:

The reward for "up Baldy" and "across the narrow connector"?
Flying down Boreas as we zoom by Baker's Tank here.

How about a video summary of the reward for up & across Baldy to Boreas? Come along for a fun glimpse of Jack & Rudy towing me on a cruise down Boreas:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Any other fun to be had along the way? You bet...

Jack & Rudy remember every location where they have seen moose. When we travel by any such location, they will slow and glance for moose. But, they will not stop, just slow enough to scan the terrain. But, today, they came to a dead stop at a previous moose sighting location on Baldy. Clearly the scent of moose was very strong. We did not see any moose; but Jack & Rudy stopping tells you that one was VERY close, just camouflaged in the trees:

"If we stop, the scent of moose is STRONG! Where are you?!?" declares
the intense moose seeking pair.

Finally, how about a parting shot of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us as we glide on by:

Pretty view of Breck Ski Resort across the valley as Jack and Rudy
cruise along.

Up Baldy, across Baldy to Boreas, down Boreas - fun morning! 8.4 miles traveled with 650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 48 days on the trails covering 375.3 miles with 33,750 feet of elevation climbed.