Wow

Look what we found early this May 26th - a GROOMED TRACK near Walton Peak atop Rabbit Ears Pass! Wow!

Yes - that is a freshly groomed trail on May 26th! Wow!!!!

How did this groomed surprise happen? Well, the snowmobile trails on Rabbit Ears are groomed by the local snowmobile club, Routt Powder Riders, of which we are members. Now, technically the snowmobile season is over so the official trail grooming has ended. But, the actual snowcat groomer is still parked atop the pass as more snow has to melt before they can load the groomer onto a flatbed to be transported to its summer home. Well, it is healthy for a groomer to be run now and then. So, as a result, the groomer is taken out unannounced occasionally until the flatbed arrives. As I said, the grooming is not announced at this time of year as you do not want to draw crowds of 100s or 1000s onto the pass with little & fragile amount of snow left (plus this would violate COVID-19 protocols this year). So, if you are lucky, you happen upon the pass on a day when they took the groomer out for some exercise. As you see in the photo above, today was one such magical day when we happened upon the trails after the groomer had been out! Wow - what a treat!!!

What did this magic groom enable? Well, young Jack & Rudy ran the longest skijor of their careers this morning: 11.7 miles. If you told me Jack & Rudy's longest run of the year would come on May 26th, I would have snorted and asked what you'd been smoking :)  But, today it happened. Amazing!

Did we really have 11.7 miles of groomed terrain? Well, no, the groomer had been out for a few miles, but not 12. But, what happened when the groomed track ended? Well, we found a solo snowmobile track to continue following for miles and miles and miles. This was also a product of Routt Powder Riders as they had been out on the pass yesterday collecting trailmarkers as the official end of snowmobiling at Rabbit Ears this season. So, this solo snowmobile had gone on for miles yesterday collecting markers and giving us a wonderful packed track to follow as well!

Not as nice as the perfect & wide groomie zoomie above, but still a comfortable
and welcome snowmobile track to follow for miles and miles!

How much more entertaining could the morning have become? Well, how about some fresh smelling bear tracks to inspect?

Jack & Rudy's noses in bear tracks as you see another huge bear footprint to
the left of Rudy's left foot. Big!

Not to fear, though, we were in a vast meadow when we encountered the bear tracks. So, I could see all around us and verify there was no bear in sight. But, still fun for the kids to sniff.

Anyway, back to the groomie zoomie. If you are part of the "grooming team", then of course you know when the groomer has been taken out for some exercise. There was a group of about 6 who were "in the know" and enjoying the groomed track they had built this morning. We encountered them, one by one, as we cruised around the perfect terrain:

Passing by and entertaining one of the recipients of this morning's
perfect trail!

Finally, we came upon 4 of the skiers meeting to run the trail together. Jack & Rudy had a blast following this group for a few miles. We would give them a big headstart and then run and catch them from behind. Once we got close, we'd pause, give another headstart and repeat the fun follow and chase :)

There's four of our kindred spirits out this morning.
"Here we come!" demonstrate fast following Jack & Rudy.

Today's video highlight is one of our fun "follow & chase" moments. Come along as we have given the group ahead of us a headstart and are running fast to close the gap on them in front of us. These guys were VERY talented skate skiers. The video demonstrates just how (more) impressive Jack & Rudy are at running the groomed terrain!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Almost done with the incredible May 26th outing for Jack & Rudy and time add elder Zorro on to the team for a short finish to enjoy the groomie zoomie. Here we come, wheeee!

All smiles as we fly by Nancy with super happy Zorro leading the way!

"Hi mom, bye mom!" as we fly on by and continue the fast & final lap of the morning:

Flying on by we go. Zoom!

What an incredible May 26th. Finding the perfect "exercise the groomer" track atop Rabbit Ears, finding perfect snowmobile track to continue far past the groomed track, sniffing a delicious set of bear tracks and putting smiles on our faces to end the day on the perfect track with Zorro: 11.7 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH!!!!

2019/2020 Season to Date: 174 days on the trails covering 1193.2 miles with 109,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Look at that - 1193.2 miles for the season. I did not think we had a chance of hitting 1200 given the recent warm temperatures. But, here we are at 1193.2 with a real chance of surpassing 1200 tomorrow. Stay Tuned!!!!

