Tug of War

Everybody having a good time today?

"Oh you bet! We are having a BLAST!" says the happy, happy sled dogs.

That prior photo is a rare one from Jack & Rudy. I used to get "synchronized happy face" shots from my original pals, Max & Zorro, quite frequently. But, with the Jack & Rudy comedians this is a rare synchronicity. Typically I get a "happy Rudy face" along side a snow angel rolling Jack or a "happy Jack face" along side a woo singing Rudy or a snow rolling Rudy. But, today we got a rare synchronous smiles from the two goofballs :)

We had another rarity today too - taking interest in a stick we encountered on the trail. Typically, Jack & Rudy will ignore most sticks along the way. But, every once in a while, a certain stick draw interest from one. Well, if it draws interest from one, then it ALWAYS leads to subsequent interest from the other. This dual interest tends to morph into a stick tug of war and today was one such occurrence:

"I found the stick first!" declares Jack,
"Don't care, if YOU are interested in it, then I am too!" responds Rudy who
proceeded to start this tug of war with Jack over the rare interesting stick :)

Ok, two rare events documented, now it is time for what we really did today - skijoring!

We started on technical trails in the backcountry:

Wheeee!

We then dropped onto the wide & groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. When we first drop into the nordic center, we are far from any trailhead. As a result, we start out on trails that get very little traffic as most humans cannot propel themselves this far. So, we had trails that were groomed yesterday but still pretty perfect from very light traffic yesterday:

Zipping around a corner with pretty nice "day old" conditions far
from any trailhead.

How nice was it far from the trailheads? Well, nice enough for Jack & Rudy to FLOOR IT and top 23 MPH skijoring this morning. Come along for a glimpse into the fast, fun & wild ride:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually, though, we have to make our way back to civilization. Once we got onto the primary trail (and, thus, near the trailhead), the surface was pretty tracked up from lots of use yesterday. No problem, though, Jack & Rudy can catch air on any type of trail conditions :)

Whee - catching air along a pretty tracked up trail.

Finally, it was time for one of Jack & Rudy's patented maneuvers of their very own - climbing tall snow walls to get face to face with me standing for end of run treats!

We are basically eye to eye as the funny kids found a VERY tall snow
wall to climb today!

A really beautiful day for a fun, fun skijor with my pals: 9.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 59 days on the trails covering 445.2 miles with 42,200 feet of elevation climbed.

You Said

I said, "Hey! No wrestling on the trail!"....

"So we took it OFF trail! TouchÉ!" announces Jack & Rudy taking their
unauthorized play moment far off trail into the snow.

Yes, that is JACK pinning Rudy in the snow in that prior photo. Yep, perfect (ahem :) Jack. Don't worry, Rudy LOVED it and eventually wriggled his way on top of Jack during this wrestle session.

Prior photo aside, we had an awesome 10 mile skijor this morning. We started on backcountry trails in Dry Gulch. Occasionally the local Open Space & Trails department will run a mini groomer on some of these backcountry trails. A mini groomer is simply a snowmobile towing a "grooming sled" that is the width of a snowmobile. Today we got the pleasure of skijoring Dry Gulch in a mini groomer track that was only a day or two old, so still very comfortable to ski on.

Zipping along in the mini groomer track. 
Hey, what's the deal with my left ski?

I'll answer that question through video support. The mini groomer track is not nearly as wide as a traditional groomed nordic trail. Pay attention in the video and, as we start to speed up, you'll see my left ski in the snow "out of track" and occasional glimpses of my right ski "in track". I'm in a pretty tight ski tuck to ski this somewhat narrow trail at Jack & Rudy's pace. I lean left (on the out of track ski) for speed control and lean right (on the in track ski) for balance control. Fun time behind my pals!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After fun on the mini groomer trail, we transitioned onto the wide trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. As we were cruising along, Rudy provided some additional entertainment:

Can you see it? Look closely at Rudy's head.

Ok, let's zoom in to really see what Rudy has in his mouth.

Yep, a twig! The silly kid picked up this twig on the trail without so much as
a break in stride. He then proceeded to carry the twig, again without a break
in stride as you see in the photo, for at least a 1/2 a mile! What a loon!

