4 in a Row

First time skijoring 4 days in a row for both Jack & Rudy.

Oh boy is this skijoring trio really maturing into a well oiled machine!

"Turnaround? Ok!" says happy Zorro at our turnaround point of the outing.
"I'm listening. Duck under the gangline and here I come." adds happy Jack turning around with Zorro.
"Why? Why? Why? Why turnaround?!?!?!" questions 'go all day' Rudy.

Skijoring 4 days in a row is a nice accomplishment for the two youngsters. We are still keeping all outings with Rudy under 30 minutes. Soon he'll be old enough for us to let him run longer. As you can see in the prior photo, Rudy already thinks he is mature enough to go forever. He questions every turnaround command :)

Another first on the trails today too - our first "Planet Z" moment from one of the youngsters. Our first full season skijoring, Zorro was 2 and Max was 3 (Zorro was 1 when we introduced him to the concept but 2 once we finally got a full season). Zorro was a wild 2 year old and would frequently dork with Max on the trails. We labeled this behavior "Planet Z" as in "Zorro, what are you doing? What planet are you from?!?" Well, I fully expected the following to happen: Rudy is also from Planet Z. See for yourselves:

"Dorking with Jack, dorking with Jack! Poke, poke, poke!" demonstrates Rudy from Planet Z.
"Get out of my face kid!" responds Jack. Not surprising that mellow Jack is NOT from Planet Z
and very expected that wild Rudy is!
"Don't know what you are talking about. Nor do I care - he's not dorking with me so
I'll keep on going!" adds veteran Zorro who refutes all tales about Planet Z from
his childhood :)

Luckily visits from Planet Z are generally short lived and skijoring resumes:

Flying along the fast groomed trail. Zoom!

Today's video fun is a wild one. We are on the trail known as Gluteus Maximus at Breckenridge Nordic Center. It has this name from the steep grades along the trail. A cross country skier gets a really workout on the glutes traversing this terrain. I, on the other hand, get a ridiculous workout of the quads and knees as I get thrown up, down and around this trail behind the speed demons. You know that feeling on a roller coaster when your stomach "goes into your throat" on steep dips? Well, that's the same feeling you get skijoring Gluteus Maximus behind these three!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, the end of the day's run and another steep section of trail as we zoom past Nancy. The trail ends just ahead at a closed gate. Look at my right ski almost perpendicular to the trail trying to keep under some minimum control behind these beasts!

"Ow, my quads & knees hurt!" :)

What a day... 4th skijor in a row, proof that Rudy is also from Planet Z and a quad & knee numbing abuse of the human (just kidding, it wasn't abuse, I really did have fun): 5.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 55 days on the trails covering 299.6 miles with 26,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Silly Max

Most of the day was "perfect skijoring" as shown below. Most.....

Perfect form as we sprint along the fast packed trail.

Okay, "most of the day" was perfect; so what was "not perfect"? Well, Max lost it. A few times each season either Max, Zorro or both "lose it" on the trail and decide we are playing "tag & tackle" instead of "skijoring". Today was one such day as Max got the wild idea that tag & tackle at 15-20 MPH was a fun idea. Here we go with excerpts from the silly Max incident:

"Hey little bro - want to play 'tag & tackle'?" yells Max to Zorro.

"Apparently you did not hear me, I'll come a little closer... Do you want to play 'tag & tackle'?"
asks Max again after moving closer to Zorro.
"No - go away, I'm skijoring!" responds Zorro the adult.

"Tag - you're it!" performs Max the silly puppy brain!

Put the previous photos together and you get the following video showcasing "puppy brain Max". I see it starting and call an "ah ah" which usually corrects any thoughts of tag & tackle. The "ah ah" doesn't work so I try calling Max out by name - failed again. Last resort as I call out "forward, forward" trying to interrupt Max's silliness. Well, failed again as Max proceeds to tag and toss Zorro off the trail and into the shoulder snow. Tag done and Max (& Zorro) realign and start skijoring again. Silly Max!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with the day's run, look who is perfectly happy with his performance this morning :)

"Who me? What are you talking about - I had a PERFECT day!" declares happy & satisfied Max.

A mostly perfect skijor with one case of Max the maximum puppy thrown in for comedy: 8.8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 344.7 miles with 35,250 feet of elevation climbed.

Goofballs

Max & Zorro got a "case of the goofball puppies" on this morning's skijor outing :)

Okay... Let us review...

(1) Proper Skijor Form:

Flying (literally) in a 21 MPH sprint along the trail - wheeee!