May POW

What an incredible POW, POW, Powder Day atop Vail Pass this May 25th! Woo Hoo!

"What a GREAT May 25th!" states ecstatic Zorro.
"Oh my - fresh snow as FAR as the eye can see!" adds impressed Jack & Rudy.

We got a wonderful late May dump of snow overnight and knew the snow would be the best the higher up in elevation we could get. The plan? Head to Vail Pass to enjoy an amazing morning of late May powder!

We started the morning doing a short "out & back" with elder Zorro - laying fresh tracks on the way up and then riding in the tracks we set on the way back. The trail was a bit bumpy under the powder as it had been melting quickly before last night. But, the 3-5 inches of fresh snow on top made for a very fun glide up/down with Zorro in team:

Smiles all around! Look at that late May Powder!!!!

After the quick out & back with Zorro, we dropped the fun elder off with Nancy and Jack, Rudy & I went out for a longer "out & back". The higher we went, the better the conditions became. As we crested at Shrine Pass, it was INCREDIBLE! Check out this photo for May 25th!!!!

Upwards of 6-8 inches of fresh snow all to ourselves. What a treat!!!
POW, POW, Powder Fun!

What fun, right kids?

"Oh my - back on fresh powder! What a LONG summer the last
four days had been!" state the super happy kids hoping that the
last four warm/snowless days was the entire summer :)

After turning around, we used the tracks we set on the way up to glide back down - wheeee!

Reusing our "up tracks" to open up the throttle on the way back down.
What a pretty morning too!

Today's video highlight is a fun "combo clip". We start with the fun down low showing Zorro, Jack and Rudy towing me along the fresh powder over the bumpy trail underneath. We then transition to Jack & Rudy up high towing me through untouched "smooth & deep" powder as far as the eye can see. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a fun morning! Unfortunately, it really is May and the new snow was already melting to melted the last 1/2 mile or so by the time Jack, Rudy and I got back to the trailhead! Oh well, still fun had by all and last night's snow should have us set for another 1-2 outings this week. Stay Tuned!

5.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 173 days on the trails covering 1181.5 miles with 108,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Baldy Treat

Oh Jack, you silly snow angel rolling Jack!

Snow rolling Jack at our second turnaround event of the morning.
The first turnaround happened with Zorro and Jack stayed upright that time!
"Oh come on - you can't expect me to remain upright through TWO turnarounds!"
demonstrates silly snow rolling Jack.
"Look at me - mature Rudy!!!!" says smiling Rudy turning without
rolling TWICE today!

This morning was one of the rarest of treats. A skijor on Baldy Mountain in mid April! Some background first: Baldy is an extremely steep network of trails with extremely rocky and uneven terrain under the snow.  We regularly skijor Baldy in the middle of winter when the snowpack is deep. But, we also ONLY skijor Baldy after 5+ inches of new snow - the terrain is way too steep for me to skijor behind my power three (or even two) without fresh snow to slow them down.

Now, come April, we need a lot of factors to come together to be able to skijor Baldy. First, it must have remained below freezing for multiple days (to firm up the spring dirt/mud below the snow). Check, it has been below freezing for three days straight. Second, it must have snowed multiple times in the preceding days to replenish the snowpack. Check, it has snowed almost daily for 7 days straight. Third, it must have snowed 5+ inches the night/morning before we go out on Baldy. Check, we had at least 6 inches of new snow at home, so more on Baldy! With these three factors in place, it was time to get out on for a rare April skijor on Baldy.

Today, we had a fourth factor. We were not first on the trail and multiple skiers had packed it before us. Normally I do not care if the trail has been packed as Jack & Rudy love to break trail. But, for "almost 12 years old" Zorro to come along, we need at least one packed single track on the trail. Check, some powder hounds had been out before us. I thought Zorro's days of skijoring Baldy were behind him as usually the snow is too deep when we go out early. With the set single track, though, we were able to let Zorro ride the middle with Jack & Rudy flirting in the powder on the sides.