Our timing has been pretty good lately at getting on the trails at Gold Run just after the groomer came out for the day to clean up the trails. But, today was not a lucky as the groomer had not made it to the upper elevation trail yet (we even did two laps on this upper trail without encountering the groomer). So, the trail was a little tracked up, but not too bad as most humans do not make it to this trail before running out of gas whereas I have Jack & Rudy power :)

Still able to FLY on the upper trail as it was not too tracked up. Wheee!

That is an indentation from fat bike tires you see in the center of the trail. What about those footprints? Doesn't everyone know it is rude to walk on a groomed trail? Well, those are MOOSE footprints. Nobody is going to tell a moose it is being rude! Haha!

Then our luck took a turn for the better when we got on the lower (and very heavily used) trail to conclude the outing. The groomer came by on this trail just minutes before we transitioned onto it! Yay for the groomer smoothing out the heavily used trail for us! Jack & Rudy know what to do with a fresh groom:

Zoom! The hover huskies catching air on the freshly groomed trail!

Back to the trailhead and the kids were up high on a snow wall and in tight for end of run treats:

"We sure outsmarted you on the 'no wrestling on the trail' declaration!" says
the proud two :)

A fun zooming day: 10.3 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 99 days on the trails covering 844.3 miles with 81,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Stick Share

Fun "shot from the front" of the happy kids towing me to the finish of this morning's 10 mile skijor!

Whee! Smiles all around!

As you see in the photo above we finished today's outing on nicely groomed nordic trails (at Gold Run Nordic Center). But, as is usually the case in this location, we started out touring the backcountry before transitioning onto the nordic center. 

Today's backcountry trails were quite narrow due to lots of fresh snow the last few days; but the set trail was still wide enough for Jack & Rudy to fit shoulder to shoulder, yay!

Just wide enough to fit two sled dogs side by side in the backcountry.

Once onto the nordic center, we went to ski the upper Preston Loop Trail. This trail is far from the trailhead and rated a "black diamond" nordic trail, so it does not get a lot of traffic. We found the trail recently groomed with one skier with a dog doing the loop just before us. Not a problem, being second tracks on a fresh groom is almost as good as first tracks :)

Zipping along the recently groomed speed track.

We had so much fun on doing the loop that we decided to do it again. Jack & Rudy will typically repeat a trail twice without balking as they will switch sides to enjoy if from a different perspective:

Second pass on the Preston Loop.
This photo is at roughly the same place as the prior photo.
Second pass, switch sides, same results - zoom!

Now come along for a video highlight from pass two of the Preston Loop. Perfect conditions to zoom, zoom, zoom! Top speed today? 24 MPH.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As we were about to start our second pass on the upper loop, Jack noticed a large and very tantalizing stick just off the trail. He hopped in the snow to inspect it and Rudy agreed that this stick was very tantalizing. The silly goofs proceeded to jointly drag this stick out of the snow and onto the trail (I later removed it so it would not be in the way of others :)

"Nice stick! We should put this in the middle of the trail for others
to enjoy!" says the silly stick sharing kids.

After two passes on the upper loop, it was time to take the main nordic trail back to the trailhead. Remember it is a busy 3 day weekend, so the main trail was quite busy with skiers, snowshoers and fat bike riders. Jack & Rudy LOVE to zoom by crowds and put smiles on their faces. I always smile and give a wave to the crowds too :)

"Hi! Bye! Coming through - made you smile!" says the fun kids putting
on a skijoring show for the crowds.

Yet another wonderful skijor outing, so yet another chance to celebrate with end of run treats:

"You have our full attention!" says the focused kids.

A little backcountry touring followed by a lot of nordic zooming: 10.2 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 723.2 miles with 69,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Bluebird

It was a beautiful bluebird morning for a fast & fun skijor on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center.

The kids catching air as we zoom along this perfect
nordic trail. Wheeee!

As you can see in the prior photo, we were not first tracks on the recently groomed trail but we were second or third on the trail most of the morning. We weaved together 4 different trails on the way to our highest elevation of the day. Then it was time to turn around and fly back the way we came:

Zooming kids with cool snow poofs coming off their feet.

