Angels with a View

Rolling Snow Angels with a View!

Beautiful postcard shot of the slopes of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the
valley from us as Jack & Rudy roll around in the snow instead of taking
in the stunning views :)

We have not done a lot of side trail or single track skijoring this season as the snow has not been great. But, with some good snowfall the past week, we were able to venture off the main trails and onto one of our favorite single tracks this morning. Fun!

Winding through the trees on a narrow, single track ski trail. You need good
snow to risk skiing through the trees!!!

After the fun side trail, it was back to the main backcountry trail at Dry Gulch. Jack & Rudy love flooring it along this wide albeit unmaintained trail. Whee!

The fun kids kicking up snow as they pack themselves in tight to 
zoom in the backcountry.

The next leg of our outing was on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy love encountering oncoming skiers to flirt with and fly on by:

"Coming through! Made you smile!" says the fun kids putting a smile
on the face of the oncoming skier as they fly on by.

The kids also love encountering oncoming machinery to flirt with and fly on by. Today was a mini snowcat groomer coming up trail.

"Still coming through! Made you smile too!" says the entertaining kids
putting a smile of the face of the oncoming snowcat driver.

Now let's put it all together for today's video highlight. We start out zipping along, then we encounter and fly on by the oncoming skier, then we encounter and fly on by the oncoming mini snowcat and finally we are clear of traffic and on good snow so the kids FLOOR it and off we goooo! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh yes, that was a blast!" says the happy, happy sled dogs.

We sure packed a lot of activity into today's relatively short outing! 4.2 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 42 days on the trails covering 262.4 miles with 28,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Dogstacle

Our first time on the narrow Trail of Tears single track this season! Whee!

There is finally enough snowpack for us to venture off the main trails and onto
the narrow, single track side trails. Fun!

As you see in the photo, Jack & Rudy have no problem squishing shoulder to shoulder to fit on single track trails. It's so fun to go winding through the forest on narrow trails like these with them!

In order to get to the narrow Trail of Tears, we have to initially climb to the historic Sallie Barber Mine. Well, as is almost always the case, the climb to the mine is celebrated by rolling snow angels to cool off :)

"Aaaahhh!" says the snow rolling sillies cooling off at the mine.

So, we skijored up to the mine, then went out & back on the Trail of Tears single track and then returned to the main trail to fly back to the trailhead. Wheeee!

The fun kids catching air on the fast & wide Sallie Barber Mine Trail.

This trail is very popular for people to ski with their dogs. Very few skijor, most just let Fluffy scurry about while they ski on their own - I know, what a silly concept, use the dog and skijor!!! :) Anyway, our loose dog encounters go one of two ways...

First (and most common), Fluffy is left to stand in the middle of the trail for us to deal with. Yes, the owners often try to call the loose dog out of the way - um, it RARELY listens. Oh well...

Nothing to do but slow down and interact with loose Fluffy in the middle of
the trail. Jack & Rudy would rather run on by, but I know from experience that
trying to run by a loose dog often gets the dog aggravated and lunging at you.
So, we slow, greet briefly and then go on by.

Second (and least common), an owner may decide to pull Fluffy to the side of the trail, hold it there and let us fly on by. This is Jack & Rudy's (and my) preferred interaction. None of us want to slow or stop for a boring dog:

Yay, the owner pulled Fluffy over and held it (the "hold" is often not done
successfully too). As you see, my pals have no use for Fluffy when you have
the option to keep running and fly on by instead!!!!!

But, back to the most common interaction - the loose dog obstacle in the middle of the trail: a dogstacle. Come along for today's dogstacle encounter. The clip starts with us flying along the beautiful wide trail. Then, we all see loose Fluffy in the middle of the trail. There's no option but to slow, greet briefly and then get on by. Watch how quickly Jack & Rudy discard Fluffy to return to fast, fun and pedal to the metal skijoring. Wheeee! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh we had a blast!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end of run treats.

Finally enough snow to extend the Sallie Barber Trail with the adjoining Trail of Tears single track: 6.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 22 days on the trails covering 133.1 miles with 16,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from me in my Santa hat and my adorable miniature flying reindeer, Jack & Rudy :)

Merry Christmas!

Did I say "miniature flying reindeer"? Well, yes, see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy may be smaller than a reindeer, but they can fly just
as well as any on Santa's team :)

Our outing this morning took us to the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. As we hoped, the groomer had been out on the trails just before us. While the groomer had not groomed all of the terrain, we did find a few stretches of fresh and untouched groom. Yes, we were first tracks on these sections of trail! We did encounter one other skier along the way, but she was gliding in the classic ski tracks, so that still left the entire width of the trail freshly groomed and untouched for us!

