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.

 

Backcountry Powder Day

Laying fresh tracks in about 2-3 inches of new snow to start today's skijor outing:

Zipping along, laying fresh tracks!

Breckenridge Ski Resort reported 8 inches of fresh snow this morning. But, we only had about 2-3 inches at our house; so I was skeptical about that report. As you see in the prior photo, we found only about 2-3 inches of new snow at the start of our outing. So, my skepticism was seeming like reality as we started the day.

But, then, the magic happened. The higher (in elevation) we went, the deeper the snow got. I found myself changing from skeptical to wondering just how much new snow we'd encounter!

Trotting by an old, abandoned mining cabin in about 5-6 inches of fresh snow
at this point.

The further we went, the deeper it got...

Busting through at least 8, maybe 10, inches of fresh snow at this point!
For the curious, those are fox or coyote tracks going down the trail in
front of Jack (most likely fox, but could be coyote).

Did I say, "The further we went, the deeper it got?"

Snorkeling through 10-12 inches of fresh powder at this point! Wow!

How about some powder blasting video fun to go along with the deep snow we found? I love doing powder clips in slow motion as is it so cool to watch the powerful sled dogs blasting through powder as they tow me along. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, breaking trail through deep snow is a real workout. That means you MUST stop, drop and roll snow angels to cool your jets at any pause along the way :)

Stop, drop and ROLL!!!

A great day enjoying backcountry fresh powder all to ourselves, right guys?

"Oh yes, that was a FUN workout!" says the happy & focused kids.

Today's fresh tracks to trail breaking tally: 8.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 55 days on the trails covering 415.8 miles with 39,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Wind Blown

Laying fresh tracks in upwards of 4 inches of new snow this morning!

Wonderful shot of Jack & Rudy laying fresh tracks as I glide along behind
in a nice layer of new snow! Wheeee!

Today's outing found us on Prospect Hill - an unmaintained area open to both snowmobiles and skiers. With the morning's new snow, we were able to gallop along laying fresh tracks in pre-existing snowmobile tracks most of the outing. There's nothing as nice as 3-4 inches of fresh snow over a packed track - just see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy having a blast running in fresh snow over packed snowmobile tracks!

As we neared the midpoint of the outing, I called out for everyone to "Wait," which everyone did as asked and then glanced back at me for further instruction:

"Waiting - now what?" asks the happy & obedient kids.

To their glances, I replied, "Time to turnaround." Then it was, "Oh, turnaround! Why didn't you say so, we've got things to do first!!!"

Yep - turnaround, roll around from Jack
and turnaround, woos abound from Rudy.
Had I said "Wait, time to turnaround" together, I never would have got the
happy glances first and only the snow angels & woos :)

On the way back, we get some nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Skijor with a view - wheeee!

Now on to the video counterpart to the prior photo. Come along for a fun skijor in the backcountry this morning with a nice view of the ski runs at Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. If your volume is on, you'll hear the constant & gusting wind blowing. We had come up this trail about 10-15 minutes earlier and by the time we returned it was almost completely recovered with wind blown snow! Not a problem, just a little extra effort required by Jack, Rudy and myself :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The wind caused me to cut the outing a little shorter than usual. But, any skijor is better than no skijor, right guys?

"Oh yes and I see that bag of treats in your hands!" says Jack.
"I live for snow and woos!" adds funny Rudy.

A quick but very entertaining day laying fresh tracks: 6.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 51 days on the trails covering 382.0 miles with 35,800 feet of elevation climbed.

View & Go

Nice view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us as we round a corner on a single track trail in the backcountry:

Nice view of the ski resort. Nice view of trucking Jack & Rudy :)

Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo. Come along as we start with nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. Then, after rounding a corner, the ski resort goes out of view so it's time to watch Jack & Rudy galloping along in this nice single track trail. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We did an "out & back" on Prospect Hill to start today's outing. So, that meant we turned around at one point. Oh those turnaround goofballs :)

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes always snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround, woooooos abound!" belts singing Rudy.
Oh, another nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley.