Now here's the video counterpart to the prior photo. Come along for this gorgeous skijor at around 12,000 feet in elevation. If you can take your eyes of impressive Jack & Rudy, notice what a beautiful morning it was! Top speed in this clip? Well, the GPS registered us at 24 MPH - zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, going that fast means you need to roll snow angels to cool your jets at any turnaround points along the way :)

"Ah, rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
Don't both their faces just look like they are in heaven rolling in the snow?

There are not many things that distract Jack & Rudy from running, typically it is only large wildlife (moose, elk, coyote) that can draw their attention away from running. But, every once in a while one of them will find a stick along the way to be interesting. Then, once one picks up the stick, it becomes a "stick sharing" event and often a stick tug of war. I don't know what makes certain sticks so interesting as they will ignore most; but something is really special about the occasional stick.

Jack found this stick on the edge of the trail interesting so he picked it
up without stopping. But, then Rudy noticed Jack had a "special" stick
and a joint stick chew unveiled for a few moments before both dropped
the stick and on we continued.

Done sharing that special stick and back to skijoring. As we were approaching the trailhead to conclude the day, we encountered quite a few skiers starting out on the trail. Well, Jack & Rudy love to fly by skiers and put smiles on their faces; people are always in awe of the impressive sled dogs towing me along:

"Hi! Coming through!" says the fun kids impressing this
onlooking skier.

Finally, my super fun pals climbing a mini snow wall for end of run treats:

"We had a BLAST today!" declares the happy kids.

A speedy day on wonderful, recently groomed nordic trails: 10.3 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 412.0 miles with 39,300 feet of elevation climbed.

False Start

We had a bit of a "false (or failed) start" to this morning's skijor due to a very distracting stick :)

A few feet from the trailhead and the kids came upon this large stick
across the trail. They picked it up and turned to show it to me proudly!

The 5 year olds, Jack & Rudy, get interested in sticks we occasionally encounter on the trail. Usually they are just small twigs and one or the other will pick it up, trot with it for a bit and then drop it. But, today was a large stick - too big to carry while trotting and big enough to share! I thanked the sillies for showing me their prize and then tossed it off trail to we could get started skijoring for real. Silly kids.

It was a beautiful morning to start the outing on single track side trails as we toured through the forest:

The fun kids zipping along in this fun single track trail.

Today was kind of similar to yesterday. It was -6 F when we got up at home. That's a bit cold for me, so we waited and waited for the temps to start rising. Luckily the temperatures did rise faster than yesterday and we were able to start the outing at a comfortable 0 F. Therefore, we were out on the trails later than usual. The result? Well, we were skijoring the upper loop of Gold Run Nordic Center much later than usual. Typically the morning sun is blocked from this loop by the mountains around us. Not today, though, as the sun had risen high in the sky by the time we got to the nordic loop. But, the cold had kept all the humans at home too as we were thrilled to find ourselves first tracks on the freshly groomed nordic trail despite being out much later than usual. Sweet!

Cool shot of Jack & Rudy flying as we are first tracks on the nordic groom.
Typically we are in "morning mountain shade" on this particular trail.

Come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. This is one of our favorite zoom stretches of trail at Gold Run. Today's video, though, is the first of the season with the sun shining on this stretch of trail. Top speed in this clip? 24 MPH. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually we leave the upper loop and head back to the trailhead. This section of trail is always in the sun and I can almost always guarantee a hover husky shot from Jack & Rudy along this path. Here's todays:

The kids catching air on the groomie zoomie.

Almost done with the morning's skijor and we got to fly by Nancy on the side of the trail near the finish:

"Hi Mom!" says the happy, happy kids towing me to the finish.

Jack & Rudy will flash their happy smiles to Nancy; but no reason to stop, she doesn't have the end of run treats :)

"Bye Mom, we've got treats to get!" says the kids gliding on by to get
to the trailhead finish.

A "later than usual" skijor but the cold kept everybody else inside too, so we had the fresh groomed nordic trails all to ourselves!!! 8.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 76 days on the trails covering 658.5 miles with 59,350 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Share

Beautiful morning for a mid-April fresh tracks skijor!!!