"Coming through! Made you smile!' go Jack & Rudy and they love to 
entertain oncoming skier by flying on by and putting smiles on their faces.

But, aside from that solo skier in the classic tracks, we were first tracks for an extended duration. So fun:

The fun kids catching air as we are first tracks on the fresh groomie zoomie.

Eventually, though, the fun came to a minor pause. Come along for today's video highlight. Watch as we are zipping & cruising along the freshly groomed trail having a blast. Then, we come upon a trail intersection and, boo, there is a loose dog standing in the middle of the intersection. I start to snowplow to slow us down while we see what Fluffy is going to do. We've encountered this dog before, so I wasn't too worried, we just wanted it OUT OF THE WAY! Well, watch as Fluffy finally moves enough to give us an escape gap. I release Jack & Rudy by putting my skis parallel, I don't have to say anything. The great kids feel the release and know they can now run on by Fluffy. Jack & Rudy have absolutely no use for loose dogs, all they do is cause slow downs or stoppages. Sled dogs hate stopping, sled dogs LOVE running :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was a bit of a warm morning with temperatures in the 30s (F) but above freezing. So, I knew what I'd get from Jack & Rudy at our turnaround pause of the outing:

Yep, rub a dub dub, need to roll in the snow to cool our jets.
It's hard to tell which legs are Jack's and which are Rudy's as they are
a conjoined snow angel :)

A wonderful Christmas outing: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 17 days on the trails covering 104.1 miles with 12,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Mush, Mush

Laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. Wheeee!

You can see Jack & Rudy's footprints in the fresh snow behind them.
This was a surprise treat!

A surprise treat? Well, yes. The forecast for today did not call for any new snow. In fact it was predicted to be a warm and blue sky day! But, we woke to a surprise little snowfall. It was coming down lightly for an hour or so. As a result, we went to skijor the Sallie Barber Mine Trail this morning. This trail is very popular and sees lots of traffic. As a result, it is often too packed and slick to skijor on clear days. But, with the surprise dusting of new snow this morning, it was off to Sallie Barber with the safety of the light layer of new snow. Yay!

We made three passes by the historic mine. The first pass had the normal antics from the comedians:

Stop, drop and ROLL snow angels in front of the historic 1800s mine.

With "snow angels completed" on pass #1, it was time to zoom on by the mine the next two times. Funny, but consistent, kids :)

"No need to stop this time! Zoom!" goes the speedy kids flying on by the mine.

Then we got to flirt with oncoming traffic as we zipped on by. This guy paused to watch the cool sled dogs and even called out, "Mush, mush!" as we came on by.

"Mush, mush? You got it!" responds Jack & Rudy cruising on by.

You don't need to tell Jack & Rudy "mush" more than once (or often at all :) for them to turn it on! Here we are moments after the "mush, mush" call catching air on a wide open straightaway. Wheeee!

Zoom!

The little smudge in the photo above? Well, that is a piece of snow that flew off Jack & Rudy's feet and into the camera. Come along for today's video highlight putting the last two photos together. First, we pass on by the oncoming skier. If your volume is up VERY high, you can just barely make out his "Mush, mush" comment. Then, Jack & Rudy whip me around a tight left in the trail (this is where the snow hits the camera) before a gentle right and then a pedal to the metal wide open straightaway. Wheeee! 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a surprise treat to have unpredicted fresh snow for the Sallie Barber Mine Trail, right guys?

"Oh yes, we LOVE fresh snow and end of run treats!" says the focused pair.

Today's tally: 8 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 70 days on the trails covering 543.3 miles with 51,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Surprise Dusting

We got a surprise dusting of new snow this morning to help make otherwise hard packed & slick trails quite enjoyable!!!

Fun snow poofs coming off Jack & Rudy's feet as we zip along
in the surprise dusting!

The forecast for this morning was "warm & dry" conditions. While the "warm" was correct, the "dry" was not and we started our outing amidst light snowfall that had started an hour or so earlier and left a nice dusting of new snow on the trails. I refer to this type of dusting as my Safety Dust as it enables me to go on trails and speeds that I would not have attempted without a little dusting to provide me control and safety. 

It was such a nice dusting that we were able to skijor side trails I would have definitely otherwise avoided this morning!

Zipping through an old "mining days" ghost town on a trail that would have
been too slick & icy for me to ski without the safety dust!

The dusting was also just enough for me to comfortably let Jack & Rudy fly on by any & all oncoming traffic. The kids love to flirt and fly by the oncoming traffic:

"Coming through, wheeee!" says the fun kids flying on by.
Rudy always gives an extra flirtatious glance if he is on the inside
when we pass on by. He is such a flirt!