Once done with the single track skijoring on Prospect Hill, it was time to drop onto the wide trails of nearby Gold Run Nordic Center. The kids really opened it up on the nordic zoomies today!

They started by topping 23 MPH on the upper nordic loop trail:

Zooming! Wheeee!

They continued by catching air in a little bit of sun breaking through the morning clouds:

Let's catch some air with some nice shadow effects!

Then it was time to entertain the oncoming crowds (it was pretty busy near the trailhead on this weekend morning). Jack & Rudy love to fly on by and put smiles on the onlooking faces!

"Coming through! Made you smile!!!!" says the entertainers zipping on
by the onlooking skiers.

Backcountry single tracks to views to speeding to catching air to entertaining the crowds - all in a day's work for two impressive sled dogs :)

"I was smiling all day too!" adds cool Jack.
"You have my UNDIVIDED attention!" says very focused Rudy
awaiting the end of run treats.

Fun day, fun skijor partners! 9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 298.8 miles with 27,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Surprise Joy Ride

Everyone was thrilled at this morning's surprise joy ride out on Prospect Hill!

"We are having a GREAT time!" declares the happy pair looking back at
me during a quick pause.

"Surprise joy ride?" you ask. Well, yes. We set out to skijor the backcountry on Prospect Hill this morning. This network of trails is historically unmaintained backcountry terrain all winter long used by both skiers and snowmobiles. But, today was quite the surprise. A groomer had recently run up the main Prospect Hill Trail and down the backside of the hill for a little ways before turning around. Look at this beautiful trail:

A recent groom on Prospect Hill! We've never encountered this before!!!!
As you see, Jack & Rudy know what to do with a groom - ZOOM!

So, what we thought was going to be a highly technical skijor on backcountry trails instead turned into a groomed joy ride; thus the Surprise Joy Ride! 

On the backside of the hill, where the groomer turned around, we were able to leave the set trail for a short distance and romp through some nice powder before reconnecting with the groomer track:

Some nice powder as we cut a diagonal between the groomer trail for
a short distance.

But, we spent most of the day on the surprise groomed trail. We actually did the Prospect Hill route twice we were having so much fun on the surprise groom: out & back once and then out & back again. Along the way we get some nice views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Jack & Rudy zipping along as the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort
come into view across the valley.

As I said earlier, Jack & Rudy know what to do with a groomed trail - zoom! Come along and watch the fun. The nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort come into view across the valley from us after the first left in the video. Finally, watch the end as I have to navigate a sharp hairpin right on pretty beat up snow while Jack & Rudy slow automatically to let me navigate the hard right before opening up the throttle again. I don't have to say anything, they magically know to slow so I can navigate this on skis. Perfect partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Since we did the out & back route twice, we had numerous turnaround points to add some comedy to the outing. Jack & Rudy always deliver on the comedy :)

Some (i.e., me) take in the nice views at a turnaround point.
Some (i.e., Jack & Rudy) dig & dunk their heads into the snow looking for
rodents at a turnaround point.

What a surprise joy ride, right guys?

"Oh that was FUN!" declares the very happy and satisfied kids
awaiting end of run treats atop a nice snow wall.

Stats for today's surprise joy ride: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2204 Season to Date: 116 days on the trails covering 996.1 miles with 97,600 feet of elevation climbed.

  

More Breaking Trail

Look who was having the BEST time out on the trails this morning!

"We are having a BLAST!!!!" exclaims the super happy Jack & Rudy.

What were we all so excited about? Well, like yesterday, we found ourselves breaking trail in a ton of fresh, untouched snow in the backcountry! Today's outing found us skijoring Prospect Hill and we found at least 15 inches of fresh, untouched snow at our deepest points of the outing. 

Jack & Rudy were having a great time blasting through the deep snow:

Near our highest & deepest snow of the outing. POW, POW, Powder Blasting!

