I Need Some of Those ... Errr, Maybe Not!

Cruising down the return path
to Spruce Creek trailhead.

Wednesday found Max, Zorro & I once again taking on our most difficult skijoring trail - the path up and back to Lower Crystal Lake from the Spruce Creek winter trailhead.

What makes this trail the most difficult, you ask... (1) Could it be the over 2,100 foot elevation gain in just 2.8 miles to the lake?  No, that's fun; an extreme workout for all - but a ton of fun. (2) Could it be the lack of oxygen at our high points over 12,100 feet elevation? No, that's fun too - makes your lungs work. (3) Could it be the over 2,100 foot elevation descent down in 3.4 miles while attached to 2 Siberian sprinters? YES - now that is difficult!!!  ;-)

Humorous Event of the Day (any sleddog enthusiast will appreciate this one!): the approach to Lower Crystal Lake is above treeline and often extremely windy with the winds blowing directly into your path up. About 1/4 mile from the lake we encountered another backcountry skier cowering from the wind (poor soul did not have skijor power). We were going straight into a 20-30 mph gust, Max & Zorro heads down powering forward, as we cruised by him. He watched in awe at our uphill speed, into the wind, and said as we passed by, "Wow, I need some of those [Siberian Husky engines]!"

We took a break on reaching Lower Crystal Lake. As we were preparing for the return trek down, this same skier reached the lake with us. He skied up to us and said, "Nobody will believe I made it all the way to the lakes, but you 3 were real inspiration! Can you take my picture with the lake/peak in the background so I have proof?" "Sure," I answered and I reached down to disconnect Max & Zorro from their neckline while we played photographer. Nice photo session and a little more conversation and then I reconnected the neckline for the path down (the skier was taking tons of photos of the pretty Siberians and the equipment hookup and organization process).

Hooked and ready to go, "Ok guys, forward, let's go," I commanded. About 5 feet forward and Zorro body slammed into Max in a statement of "It was your fault we stopped so long!" The skier now got the chance to shoot photos of me untangling two wild beasts and discussing skijoring semantics with them. Hooked and ready to go, "Ok guys, forward, let's go" ... About 10 feet forward and Max body slammed into Zorro in a statement of "Was NOT my fault, take that!"  As I again started untangling, the skier came down and asked if I needed help - "No, " I said, "We just took too long of a break and they are super recharged to go, it works itself out." He shrugged and skied a little further in front of us to take more shots of the silly human and these crazed huskies. Hooked and ready to go (again), "Ok guys, forward, let's go" - BANG - Max & Zorro shot forward in a unified sprint to take off downhill. As we FLEW past the skier, the last thing I heard him say was, "Maybe I don't want some of those!"

The Route: Spruce Creek winter trailhead to Crystal Creek jeep road (steep) up to Francies Cabin and then continued (steep) up in windblown, above treeline terrain to Lower Crystal Lake; return down to Francies Cabin and then take a forest service road down to Spruce Creek jeep road for the (slightly less steep, but still very steep) return to Spruce Creek trailhead.

Vital Stats: 6.2 miles; 1h 50m total time; 90m moving time; 4.1 MPH moving average; 17 MPH top speed; 2,100 foot elevation gain (and loss); 12,100+ peak elevation. An amazing 45m up! An equally amazing 45m down - trying to keep the super sprinters under control on such steep terrain leads to a lot of "cautious skiing" by the inadequate human ;-)

On the approach to Lower Crystal Lake (located straight ahead at the base of the peak in the foreground).
Windblown terrain with occasional head-on gusts of 20-30 mph.
Over the next major hump is where we passed the backcountry skier and left him in awe!

Inside the walls of an abandoned & roofless old mining cabin.
In summer you see a beautiful Lower Crystal Lake out this window - it's frozen & snow covered in winter.
It was so windy at the lake, I huddled inside this ancient, degrading structure during our break.