(2) Improper skijor form:

"I'm faster than you! Ha ha!" says silly Max.
"Are not, ARE NOT!" exclaims silly Zorro.
Hard to skijor with such unapproved conversations going on! :)

Here's video footage of Max & Zorro engaging in "improper skijoring behavior". We are flying along the fast trail when I start to see a "goofball wrestle fest" starting to unfold (and Max & Zorro start exchanging "that look"). I start calling out "ah ah" to correct the situation (which usually works); but it takes many corrections before I am (barely) able to right the skijor ship and get my nuts going forward again. What goofballs...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What does Max think of his behavior?

"What 'improper activities'? I'm having a GREAT day!" says my goofy lead dog.

I had a morning meeting, so we only had time for a quick skijor. I guess knowing I was cutting the outing short is what brought out the goofiness in my partners: 6.2 miles with 500 feet of elevation and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 167.3 miles with 16550 feet of elevation climbed.

Zorro Birthday

A 9.4 mile skijor run on June 1st for Zorro's 8th Birthday!

9.4 miles on June 1st?!? Sweet!

Flying... Just flying along January (in June) conditions :)

I tried to write how incredible a June 1st outing this was; but words could not do it justice. Just watch for yourself as today's video is a compilation of tons & tons of fun skijoring Rabbit Ears Pass on June 1st.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A few things to notice in the video... First, if your volume is up then the "clicks" you hear are slush bombs flying off Max & Zorro's feet and into the camera case (and my face! :)  Second, near the end of the video we get to a narrow/dangerous water crossing. You'll note that I do not need to ask Max & Zorro to "slow down" for the crossing. When they hear my skis scrape for an extended time (e.g., a few seconds), they automatically slow down themselves as they know that scraping sounds means to slow the pace to preserve the human. "Better to slow down than break the human toy and end the season!" say the smart pair.

Not many sled dogs in the Northern Hemisphere get to spend a June birthday on snow! Such fun!

"I'm ecstatic, just plain giddy!" declares happy Zorro.
"Fun indeed, what a ride today!" states happy Max.

Finally, for today's humor... Every once in a while one of Max or Zorro will instigate an "unapproved trail interaction" by dorking with the other. For our first 6 years of skijoring, about 75% of these shenanigans were started by Zorro. But, for the last year, about 95% (maybe 100%) have been instigated by Max. We have been laughing all year that Zorro matured at age 7 and turned into an "all go, all business" sled dog. Well, look below.... Zorro turned 8 today and rolled the clock back to his 6 and under years. Tuning in to Channel Z being broadcast from Planet Z as Zorro dorks with Max while sprinting along the trail!

"Hehehe, I'm back from Planet Z!" declares Zorro dorking with Max without breaking stride.

An incredible run on June 1st to celebrate Zorro's 8th birthday: 9.4 miles traveled with 850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 149 days on the trails covering 1253.5 miles with 136,550 feet of elevation climbed.

Ruppy

Goofball Max decided to take over today's skijor outing :)

Great shot of "proper skijoring" along the spring crust in an open meadow.
A rare shot for the day :)

Max woke up this morning in a goofy mood. From the time we got up, he was bouncing off the walls acting like a silly puppy. I was joking (I thought) when I said, "Sure hope this behavior does not carry over onto the trails!" Well...

Ruppy [defn]: A red colored Siberian Husky who loses control and gets a case of the "puppy brains".

Ask yourself if this looks like proper skijoring form...

"Hehe, hey little bro - I'm feeling FRISKY!" declares ruppy Max dorking with Zorro as Zorro
and I try to skijor this morning.

Now, why would someone decide to hurdle his brother while skijoring? Must be a ruppy...

"Wheeeee - I can fly!" exclaims silly Max suddenly deciding to hurdle Zorro as we were skijoring.
You can see my skis cutting into a snowplow to try and stop while the hurdling ruppy loses it again!

Here is Max the Ruppy in video action. Listen as I am calling out repeatedly to try and correct the "broken red rudder" until we finally turn a corner and "right the ship" into a real skijoring team again! Now, it may look like Zorro is participating; but, believe me, I was there, Max was starting it all day long. Poor, innocent Zorro is just trying to deal with the big ruppy pest :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We used to call today's behavior a visit from Planet Z as it was so common our first year skijoring when Zorro was a 1 year old puppy brain. Today the 9 year old Ruppy Max paid a visit to Planet Z before bringing a case of the puppies to the trails.