Along the way we get great views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Still blasting through deep snow as the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort are
in view across the valley.

As with yesterday, the reward for breaking trail all the way up & out is that you get to run in the tracks you set on the way back down. Jack & Rudy really understand how to reuse a track you spent a lot of effort creating :)

Running in our "out tracks" on the way back with another nice view of
Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us.

As I also mentioned yesterday, with snow this deep, the return is still a lot of work even though we are running in the tracks we set on the way out. Come along and watch how Jack & Rudy operate in these conditions. It is: zoom, catch your breath, then zoom again. It was this way all the way back from the fun kids: zoom, breath, zoom, repeat, repeat, repeat..... :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Funny story about our daily "end of run treats": yesterday I FORGOT to bring our usual end of run pork treats. We improvised as Nancy had a bag of normal dog treats in her pocket and I handed those out. While these "normal treats" were accepted by Jack & Rudy, it was NOT the special pork they are used to getting. Well, today I remembered the correct treats but Jack had to check on the forgetful human!

"Just making sure you have the RIGHT treats! Airhead!" says treat inspecting Jack.
"I trust you!" adds trustful Rudy :)

Another great day breaking trail in deep, deep snow: 6.9 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 107 days on the trails covering 912.5 miles with 88,800 feet of elevation climbed.

4 in 1

The usual happy, happy kids towing me to the finish of this morning's skijor outing.

Smiles all around! Wheeee!

We have had a lot of new snow the last couple of days. As a result, our trail options this morning were endless. So, what did we do? Essentially we did 4 different skijor outings in one extended outing. Come along and see what I mean....

Outing number one found us laying fresh tracks on Prospect Hill.

Starting the day laying fresh tracks.

We skijored all the way up Prospect Hill and then turned around to come back down in the tracks we set on the way up. Skijoring up & down Prospect Hill always gives you cool shots of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Zipping along in the tracks we just set as the ski runs of Breckenridge
Ski Resort come into view across the valley.

Outing number two found us gliding along quiet mountain roads to connect from one area of trails to another. This road is plenty safe to skijor when we have a bunch of new snow. There are only two houses and a trailhead with only three parking spots to reach on the road. So the likelihood of encountering cars is quite low and we just hop into the shoulder powder if one does come by :)

Zipping along a road between two trailheads with just enough
snow for me to ski safely.

Outing number three found us in a super deep snow cache in Dry Gulch. Absolutely beautiful untouched powder:

POW, POW, Powder!

Today's video highlight will go along with the prior photo. Come along and watch as Jack & Rudy were blasting through some wonderful deep powder during part of this morning's skijor. Technically there is a "packed trail" under this deep snow. So, notice at about 22 seconds into the clip and Jack steps off the underlying packed trail and sinks. I was about to put on the brakes when Jack simply hopped left, changed lanes to the other side of Rudy and off through the deep powder we continued. Talented Jack!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Outing number four found us completing the day on freshly groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Groomie zoomie!!!

Flooring it on the freshly groomed nordic trail!

We did the upper nordic loop at Gold Run before finishing the day on the main trail back to the parking lot. Once again we were first tracks on the fresh groom!

Wonderful terrain to reward yourself with a fast sprint to the end
of the day's "4 in 1" skijor outing!

What a fun and unique day, right guys?

"Oh that was a BLAST!" states the happy kids awaiting well earned
end of run treats.

A lot of variety to pack into one outing, but we did it: 10.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 98 days on the trails covering 834.0 miles with 80,600 feet of elevation clmbed.

This and That

We did a little of this today...

Laying fresh tracks in a nice layer of new snow over pre-existing
snowmobile tracks. Pretty terrain and views too!

So that we could earn some of that...

Flying on a freshly groomed nordic trail. Zoom!

This initial leg of the outing was an out & back in the backcountry on Prospect Hill. On the return leg, we get some really nice views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Zipping along in the cover of clouds while the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski
Resort are lit up in the sun across the valley from us.