It's not a lot of new snow; but enough to open the throttle and
lay fresh tracks for miles and miles! Wheeee!

Rudy was in a particularly goofy mood at home this morning. Yes, "goofy Rudy" has "exceptionally goofy" days!!! I should have known his silliness would carry over onto the trails. Oh that silly Rudy :)

For example, we were cruising along the trail when a stick became visible. Usually if Jack & Rudy are moving, they will ignore and cruise right on by any sticks. But, remember, today was "goofy Rudy" day, so the silly kid decided to pick up the stick to carry along. He barely even broke stride and suddenly he had this large stick in his mouth as he continued to jog. Of course, goofiness is contagious between Jack & Rudy and Jack was quick to notice Rudy's stick :)

"Hey little bro, nice stick! Can we share?" Jack asks Rudy.
Notice Rudy is still jogging with the big stick in his mouth!
Goofy, but talented!

Of course, once Jack noticed, the kids had to stop to share the stick. Sometimes a stick results in a tug of war and sometimes it results in a polite, brotherly share. Today was "share the stick" day:

"Nice find! Thanks for sharing!" says stick chewing Jack.
"Happy to share!" adds polite Rudy.

Ok, stick sharing episode over, back to skijoring. Come along for a fun video clip as we are on a nice backcountry trail following a set of wildlife tracks along the way. We never found the source of the tracks, but they sure were fun to follow! The snow walls you see on & off to our left are wind blown drifts. Jack & Rudy are perfect at navigating through wind blown terrain. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The stick and wildlife tracks provided some nice entertainment along the outing. But, we spent the majority of the outing laying fresh tracks in the morning's new & untouched snow. Great day!

Laying fresh tracks again!

Done for the day, let's celebrate with retired mentor Zorro:

"Front & center for that bag of 'end of run' treats!" says focused Zorro.
"Don't drop them!!!" declares Jack.
"Glad everyone enjoyed my extra entertainment today!" adds goofball
of the day Rudy.

Another wonderful outing amidst this nice multi-day mid-April snowstorm: 8.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 135 days on the trails covering 1145.5 miles with 106,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Stick

Jack & Rudy finding "something to do" while the slow human puts his skis on :)

Stick tug of war!!!

Jack & Rudy often remind me just "how slow" I am at the trailhead stepping into my skis to attach the boots. Typically they will roll snow angels when they get bored with my slowness. Occasionally they will posture & play if I am taking too long. Today, though, they introduced a new "the human is slow" activity to pass the time: playing tug of war with a large stick. Technically, it takes me all of about 1-2 minutes to put my skis on and that is a "lifetime" to Jack & Rudy :)

Ok, skis on and the human is FINALLY ready to go. Jack got it! Rudy wanted to bring the stick along for the run - silly kid.

"10-4, going!" says lead dog Jack.
"Ok, but I'm bringing my stick along!" adds goofy Rudy.

They stick only made it about 20 yards with Rudy before he realized he was losing pace with Jack and the slow human was catching him. Once the stick was dropped and everyone joined into the skijoring activity, it was zoom, zoom laying fresh tracks in an inch or so of new snow. Wheeee!

Zipping along! You may not be able to see what is "the trail" in this photo
but Jack & Rudy have perfect trail following skills and virtually always
keep "on trail" regardless of how hidden it is below the snow!

We were quite thrilled & surprised to find ourselves being first on the trail almost all morning long. No April Fool's here - we were laying fresh tracks on April 1st almost all morning long!

Nice powder poofs behind Jack & Rudy as we fly along this
perfect untouched trail. Wheeee!

Come along for a glimpse into the fresh tracks fun. The GPS clocked us at 23 MPH along this stretch of trail. Laying fresh tracks with the pedal to the metal :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

So much fun this morning, let's get in tight with retired mentor Zorro to celebrate another perfect day skijoring:

"Thanks for coming back! How about those treats?" says focused Zorro.
"Sticks, fresh tracks & flying - all in a day's work!" adds the silly kids.

A beautiful skijor outing to start April: 10.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 125 days on the trails covering 1060.0 miles with 99,200 feet of elevation climbed.