Woo Hoo - an April skijor on Baldy!
Woo Hoo - a Baldy skijor with elder Zorro!!!!!

Come along for the fun ride as Zorro is cruising in the set track with his polite brothers dipping into the soft side powder. What a treat to skijor Baldy in April AND with Zorro!!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Zorro came with for the first 1/3 of the outing as we went up/down Baldy. Here we are back to the trailhead and keeping our distance as we wait for all the other powder hounds who got out early to get on Baldy.

"Look at all the people who need our help going up!" says Zorro & Jack.
"Hey sir, you could use my help!" says Rudy to the skier passing by.

Once the traffic cleared at the trailhead, we handed Zorro off to Nancy and the kids, Jack & Rudy, and I went back out & up & back further on Baldy.

Both Jack & Rudy were in "2 year old" moods this morning. Their comical sideline antics were in rare form. Every once in a while I get reminded that they are really only 2 years old :)

Rudy back to an expert rodent swan dive for the second day in a row.
"Hey, little bro - what do you have over there?" asks Jack peeking back
to diving Rudy.

Did Jack need an answer from Rudy? Ha, no - you trust any rodent dive from your brother as a valid and necessary off trail surge :)

"I'm coming, I'm coning - INCOMING!" demonstrates low diving Jack.
As you see, Jack has his own low-angle rodent dives as
opposed to Rudy's high arching swan dives.

Despite the first picture above and the prior two, guess what? We really did do some skijoring on Baldy after we dropped Zorro!

OMG - the kids are upright, on trail and going forward!!!!!

One of the rarest of treats - a mid April skijor on Baldy with an unexpected addition of elder Zorro for the first 1/3 of the outing! 6.3 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 150 days on the trails covering 1026.7 miles with 93,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Early Road Fun

We started this morning's skijor at sunrise, we finished with the sun just barely over the mountains and bright & low in the sky!

The human barely visible against the low & bright sun.
The Siberians in the usual "all smiles" as we conclude today's skijor run.

We found one positive in the COVID-19 situation this morning. Typically the plows in & around Breckenridge try to get through all the major roads before school starts or most businesses open. Well, schools are closed and restaurants as well as all non-essential businesses are closed throughout Summit County. So, it appeared this morning that the county is letting the plow drivers sleep in and get out whenever they get to it :)

The result? Well, we had 3-5 inches of new snow overnight and, without the county plows out yet, we were able to skijor French Gulch Road "out & back" from where it transitions from town to county service. As I said, on a typical day the plows would have been on the road before we could get started a 1/2 hour after sunrise!

Whee - riding up French Gulch Road in MARCH behind my power trio.
What a rare treat!

We did a short skijor this morning as we wanted to keep Zorro in the team for the entire outing. As he is approaching 12 years old, the distance he can go is shrinking but he definitely still wants to go (he is ALL SMILES and power while out on the trails). We love having the elder leader with us the entire time so we are willing to do a short skijor now and then to enjoy his company the entire outing!

As I alluded to above, we did an "out & back" on French Gulch Road. We started down the road before the French Gulch Trailhead Parking Lot and skijored up & past the lot onto the beginning of the French Gulch Trail. We turned around just a 100 yards or so past the parking lot as we wanted to skijor back down the road before the plows woke up.

Ok, a short "out & back", what do you think Jack did at the turnaround point?

"Distance, shmistance - you stop, I ROLL!" demonstrates goofy snow rolling Jack.
"At least *I* am mature enough to reserve snow angels for long runs!" adds cute Rudy.
"I smell moose!" declares moose sniffing Zorro (which I'm certain he
did as French Gulch is moose territory).

Once we got Jack upright, it was time to head back down French Gulch Road. As we turned around a group of backcountry skiers was coming up the trail from the parking lot. We flirted & glided by the first 3 in the group. But the last member stopped and took out his camera to get a video of the cool sled dogs. Well, Zorro stopped to flirt & pose while Jack continued on by and Rudy slowed to give him a big "WOO!" for his video collection :)

"Hi sir, shall I pose for a happy face shot?" asks mellow Zorro.
"Camera, shmamera, coming through!" says all-business Jack.
"WOOOOOOOO!" adds Rudy the Woo.