Now come along for the video counterpart of the prior photo. Pay attention as we round the initial left in the video and you'll see the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort on the mountains across the valley from us. After the initial left, it is time to floor it along an open straightaway. Then, we all slow in unison to get my skis around a tight hairpin right and then it is "off we go" again. Whee! Great teamwork by my pals taking me gently through tight turns!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with the backcountry shots and back to our finish leg of the outing. Jack & Rudy love catching air on fast nordic trails. Zoom!

The hover huskies catching air on the trail at Gold Run Nordic Center.

Now for the day's comedy from the kids. If you've followed along you know that Jack ALWAYS rolls snow angels at any pause or turnaround on the trail. Rudy is the wildcard, it's either rolling snow angels or belting out woos from him at pause or turnaround points. Which was it today?

BOTH! Rudy wooing as he just finished rolling a snow angel (notice the
indentation in the snow behind him - that is his snow angel).

So there you have it, it is now one of THREE things to get from Rudy the wildcard at any pause on the trail: snow angels, wooing or the multi-talented BOTH! Funny kid.

Finally, back to the trailhead to celebrate another glorious outing with end of run treats:

"I'm glad you enjoyed my angel/woo combo, I'll keep working on it!" says
silly Rudy.
"I'm going to stay with strictly snow angels, you know I am GREAT at them!"
adds Jack who has rolled at least one snow angel (and usually many more)
on EVERY skijor outing of his life.

Another very entertaining backcountry to nordic skijor outing: 9.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH (on the groomie zoomie nordic trails, of course).

2023/2024 Season to Date: 84 days on the trails covering 705.8 miles with 67,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Freshies

Exploring an old 1800s mining cabin with my pals on this morning's backcountry skijor.

"Cool old cabin!" says happy Jack looking back to me.
"Checking if there is any gold hiding under the snow!" adds Rudy
the miner :)

The forests in & around Breckenridge are littered with old 1800s mining cabins in various states of deterioration and/or restoration. Some, like the one above, have received some restoration help from the local Open Space & Trails Department while others are left to slowly deteriorate. Jack & Rudy always have fun sniffing and exploring around all the cabins.

Today's skijor was a fun day of laying fresh tracks in the backcountry. We started the day laying fresh tracks in about 2-3 inches of fresh snow:

Laying fresh tracks in the morning's untouched new snow.

The further (and higher) we went, though, the deeper and deeper it got. Here's a cool shot of the kids blasting through what was about 4-5 inches of fresh snow:

Fun shot of powder plowing Jack & Rudy and cool view of my right
ski floating over the fresh snow with my left ski slightly buried in snow.

Further and higher.... deeper and deeper...

The powder kids in now what is about 6-7 inches of fresh snow! Wheeee!

Now come along for a wonderful & peaceful backcountry skijor video clip. We are laying fresh tracks in new snow over old snowmobile tracks for most of the clip. You'll also see a line of wildlife tracks in front of Jack for most of the clip - these were either fox or coyote tracks. As the clip comes to a close, the snowmobile tracks disappear and we transition to some nice, deeper snow to continue the peaceful glide. What a pleasant day far away from civilization! You'll also see another deteriorating mining cabin to our left about 15 seconds into the clip; this cabin is in much worse shape than the one in the first photo as it has been left to deteriorate naturally.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Along this route, we also get some nice views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. Today was a pretty unique & interesting view of the ski resort. The tops of the mountains were blocked by low clouds while the base of the mountains was not:

An interesting effect in this shot of the ski resort:
ski runs down low with missing mountain tops up high :)

A fun outing with increasingly deeper and deeper snow - what a way to earn end of run treats:

"Love laying fresh tracks!!!!" says snow loving Jack & Rudy
awaiting treats from atop a nice snow wall.

A very peaceful outing with lots of fresh, fun snow: 8.9 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 81 days on the trails covering 678.0 miles with 65,400 feet of elevation climbed.