Happy kids looking back at me during a quick pause on the trail this morning!
"We are having a BLAST!" declares the happy, happy kids.
We gave Zorro most of this morning off as he came with for full runs the last two days. So, I took the kids, Jack & Rudy, on an extended run with some aerobic trail breaking mixed in.
We started the morning on lesser used backcountry trails and found ourselves breaking trail and laying fresh tracks in 8+ inches of fresh snow.
Kicking up Powder all around Jack & Rudy as they break trail in
over 12 inches of powder at this point on the trail.
Come along for the impressive powder pair. I've spliced together two short clips of the powder plowing kids into one video highlight. I love riding behind the trail breaking masters!
We broke trail in deep snow for just over 1 mile. The reward for this aerobic trail breaking?
Well, rolling snow angels, of course!
Cooling our jets rolling in the snow after serious trail breaking.
"You expected something different?" asks goofy Jack.
"Yum, snow angels AND snow cones!' demonstrates talented Rudy :)
Ok, let's try that again... The reward for breaking trail over 1 mile?
Ah, here we go - the reward was being first tracks on the freshly groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center for over 6 miles!
Now this is more like it. What a reward for trail breaking work!
Then, the reward for dropping onto the trails at the nordic center? Well, we got to meet up with fun Zorro for a short run to the finish as a happy trio:
Wheeee! Smiles all around from the flying trio!
No need to stop for Nancy on the side of the trail as we fly on by with Zorro to the trailhead.
Flying Zorro alongside fast running Rudy & Jack!
A little of everything today: breaking trail, laying fresh tracks on backcountry trails, topping 23 MPH on nordic trails and adding Zorro for a fast & furious finish to the day: 7.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 98 days on the trails covering 668.3 miles with 61,350 feet of elevation climbed.
Love this "profile shot" of the out-stretched trio as we sprint past Nancy on the side of the trail this morning!
Quite the impressive looking sled dog trio!!!
This morning was one of our "light days" for Zorro where I took the kids, Jack & Rudy, out for a long skijor before meeting up with Zorro to add him for a short run to the finish. We went to one of our "it's a secret" network of trails. Few locals know of these trails and almost no tourists know of them, so the trails are lightly used backcountry terrain.
The day started just as we expected - lightly used backcountry terrain:
Nice shot of flying Jack & Rudy on a nice backcountry trail. Wheeee!
But, here is the shocker of the day - we ran into a network of groomed trails that has NEVER existed before - seriously!!!! The area we were skijoring has a few "vacation lodges" tucked away in the forest that I know large groups of tourists can rent. Well, apparently one or some of these lodges have got together and groomed a network of trails around them. What a surprise.
We decided to follow the groomed trails for a while to see what we found. Imagine our surprise when we came upon a warming hut in the middle of nowhere!
"What is it with you humans and your 'warming huts'?!?" ask perplexed Jack & Rudy.
While the concept of 'warming hut' perplexes Jack & Rudy, the concept of groomed trail does not. It doesn't matter if we know where we are or not, a groom is a ZOOM!
Zoom, zoom - we know what to do with groomie zoomie trails!
Originally I was thinking these trails might be an extension of the nearby Gold Run Nordic Center. But, that was not the case as eventually the trails went away from the direction you would need to go to get to Gold Run. Our planned destination was the nordic center, so eventually we got on backcountry trails again and dropped into Gold Run Nordic Center to meet up with Zorro.
Today's fun video is our "Zorro meet up & go". Come along as we are paused to start as we just added Zorro to the team. A quick "ok, here we go" from me and off my partners go. We fly past Nancy on the side of the trail and then I slow us as we approach the trailhead parking lot. This trailhead is known for often having loose dogs running around so I approach cautiously. Once I determine the "all clear" I release my partners again with an "ok, go" and we floor it again. Zoom!
We close the day with a fun "shot from the front" as we approach Nancy on side of the trail. Happy, happy boys!
All smiles from the super fun trio!
What an interesting day: backcountry skijoring, a surprise groomed track, more backcountry and then fast groomie zoomies with Zorro: 8.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 79 days on the trails covering 544.1 miles with 50,800 feet of elevation climbed.