"Who me?" asks innocent acting Max.
"So tough being the 'face of reason and composure' in this pack!" declares Zorro.
If you know Zorro, you laughed as hard reading that last comment as I did writing it :)

I guess there could be worse things than having your 9 year old act like a 9 month old all morning long... 8.3 miles traveled (yes, we did shed the ruppy occasionally :) with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 127 days on the trails covering 1068.9 miles with 117,850 feet of elevation climbed.

Puppy Antics

Max turns 9 years old tomorrow.

He celebrated his "last day at 8" with "puppy antics" on the trail this morning :)

"Hey little bro - I feel 8 months old!" says giddy Max to Zorro.

"Tag - you're it!" says Max the 'last day at 8 puppy'...

It only happens a few times a season - one of Max or Zorro (or both) forget the objective of skijoring and decide that "trail wrestling" is the point of the day's outing. Here we go in today's video highlight as Max turns puppy on the trail and starts dorking with Zorro, trying to bait him into a wrestle match.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Silly Max - the "last day at 8 years old puppy"...

"Who me? I'm just so giddy I forgot the objective of the day!" states silly Max.

"Sigh, life as the only adult on the trail!" states happy Zorro.

Oh, by the way, we did do some adult skijoring this morning...

Beautiful shot of the synchronized, sprinting & adult skijoring huskies. Wheeee!

We had two interruptions to "adult skijoring". The first was Max turning puppy and the second was spotting a moose off the trail in the trees!

"Moose!" declare the moose staring pair. It was a safe distance off the trail and camouflaged in
the trees. But, the scent drew Max & Zorro off trail and I followed their stare until I spotted it
hiding in the trees.

1 moose, 1 puppy and lots of adult skijoring in between: 8.7 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 663.7 miles with 69950 feet of elevation climbed.

Max Gone Loco

A beautiful 10 mile run up/down Boreas Pass today. Only one minor issue during the outing:

silly Max turned into a goofy red puppy for part of the outing!

The majority of the day found us trotting & running on fast trails with beautiful views.
The majority, though, not all day....

We have a saying for one of Max or Zorro "losing it" on the trail and acting like a silly puppy - Planet Z. This phrase comes from our first year of skijoring when Zorro was only 1 year old and his puppiness would pop up on the trails completely unexpectedly. We started saying, "Hey, Zorro made a visit to Planet Z today." Well, the phrase has stuck ever since, although it is rarely used nowadays. But, today Max took a visit to Planet Z...

I saw the foreshadow to the Max antics of the day; I just did not believe that normally cool, calm & collected Max would really flip to Planet Z on the trails today! But, as we were sitting around the house this morning (before our run), Max walked up behind sleeping Zorro and poked him 3 times in the butt with his paw.... "Poke, poke, poke - why are you sleeping? I'm bored!" is clearly what halfway to Planet Z Max was saying.

Okay, so here we go witnessing the "Planet Z Max" on the trails today...

"Psssst - I'm gonna TAG you! Hee hee hee!!!" whispers puppy acting Max to innocent Zorro
as we are flying along the trails.

Today's video clip shows "Max from Planet Z" in action. If one of them is about to flip to another planet, they always give me a forewarning with the goofy "I'm about to TAG you" look one gives the other. It is my job to see the look and talk the alien-transforming Siberian off the full transformation. Normally I have 10-15 seconds to see "the look", call out a correction and interrupt the alien transformation. Well, watch today as at about 11 seconds Max gives the goofy forewarning look to Zorro and then proceeds to turn into Max from Planet Z only 4 seconds later. "Hey, I warned you what was happening and you didn't seem to mind!" says Max...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Anyway, back to the day... Max was his perfect skijoring self for almost the entire outing (as you can see in the beginning and end of the video before & after his Planet Z episode); but we had 3 unexpected visits from Planet Z Max during the day - what a silly 7 year old puppy! :-)

Trotting along nicely as Breckenridge Ski Resort comes into view on the mountains across
the valley from us.

A great day with only 3 quick "Max blips" to interrupt the otherwise perfect outing...

"Having a great time!" say the happy pair at our turnaround point on Boreas Pass.

10.1 miles up/down Boreas Pass with 1000 feet of elevation climbed, a top speed of 18 MPH and 3 brief visits from Planet Z Max as we ran along the trails...

2014/2015 Season to Date: 56 days on the trails covering 471.3 miles with 50,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Planet Z

A couple of times a year, our skijor outing is interrupted by an alien from Planet Z...