Now come along for the video counterpart of the prior photo. We start out on a fast straightaway in the sun (which had just broken through the clouds). This section of trail gets all day sun and would have been too slick for me to go this fast safely without the safety dust. So, zooming we go until we dip back into some denser trees, round a fun corner and then fly on by the oncoming skiers. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I mentioned the "warm" part of the "warm & dry" forecast was accurate. With temperatures just around freezing, Jack & Rudy really needed to roll snow angels to cool their jets at our turnaround point.

Snow angels with a view :)

 Nothing quite like a surprise safety dust to allow you to floor it all day, right guys?

"Oh that was FUN! Love the safety dust!" says the happy kids
awaiting end of run treats atop a tall snow wall.

Nothing quite as magical as a surprise safety dust when you expected hard packed & slick conditions! 9.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 61 days on the trails covering 464.0 miles with 43,800 feet of elevation climbed.

 

We're Back!

We're back! Zipping along with Jack & Rudy catching air at Gold Run Nordic Center!

Wheeee!

"Where have we been?" you might be wondering. Well, our last skijor outing was December 17, 2024. After that, I was placed on the medically inactive/injured reserve list. Well, that episode is over and Jack, Rudy and I are back to doing what we love in the snow! Wheeee!

What route did we choose to celebrate our return to the trails? Well, we did our favorite "Dry Gulch Backcountry" to "Gold Run Nordic Groomie Zoomie" combination outing. Dry Gulch had a wonderful layer of light new snow for us to enjoy:

Laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow - wheeee!

After Dry Gulch, it was time to go speeding on the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Cross country skiing versus skijoring - what is the main difference? Well, skijoring is orders of magnitude faster than cross county skiing. Jack & Rudy will catch and pass ANY skier in front of us on the trails :)

"Whee, we are faster than you! Coming through!' says the speedy kids
towing me on by a skier that was ahead of us on the trail.

Today's video highlight starts with us cruising a long a nice groomed nordic trail. A little bit into the video and you'll see the skier in the photo above on the trail ahead of us. Well, watch as Jack & Rudy do what they love: catch anything in front of us! Eventually we catch the skier (of course), then we have to slow through a blind left corner. But, once through the corner, we see the open straightaway in front of us and fly on by we go! If your volume is up, you can hear the skier exclaim "Hee Haw!" as we fly on by her. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Catching and passing skiers in front us is a lot of fun; but so is entertaining any oncoming crowds who always pause, watch and smile as we fly on by :)

"Coming through! Made you smile!" says the entertaining sled dogs.

Then there is Jack & Rudy's personal entertainment: rolling snow angels to cool off during any pause during the outing :)

"Aaahhh, rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Finally, back to the trailhead and time to enjoy end of run treats with my best pals once again!

"We sure missed 'end of run' treats the last 3.5 weeks!"says the happy, happy kids.

A beautiful morning to get back out on the trails! We took it easy (by our standards) to make sure I was truly ok, but I passed with flying colors. We'll be incrementally increasing the distance of our upcoming outings until we are back in full form! Today's tally: 4.6 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 33 days on the trails covering 244.9 miles with 23,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Quick Run

Cruising by the historic Sallie Barber Mine, from the 1800s, on this morning's skijor!

Zipping on by - wheeee!

As I mentioned yesterday, we've had a slow start to this skijor season with yesterday being our first outing of the season and only one significant snowstorm to date (this past Sunday night). So, very few trails have enough snow to be skiable yet; but it is coming.....

Yesterday was Boreas Pass Road (one of our usual "early season" routes) and today was a quick run up & down the front side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. The front side is more gentle and is protected from the warm afternoon sun. The back side of this trail is very steep & rocky at the beginning, so needs more than one snowstorm to be skiable.

But, a short, quick run up and down the front side is better than nothing at all! We typically pause for a moment after the initial climb to the mine. Well, Jack & Rudy were both in midseason form on today's short pause. The patented "stop, drop & roll" snow angels from Jack and the harmonious "wooooo" from Rudy:

"Ah, stop, drop and roll!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Woooooo!" sings melodic Rudy.

Jack & Rudy love encountering and flirting with other skiers or snowshoers on the trails. They get all giddy and fly on by, putting smiles on the oncoming faces :)

"Hi, bye! Made you smile!' says Jack & Rudy cruising on by this oncoming skier.

