Fresh to Cat Tracks

What a beautiful "just after sunrise" shot of Jack & Rudy at Vail Pass this morning!

Catching air as we lay fresh tracks in an inch or so of fresh snow! 
What a great shot! :)

We skijored Wilder Gulch at Vail Pass this morning. As you see above, we started the day laying fresh tracks in a light layer of fresh snow. But, Vail Pass is very popular for both snowmobiles and snowcats that transport skiers to backcountry powder caches. Partway into our skijor to and up Ptarmigan Peak, we came across a snowcat transporting skiers to Ptarmigan Peak as well. We paused to let the snowcat go in front of us. I love this particular snowcat as it always cracks me up when we meet it...

"Cool paint job!" says impressed Jack.
I love this Scooby Doo themed snowcat!
Rudy was impressed too, he's just at my side watching the cat so not
in view of the camera.

But, letting the snowcat pass means Jack & Rudy get to play chase. They want to catch anything in front of them and they were very impatient waiting for me to give them "the release" so we could start the chase :)

"You don't pass us and get away with it!" declares the 'must catch anything
in front of us' brothers.

The final climb on Ptarmigan Peak to what is known as Ptarmigan Pass is very steep. As a result, the snowcat eventually outran us on steep, steep terrain. Today's "view shot" is us starting back down Ptarmigan after a very aerobic climb. Jack & Rudy really took off to enjoy the fast down after their hard work climb :)

Pretty views, zooming kids. Wheeee!

Once we turned around, we got to enjoy the fresh & soft snowcat tracks to run in. A couple of snowmobiles had also come up the same way. So today's video highlight is having a great time skijoring in soft/fresh snowmobile and snowcat tracks in Wilder Gulch. Come along and watch Jack & Rudy having a great time running and towing me in the soft tracks. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The turnaround guarantee: Jack will roll snow angels. The turnaround question of the day, will Rudy woo or roll angels? Angels won today!

"Ah, rub a dub dub!" goes the silly snow rolling kids.
The Scooby snowcat had turned right to Ptarmigan Peak while we continued
straight for a little ways longer. Thus, the kids got to roll snow angels in fresh
snow instead of in snowcat tracks (as they would prefer :)

The other guarantee of the day at Vail Pass? Well Jack & Rudy will climb the snow wall in the parking lot to get end of run treats from me in a standing position. This is their new trick this season. Silly kids :)

Nice that I can stand and hand out treats (instead of kneeling) as Jack & Rudy
prop themselves on a high snow wall.

A really beautiful morning with tons of fun action for Jack & Rudy: 9.6 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 116 days on the trails covering 1028.8 miles and 93,700 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Rudy 5000

Catching air as we lay fresh tracks "into the rising sun" this morning at Vail Pass!

Cool shot of the hover huskies as the morning sun is peeking
over the mountains ahead of us.

Today marked an impressive milestone. 5 year old Rudy surpassed 5,000 career skijor miles (5004.7 to be exact)! Slightly older Jack surpassed 5,000 career skijor miles last month. It really is amazing to realize that the vast majority of these miles have come in 3.5 years (as before then each was too young to run or doing baby training runs). Quite an impressive career these two professionals are putting together!

Back to today's outing. We started the day laying fresh tracks in Wilder Gulch at Vail Pass as you see in the first photo. But, about 1/3 of the way into the outing, a snowcat passed taking backcountry skiers out Wilder Gulch and then up to Ptarmigan Pass. No problem, that was our planned route too. Fresh snowcat tracks are fun to skijor in as they are soft and gentle to run and ski in. Conversely, frozen or stale snowcat tracks can be very difficult on my legs and Jack & Rudy's feet, so we abort any trail with frozen tracks. But, today's were fresh and soft - what fun!

Nice views in Wilder Gulch as Jack & Rudy share one of the 
snowcat tracks.

Sometimes the kids will share a snowcat track, as above, and sometimes they'll split the trail and take one each. The tracks are too far apart for me to put a ski in each behind them (skiing doing splits? Ouch). So, I'll put one ski in one of the tracks and the other ski in the middle powder. Come along for today's video highlight of skijoring soft snowcat tracks with Jack & Rudy choosing to take one track each. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We ascended Ptarmigan Pass behind the snowcat and then turned around to race back down. I just love this pretty shot of the kids atop Ptarmigan. Notice how the middle snow between the snowcat tracks is not too deep, so powder Jack has chosen to kick up powder in the middle while Rudy is kicking up powder in the soft cat track.

Beautiful shot of the impressive kids :)

Finally, if you ever drive Interstate 70 through Colorado and over Vail Pass, make sure you look for the crazy guy on skis behind the pretty sled dogs. If you are driving East, look right after you crest Vail Pass. If you are driving West, look left just before the crest. Honk if you see us - I'll wave if I hear you (I do hear an approving honk now & then and always wave :)

Interstate 70 to our right - honk if you see us!

Time for end of run treats for these impressive 5 year olds!

"We LOVE it!" says happy Jack.
"All in a day's work!" adds cute Rudy.

Today's skijor tally: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 66 days on the trails covering 570.8 miles with 50,900 feet of elevation climbed.

5 year old Jack's career to date: 5,180.6 miles skijored!

(slightly younger) 5 year old Rudy's career to date: 5,004.7 miles skijored!

Greetings

Greetings from the Top of the World as we descend off the top of Ptarmigan Peak and back down into the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area.

Starting down from the Summit of the Highest Point in the Vail Pass Recreation Area
(Ptarmigan Peak). 

We had a great run at Vail Pass today taking Wilder Gulch to Ptarmigan Pass and then doing the final climb from Ptarmigan Pass to the top of Ptarmigan Peak. A quick break at the peak and then a fast return on the same route.

The day started slightly overcast and a little cool...

Synchronized "sprint tuck" as we start out the day along Wilder Gulch with slightly overcast
skies and a bright sun trying to break through.

Within 15-20 minutes, the sun burned off the clouds and it became a beautiful day for a run in the sun!

Welcome sun - what a beautiful day you have brought with you!

The video counterpart of the beautiful sun shot above. Yes, that is me belting out "Woo Hoo!" partway through the video. Max & Zorro love when I let out an encouraging hooray to let them know how much fun we are all having!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, a curious encounter for Max & Zorro - a snowmobile towing a snowboarder...

"Interesting.... I could tow that!" states inquisitive Max.
"Cool dude - but why a snowmobile instead of sled dogs???" asks interested Zorro.

Tackling Ptarmigan Peak made for a lot of elevation climbing (and descending) today: 9.7 miles with 1800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 61 days on the trails covering 518.8 miles with 56,100 feet of elevation climbed.