Perfect sprinting form along Shrine Pass Rd at the Vail Pass Recreation Area.
This is what most of the day looked like; but not all... Aliens from Planet Z...

What is Planet Z, you ask? Well, this phrase was coined our first year skijoring when little Zorro was only 1 year old and still had a lot of "puppy" in his id. When Zorro forgot he was skijoring and decided it was time to play, you could see the alien from Planet Z overtake his body and he would pull puppy pest antics on the trail! The visits from Planet Z are always short-lived (thank dog); but they are also pure mindless puppy. Max is not immune either, he has had his body overtaken by aliens from Planet Z as well; but they visit Zorro far more often than Max.

As the years have gone by, I have had less and less chance to mention Planet Z in our blog as Max & Zorro have fought the temptations from Planet Z and become skijor professionals. Consider that it is March 17th and this is my first mention of Planet Z this 2013/2014 season! But, the planet is still there and the aliens are just waiting for a chance to jump in. Today they found a way into Zorro and then pulled Max into the fray as well!

Those are not my Siberian Huskies! No way, those might be their bodies but the brains
have been overtaken by aliens from Planet Z.

Here is what skijoring with aliens from Planet Z looks like - repeated silliness from the aliens in front of me on the trail!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Luckily, the aliens were missing most of the day and it was (mostly) a fast & fun run up, down and along Vail Pass...

Perfect form again as we cruise along Shrine Pass Rd for miles & miles.

I should have caught the foreshadow that the aliens were working on Zorro; but I missed it early on. This video clip shows Zorro starting to succumb to the aliens. We had been running perfectly for 15-20 minutes and then we get to this section of video. The clip starts just fine as we are still cruising along in perfect form. But, watch at about 20 seconds into the video and Zorro starts "drifting back" as clearly the aliens are overtaking his mind. He is able to shake the aliens after a few seconds and shoot right back into form with Max; but I should have seen the aliens approaching...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After an alien attack, you can stop and ask Max & Zorro about it; but this is what you get:

"Hi! We are having a great time today! What aliens? We have no idea what
you are talking about!" say the happy & innocent pair.

A 99% alien free outing on Vail Pass with the season's first official visit from Planet Z for a brief moment on the trail: 10.9 miles with 1400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 109 days on the trails covering 938.1 miles with 109,450 feet of elevation climbed.

Planet Z turned Red

A beautiful day skijoring up, down & around Baldy Mountain today. Almost perfect....

We had fresh snow on all the trails today. 3-5 inches on the lesser used trails and 1-3 inches
on the more popular trails.

A near perfect day except for one extended blip when Planet Z turned Red!

We coined the phrase "Planet Z" our first year skijoring because almost every "Siberian incident" on the trails was started by crazy little Zorro (who, to his defense, was only 2 years old at the time). As we would ski along the trails, every once in a while crazy little Zorro would decide, "I am having so much fun that I must bite my brother and try to knock him off the trail!" Don't ask, why that sounded like a good idea is known to only Zorro, thus the phrase "Planet Z" when he would get one of his crazy moments.

Back to today... I got a foreshadow this morning when Max started a wrestle match with Zorro in the backyard after breakfast. I should have paid more attention to the foreshadow. Well, anyway, as we were cruising around Baldy Mountain today, we got to a fast stretch of trail near the Iowa Mill mine. This section of trail is usually a sprint track for the 3 of us. But, no, guess what happened... Planet Z turned Red (meaning it was red Max performing Planet Z puppy behaviors)! Oh Max, what happened to my perfect mature lead dog??? :-)  The evidence:

"Hey little bro - I'm feeling frisky! Wanna play tackle football?" starts Max with innocent Zorro.

"I'm from Planet Z - off the trail you go!" exclaims Max as he reverts to a silly puppy and
takes his brother off the tail! Meanwhile, the poor human on skis is trying to control the
gangline and quickly cut the skis into a stop.

Ok, we are all stopped for a Team Organization Meeting and Max got a lecture about
unnecessary puppy behaviors. The meeting just ended and Max is giving me such an
innocent look - "Ok, sorry, I got it. No more Planet Z." (I thought he said :-)

Restart down the trail and about 1 minute later, look who is back: Planet Z turned Red again
thinking about taking his brother off the trail. So much for the Team Organization Meeting...

After the second outburst from "Planet Z turned Red", we stopped for a second and much longer Team Organization Meeting. Basically I told Max, "we are not restarting until you stop giving your brother that mischievous look!" Thank Dog, eventually Max came back to Earth and we were able to leave Planet Z behind. What a silly redhead today!