Today's video highlight: a fun section of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail where we lean into a tight left, then into a gentle right and finally take off on a fast straightaway. As the clip concludes, we encounter the oncoming skier pictured above. Jack & Rudy love to flirt and cruise on by oncoming traffic :) Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead and "quick run" or "long run" and it's the same from my great pals: focused and smiling for end of run treats:

"We'll take any distance 'toes on snow' over dry & boring conditions!" states
the happy, happy kids.

As I write this, it is starting to snow nicely out the window. Hopefully a series of snowstorms starting last Sunday and throughout this week will open up some new and longer terrain for us to skijor! Today's quick tally: 3.9 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 2 days on the trails covering 13 miles with 1300 feet of elevation climbed.

Angels & Views

It was "rolling snow angels with a view" from Jack & Rudy at one of our turnaround points of this morning's skijor outing :)

Rub a dub dub, snow angels with a view!

Today's outing found us zipping around the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. 

It was catching air in the shade:

Fun Jack & Rudy hovering over the trail.

It was catching air in the sun:

Zooming!

It was catching air as we flew on by oncoming skiers. Jack & Rudy love to run on by oncoming traffic. Rudy is also the biggest flirt and he will typically turn his head towards the crowd as he continues to run on by. Jack likes to stay focused on the trail ahead as we impress the onlookers :)

"Hi dude, coming through!" says flirtatious Rudy giving the skier a smile
of his own.
"All business, coming through!" is Jack's passing motto.

Speaking of passing on by, come along for today's skijor video highlight. The clip starts out with us gliding along a nice, fast trail. Then, as we come around a corner, we encounter a skier coming up the trail. Jack & Rudy pass on by perfectly. Finally, a few moments after passing the skiers, the kids kick it into overdrive and off we zoom. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A lot of fun skijoring this morning but also one unauthorized game of tag breaking out at one point:

"I triple dog dare you to try and get back on the trail!" asserts Rudy to Jack
who had just jumped off trail to search for rodents under the snow.
"Piece of cake, I always outsmart you!" responds playful Jack about
to accept the triple dog dare :)

A nice & sunny bluebird skijor this morning as we await the arrival of a major snowstorm tonight or tomorrow morning!

"You have our full attention!" says my pals waiting for me to get my
glove off to get end of run treats out of my pocket.

Today's skijor tally: 10.1 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 96 days on the trails covering 814.7 miles with 78,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Stick Share

Fun "shot from the front" of the happy kids towing me to the finish of this morning's 10 mile skijor!

Whee! Smiles all around!

As you see in the photo above we finished today's outing on nicely groomed nordic trails (at Gold Run Nordic Center). But, as is usually the case in this location, we started out touring the backcountry before transitioning onto the nordic center. 

Today's backcountry trails were quite narrow due to lots of fresh snow the last few days; but the set trail was still wide enough for Jack & Rudy to fit shoulder to shoulder, yay!

Just wide enough to fit two sled dogs side by side in the backcountry.

Once onto the nordic center, we went to ski the upper Preston Loop Trail. This trail is far from the trailhead and rated a "black diamond" nordic trail, so it does not get a lot of traffic. We found the trail recently groomed with one skier with a dog doing the loop just before us. Not a problem, being second tracks on a fresh groom is almost as good as first tracks :)

Zipping along the recently groomed speed track.

We had so much fun on doing the loop that we decided to do it again. Jack & Rudy will typically repeat a trail twice without balking as they will switch sides to enjoy if from a different perspective:

Second pass on the Preston Loop.
This photo is at roughly the same place as the prior photo.
Second pass, switch sides, same results - zoom!

Now come along for a video highlight from pass two of the Preston Loop. Perfect conditions to zoom, zoom, zoom! Top speed today? 24 MPH.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As we were about to start our second pass on the upper loop, Jack noticed a large and very tantalizing stick just off the trail. He hopped in the snow to inspect it and Rudy agreed that this stick was very tantalizing. The silly goofs proceeded to jointly drag this stick out of the snow and onto the trail (I later removed it so it would not be in the way of others :)

"Nice stick! We should put this in the middle of the trail for others
to enjoy!" says the silly stick sharing kids.

After two passes on the upper loop, it was time to take the main nordic trail back to the trailhead. Remember it is a busy 3 day weekend, so the main trail was quite busy with skiers, snowshoers and fat bike riders. Jack & Rudy LOVE to zoom by crowds and put smiles on their faces. I always smile and give a wave to the crowds too :)

"Hi! Bye! Coming through - made you smile!" says the fun kids putting
on a skijoring show for the crowds.

Yet another wonderful skijor outing, so yet another chance to celebrate with end of run treats:

"You have our full attention!" says the focused kids.

A little backcountry touring followed by a lot of nordic zooming: 10.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 723.2 miles with 69,600 feet of elevation climbed.