Zorro standing on a snowdrift inside the old cabin structure.
Peeking over the top of the wall at the frozen/snow covered lake.

A look to our left from inside the degrading cabin walls.
Snow (and blown snow) has collected up to the top wall beam on this side of the structure.

Uphill Sprint, Whiteout Gusts, Downhill Anvil

Max says, "Look at the incline! Let's GOOOO!"

Saturday was an interesting skijor day (to put it mildly :-)

- Imagine sprinting up 10-14% uphill grades!
- Imagine 40-50 MPH whiteout gusts of wind!
- Imagine going 14 MPH in a FULL snowplow!
Imagine all 3 of these happening in the same skijor outing!!! Wow...


We returned to the backcountry trails leading to & from Crystal Lakes on Saturday. We did this same expert route back in early December - at that time I discovered Max & Zorro needed more practice to conquer such expert terrain. Well.... 2 months later and WOW - they were incredible, focused, Siberian machines! I was the intermediate and they were the experts. We've skijored the same trails/terrain this winter and I am still advancing out of intermediate whereas Max & Zorro have advanced to extreme expert levels!

It was a very interesting day of mixed terrain and conditions - the highlights:

Leg 1 - Spruce Creek Trailhead to Francies Cabin: packed to packed powder. We took the Crystal Lakes Road path and were at Francies Cabin in about 30 minutes. To truly appreciate this feat you must understand that this section of trail rises over 1000 feet in about 1.9 miles - that is an average of 10% grade - cars have trouble ascending 10% grades! But it gets better... the route has a few gradual sections and even a couple of down dips - so, in my estimate, the steepest parts are easily a 15% grade. We FLEW up this section like racing professionals - I was in awe of my Siberian partners!

Leg 2 - Francies Cabin to Tree Line: 1-3 feet of untouched powder. Not a flinch in my pals - Max & Zorro powering up almost without notice of the depth!

Leg 3 - Tree Line to Lower Crystal Lake: as we approached and surpassed the tree line, the wind gusts started to really pick up. We were skiing head-on into the gusting wind. Each time a big gust blew it approached whiteout-like conditions with all the snow in the wind. Each time a big gust blew Max & Zorro dipped their heads, unphased, and trotted forward into the wind!

Incident 1 - Blown Over: just before reaching Lower Crystal Lake, we paused to readjust and survey the terrain. Max & Zorro were detached at the neck while I was adjusting my equipment (changing to warmer wind gear). I was kneeling over switching gear in my pack when a 40-50 MPH gust of intense blowing snow flew into us. I fell - blown over. Zorro (the smaller of Max/Zorro) was sliding across the slick, wind-blown surface when he hit the end of the gangline - allowing him to get his footing and crawl back to me. He curled at my side as the 2 of us hugged to ride out the whiteout. Max, you ask, well a 40+ "blizzard gust" only served to make him frisky - he was dancing up and down, trying to pull Zorro and I head-on into the direction of the gust! After recovering, getting our bearings and reassembling my pack I heard/saw another gust coming off the peak. I went straight to my knees to brace and Zorro hunkered down at my side again. This gust was even stronger than the first - I looked up to assess Max - I could not see him! The whiteout of the gust was so strong that I could not see Max only 7-8 feet in front of me; but I could feel him pulling on the gangline, once again wanting to take off into the gust and conquer it. Crazy Red Boy!

Leg 4 - the return route: as we started on the return route, a mild 30 MPH gust came up from behind. The wind gave me a boost on my skis and the crazy pair (Max & Zorro) took this as sign that I wanted to GO! Off we flew at extreme speed! What else to say about the down/return route... Remember the fun of sprinting up 10-15% grades? Well, what goes up must come down. I was in a full snowplow most of the way down, trying to keep under control as my extreme expert partners were saying, "Look at this incredible downgrade - wooo, let's FLY!" I now refer to them as the Downhill Anvil - I am just an anchor along for the ride :-)

Vital Stats: 5.8 miles; 2h 10m total; 90m moving time; 3.9 MPH moving average; 14 MPH top speed; over 2,000 feet in elevation gain (and then loss!). The large amount of stopped time was (1) crouching in 40-50 MPH whiteouts, waiting for a break; and (2) constant resting on the way down as my thighs were BURNING from trying to keep us going a sane & safe speed - crazy boys - what FUN!