Back to the trail after our second (and finally successful) Team Organization Meeting.

Oh, it is so good to have everyone back on Earth and off Planet Z!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Tally for the day: 7.4 miles, 1400 feet of elevation climbed, a top speed of 19 MPH, 2 Team Organization Meetings and a rare visit from a Red Planet Z...

The Looney Bin

Max going exploring in the deep snow off the trail,
Zorro dunking his head down into the snow.

I intended on going skijoring with Max & Zorro today. Apparently I took a "wrong turn" near the start and found myself on skis in the Siberian Looney Bin instead...

Gone was "Max the consistent lead dog", instead I found "Max from Mars". Gone was "Zorro the endless wheel dog", instead I found "Zorro from Planet Z". Thus began a day of nobody listening to me and a day of many "Team Organization Meetings" to discuss the concept and technique of skijoring. Did the meetings work? HA, pffft,  what a Siberian Looney Bin!

Here's what I recall... Zorro "said something" to Max at the start of our outing. The topic of that discussion was clearly controversial and the conversation was continued throughout the day. Four times, as we were beginning to get some real speed going, "the discussion" came back up between Max & Zorro and resulted in a takedown and then a wrestling, Siberian entwined snowball on the trail in front of me. Twice Zorro clearly restarted "the discussion" and twice Max clearly restarted "the discussion". It happened going uphill, it happened going downhill, it happened on an open trail, it happened on a narrow trail ... it just kept happening... The Looney Bin was in full operation starring Max from Mars and Zorro from Planet Z.

We were high up on Boreas Pass Rd when the fourth of "the discussions" broke out. As I am bent over untangling the Siberian mess of a gangline, Max licks my face and backs up. I look up and immediately think, "Oh no - goofball Max!" When Max gets his goof going, he gets a wild & happy look on his face, he bounces his long front legs up & down, he typically lets out a low "wooo" and then he jumps me. Well, that's what happened today - goofball Max was having a great time wrestling with his brother and decided to happily include me in the fun. So much for the "Team Organization Meetings"...

Vital Stats: 8.5 miles; 105m total time; 90m skijoring time (15m of failed Team Organization Meetings); 20 MPH top speed (leading to a wild, wrestling takedown as we hit 20); 800 feet of elevation climbed.

Approaching the Boreas winter trailhead in perfect skijoring form.

"What Siberian Looney Bin? Don't know what he's talking about!"

demonstrate Max & Zorro.

Max exploring the "animal tracks" in snow at our high point on Boreas Pass.

Zorro digging in the snow at our high point on Boreas Pass.

A nice shot of our tracks coming up Boreas Pass and the winter wonderland of
snow covered trees. 

Zorro Caught in the Act.

As we fly by, Zorro must be whispering in Max's ear, "Hey bro, lets go faster!" He wouldn't be nibbling at Max - no, not Zorro ;-)

I've mentioned Zorro and his "Planet Z" moments in past posts. Today we caught him on video. Forever immortalized in video, Zorro from Planet Z can no longer give you those deep brown eyes and say, "Who me? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" The image to the left is a frame from the video below of our fast approach to the Boreas Pass winter trailhead today. Zorro just gets sooooo excited having skijoring fun that he needs to give Max "affectionate" nibbles to show his appreciation. He sure is fun & cute; but what a pest ;-)

We had a fun 10 mile outing on Baldy and Boreas Mountains today. Mostly packed powder with a few sections of "fresh tracks" in 2-4 inches of powder. A nice fast track for the Siberians. We started at the Baldy Mountain Rd winter trailhead and then: (1) skijored up & across Baldy to connect with Boreas Mountain; (2) skijored up to the high point of Bakers Tank trail (on Boreas) and then down to Bakers Tank; (3) then skijored up Boreas Pass Rd - as we were nearing treeline I could hear and feel the wind increasing. Not wanting to be wind battered above treeline, I stopped just before we crested out of the cover of trees and took a quick break in the deep snow off the packed trail. (4) Then skijored all the way back down Boreas Pass Rd to the Boreas winter trailhead. All around, a very peaceful and beautiful day.

Vital Stats: 9.8 miles; 112m total time; 98m skijoring time; 21 MPH top speed; 1000 feet of elevation gain.

Taking a quick break in the deep snow off the side of the trail. Nice way
to cool the Siberian jets before starting back down.

Max & Zorro saying, "Hey, this deep snow needs some Siberian exploration
and exposure!"

Done! Deep snow explored and exposed!

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!