Once past the "flirt & woo" point and here we go. Come along as we start on the very edge of the French Gulch Trail and then pass through the trailhead parking lot until committing to sprint down the road. Note how Zorro & Jack slow slightly through the parking lot as this is where we typically stop (they are checking the cars for Nancy). Rudy, on the other hand, wants to get THROUGH the parking lot before we get any silly ideas about stopping before getting more exercise :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A little further down the road and sun has finally risen over the mountains behind us. Love the poofs behind Zorro as he is running in shallow powder in a tire track. Love the big poofs behind Jack as Powder Jack has found the deepest part of the available snow to frolic in. Meanwhile, monster Rudy takes the set tire track to go FAST!

Whee, poofs for the cool blacks
and set tracks for the fast red.

What a fun & unique morning making some use of the COVID-19 shutdowns to get on some fresh powder on usually unusable terrain!

"YES - that was FUN!" as we have smiles all around from the
happy trio at our end of run group meeting :)

Not to worry, Jack & Rudy will get another walk today as reward for letting us do a short run with Zorro in the team the entire outing (believe me, they would drive Nancy & I CRAZY otherwise :).

Unique terrain for a full outing with fun Zorro: 4 miles traveled with 250 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 127 days on the trails covering 859.9 miles with 78,650 feet of elevation climbed.

Rare

Rudy could taste the 'end of run' treats before I started handing them out!

"Slurp, I can taste them with anticipation!" declares slurping Rudy :)
"You have our FULL attention!" adds Zorro & Jack.

This morning we did a "split skijor" where I went out with young Jack & Rudy first before joining with Zorro to end the day's run. The plan was to do the Sally Barber Mine Trail with the kids and then join with Zorro to go out & back in French Gulch.

You can view Sally Barber as having 2 sides. There is the lesser used west side that does not get much traffic and there is the well publicized east side that gets lots and LOTS of use from both locals and tourists.  To get the most out of our initial run with the kids we went up, down and then back up the lesser used west side before coming down the east side to meet with Zorro. We found 2-4 inches of new snow on the trail so were laying fresh tracks up the west side and then reusing our tracks down and back up - fun!

Reusing the track we set on the way up to open up the throttle on the way down - zoom!

After going up/down/up the west side, we were stunned with what we found on the popular east side: another 2-4 inches of fresh and untouched snow!!!! It is RARE to ever be first tracks on the popular side of Sally Barber. I swear people usually get up at dawn (or before) to be first tracks. It helped that the temperature this morning was around 10 degrees F with a strong wind bringing the wind chill well below zero. But, still, fresh tracks on the Sally Barber east face is extremely rare!

Whee - a rare treat laying fresh tracks on the popular side of Sally Barber.

The previous picture does not do complete justice to our "fresh tracks" run, so how about a video. Come along as we lean to the left, then lean to the right before taking off along an open straightaway while laying fresh tracks all the way - yay!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with Sally Barber and we hooked up with Zorro to lay fresh tracks out French Gulch before returning back to the trailhead. I guess the subzero wind chill kept everyone except the Siberian Huskies (and their crazy human) off the trails this morning :)

Flying Z in the middle with sprinting Jack and Rudy on each side of him.

Today's comical interlude. We were gliding along the trail when suddenly Jack & Rudy did a synchronized "rodent dive" off trail and into the deep snow. I don't know what they smelled or heard, but it was tempting enough to launch off trail and into the deep snow!

Nice "rodent swan dive" from Rudy.
Nice "rodent cannonball dive" from Jack.

The result of synchronized swan & cannonball dives off trail? DUNK - buried in snow searching for rodents. Luckily neither came up with anything in their mouth :)

"DUNK - we smell and hear rodents under the snow!" says the head dunked hunting pair.

The rarest of treats - laying fresh tracks on BOTH sides of Sally Barber Mine with the kids and then laying more fresh tracks as we added Zorro in French Gulch: 8.1 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 28 days on the trails covering 182.3 miles with 18,650 feet of elevation climbed.