Approaching Lower Crystal Lake (just over the next hump).
No, my camera is not "fuzzy" - the fuzz is blowing snow as we trekked into the wind abyss.
No, this is not 40 MPH gusts - no way I could even attempt to photograph during those!
Remember the "high point" of the peak in front of us....

Our return approach to the Spruce Creek Trailhead.
Take a glance at my right leg - my right ski is in "more than snowplow" position
as I try to keep the Downhill Anvil under control!

A shot from the town of Breckenridge looking up at Peaks 9 & 10 on the ski resort.
Remember the "peak point" from 2 images ago?
Well, that is the "Peak" labeled in this image!

Lead Dog Gone Loco...

Tuesday brought a surprise dump of significantly more snow than forecasted, so Wednesday had Max, Zorro and I itching for some powder.

Remember now, this is only our second season of skijoring (with Max still a young 3 years old and Zorro a baby 2). To date, we have stuck to intermediate trails in the backcountry and only groomed expert trails. We have already been out on the trails 6 times this year, leading me to utter the phrase that has probably sunk many a musher or skijorer, "We have been crushing it on the trails this year, I am ready for more!" More meant we set out to Crystal Lakes in the Colorado backcountry - a series of backcountry expert trails with a ton of fresh powder waiting for us. See pictures below; but first the tale of our adventure...

It started out wonderfully, heading up a very steep Crystal Creek Jeep Road toward Francies Cabin (one of the Colorado backcountry huts). We skied up 1,500 feet in just under 2 miles, following the clearly visible path of others, until we reached Francies Cabin. At Francies Cabin the "visible path" ended and we were on our own to blaze the trail to Lower Crystal Lake. Again, this proceeded beautifully as we trekked through 1.5 to 2 feet of fresh powder, onward and upward. And then it happend, my lead dog went loco!

As we skijor, Max is my lead dog (he listens to all directions) and Zorro is my wheel dog (he listens to everything "faster" and wants to pull). View it as Max is the steering wheel and Zorro is the (sticky) accelerator.

As we left Francies Cabin in our rear view, we transitioned from 1.5 to 2 feet of fresh powder into 3+ feet of fresh powder. As soon as the powder got 3 feet deep, Max lost it! He buried his head deep in the snow, he rolled around like a goofy puppy and started a "snow wrestle" with "the happy to wrestle back" Zorro. I started calling to Max: "Max Forward!" (this has always got him back in line and on the path), "Max Let's Go!" (this has always served to speed up the forward direction). "Max Max MAX Foward!", "Let's Go!", "MAAAAAAAAX FORWARD!" - repeat, repeat, repeat. Nothing! My lead dog had gone deaf. So, here I was waist-deep in powder on an uphill incline I never would have attempted without my (now stalled) Siberian engines to propel us. I used the gangline as a rope and rappelled myself up to the snow wrestling twins. After separating the lunatics, I was on my knees between them and had a discussion about skijoring and reminding them they were supposed to be good at listening (especially you, Max!). I reset the pair, got up on my skis and told them to continue on.

10 feet forward (at most) and Max dipped his head in the snow, flipped some at Zorro and jumped into a Siberian snow wrestling ball with his brother. Same as before: "Max this", "Max that" - nothing, zero - my lead dog gone loco! Another rappel to separate the wild pair, another heart-to-heart discussion about skijoring & listening and we reset to go again. 3rd verse, same as the first: 10 feet and a cloud of Siberian wrestling powder. I did the unthinkable and gave up on Max and elected Zorro the lead dog. "Zorro Forward!", "Zorro Let's Go", "ZOOOORRROOOO FORWARD!" - nothing, zero again... Another rappel to the front, another separation, another heart-to-heart (which I realized was really a heart-to-wall), another reset and another start. 4th time, same as the first: 10 feet and a cloud of Siberian wrestling powder. Sunk to my knees in powder midway up my chest, I was about to give up all hope on my partners as I let out a big sigh. The noise caused them to pause and, Zorro on his back with four feet in the air with Max sitting on his chest, both looked back at me with the joint happy expressions of, "Hi Dad, this is great, we've never had so much fun!" - and then it dawned on me...

Max and Zorro had never been in 3+ feet of powder in any mode other than "play mode". All of our skijoring to date had been in 2 feet or less (e.g., in powder shorter than Max). Every encounter with 3+ feet of powder in Max and Zorro's young lives had been a play party - dive in the snow, tackle your brother, roll around like a goofball - they had never been asked to listen and work in this setting. The change from 2 feet to 3+ feet must be it. So I reverted to puppy-mode training. We progressed forward not more than 5 feet with me hollering as excited as I could, "Good Forward, Good Forward!" and then we stopped and hugged & licked. 5 feet forward again, excited congratulations, hugs and licks. Then 7 feet, then 10 feet, etc. etc. We did this short, puppy-mode training and celebration for roughly 400 feet and finally we were skijoring again!

We actually progressed in a forward fashion through 3 feet of powder for a short distance and then we hit a wind-blown meadow with the path between the drifts back to a comfortable 1.5 feet of powder. As we came over a hump there was a small dip below the wind and then an incline again. This next incline was back to 3+ feet of powder - luckily I noticed! As we began taking on powder I picked up my "Good Forward Max, Good Forward Zorro" calls with an excited tone. Once the powder was clearly over 3 feet (significantly taller than a husky) Max & Zorro magically unified into synchronized "dolphin like" swimming through the snow. Like watching dolphins swim across the top of the ocean - graceful in/out of the surface water as they progress forward - here was Max & Zorro in a synchronized up/down glide through 3-4 feet of powder. We had arrived, my lead dog was no longer loco and the wheel was churning forward!

Sorry, I do not have any pictures of the "3+ foot incidents": most of the time my pocket was too far down in snow to find the camera, the rest of the time I needed both hands to keep balance and help propel forward (believe me, I tried reaching for the camera once and will not try that again ;-)

Francies Cabin - one of the Colorado Backcountry Huts (yes, this is one of the nicest of the "huts", most are much more hut or yurt like). The trail continues to the cabin, our venture to Crystal Lake took us left at this point.

Our path after Francies Cabin - 100% pure, untouched powder. Just beyond this beautiful, gentle stretch started the uphill in 3+ feet of powder with a loco lead dog.

A wind-blown high point approaching Lower Crystal Lake. Max & Zorro made the indentations in the snow in the foreground - as you can see, within 5 minutes these were wind-blown to the point of looking like "old tracks", not fresh tracks. On the path down, our "up tracks" were completely blown over and invisible in places.

Approaching Francies Cabin as we came back down from Crystal Lakes - the powder is finally shallow enough that I can spare a hand to get my camera out and snap a shot.

The Route: Spruce Creek Winter Trailhead to Crystal Creek Jeep Road to Francies Cabin to Lower Crystal Lake (the "powder loco" stretch) then back to Francies Cabin down an unnamed Forest Service Road to Spruce Creek Jeep Road up for a scenic mile or so on this intermediate terrain and then back down to the Spruce Creek Winter Trailhead. Approximately 7 miles.

The Vital Stats: 7 miles total distance, 2.5 hours total time with about 1.75 hours of moving time and 45 minutes of stopped time with the Siberian Wrestling Locos & Deep Powder Training Episodes. Total elevation gain about 2200 feet.

The Key Lesson: The lead dog is not loco, the musher was misinformed - you ALWAYS told us to play and wrestle in 3 feet of powder before, stupid!