Trail Snacks

Incredible trail conditions at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning!

Awesome trail conditions and cool "snow poofs" behind Jack & Rudy's
feet. Wheeee!

We got out early this morning since we are entering a very busy 3 day weekend and were thrilled to find only a few people had been out on the freshly groomed nordic trail before us. With a fresh groomie zoomie, Jack & Rudy knew what to do...

Zoom! Nice shot of Jack & Rudy cruising along as you can see maybe 3 skiers
had been out on this section of trail before us.

Today we got a great foreshadow from Jack & Rudy of things to come. Both decided to roll snow angels at the trailhead before we got started.  

"We've got plans for later!" Rudy tells the camera :)
"Aahh!" adds goofy Jack.

They do this now and then and I like to joke it is their version of pre-run stretches. But, today they rolled snow angels early to keep Jack's streak of "rolling 1+ snow angels on EVERY skijor of his career" intact so that we could focus on other things at our midpoint break of the outing. 

What was the plan for the break? Well, getting tasty trail snacks from a delicious piece of elk head and antler along the way :)

"Fresh frozen elk antler! Yum!" says antler chewing Jack.
"Fresh frozen elk brain! YUM!" adds Rudy.

Now, it is not uncommon to find a deer, elk or moose antler out in the forest. The animals shed them regularly and leave them for fine-tuned and inquisitive noses like Jack & Rudy to find. But, antlers are shed one side of the head at a time. Yet, in the photo above, we see a full antler rack (both sides) AND there is a piece of head in between that both sides of the rack are still attached to. Yep, that is a piece of "elk head" between the antlers that Rudy is inspecting. So, this was not a shed antler but a dead and beheaded elk (with most of the head now missing). Most likely a product of a mountain lion. As Rudy said above, "Yum, elk brain!" egad! Oh, for the curious, the structure behind Rudy is the front wall & door of one of the warming huts on the trail at the nordic center. Jack & Rudy fished this head & antler out of the deep snow to taste and put on display in front of the warming hut!

As I usually do, when we encounter animal parts, I pick it up to toss off trail. Jack & Rudy were thrilled that I was picking up the rack & piece of head. Clearly I was going to bring it home, right?

"Bringing the rack home? Thanks dad!" says happy Jack.
"Don't forget the brain food!" adds focused Rudy :)

But, to my partners dismay, I tossed the head+antler far off trail instead of bringing it home :)

With the trail snacks now gone, it was time to get back to skijoring. Come along for a fun video clip of the trail at our highest elevation point. There was a light layer of wind blown snow covering the trail up high. This meant that Jack & Rudy could enjoy laying fresh tracks in a light layer of snow as we zoomed along. Fun time!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Great skijoring, tasty frozen antlers and fresh frozen elk brain - so much to report to retired mentor Zorro:

"Did you bring some brain food for me?" asks Zorro.
"You tell him YOU threw it off trail! Bad dad!" declares Jack & Rudy :)

So much fun this morning: 11.1 miles traveled, 1100 feet of elevation climbed, top speed of 24 MPH and a little fresh frozen elk antler+brain along the way :)

2021/2022 Season to Date: 90 days on the trails covering 746.9 miles with 70,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Trail Food

Laying fresh tracks along the Blue River Recreation Path from Breckenridge to Frisco as we entertain the cars on Highway 9 along the way :)

Jack & Rudy cruising along the rec path.
Me waving at cars honking & cheering :)

Skijoring from Breckenridge to Frisco along the rec path is always very fun as Jack & Rudy have lots of opportunities to floor it and entertain the crowds we see along the way. 

Today, though, had an extra treat along the way: fresh frozen deer leg (with some meat still intact)!!!

"Yum, yum!" says Rudy taking a taste of deer of the leg we found in the snow.
"Rolling in deer juice while nibbling on the leg is the best!" adds goofy Jack.

Whenever I encounter animal parts on the trail, I will toss them off trail to be nice to others. Jack & Rudy are always perplexed at my decision to "lift & toss" the animal parts. They start out convinced I am lifting it for them and then are dismayed when I toss the piece of carcass off the trail. See for yourself:

"Yum! Thanks for picking it up!" declares deer tasting Jack.
"Nice! Bring it a little closer please!" adds 'ready to chomp' Rudy.

After getting some pretty astonished looks when I tossed the leg off trail, it was time to restart skijoring again. Nothing like a wide open perfect trail to refocus speedy Jack & Rudy back to skijoring instead of snacking on trail food :)

Zipping along laying fresh tracks as we skijor along the shores
of Lake Dillon.

But then, just as we are over the "trail treats", we encounter the stables as we transition from the recreation path and into the trails of the Frisco Adventure Park. More trail food?

"Those burros & horses look yummy too!" suggests Jack.
"Na, too far away, let's keep going!" adds 'less distracted' Rudy.

And here we go, skijoring along the rec path and into the adventure park and then on by the (very distracting) stables. Good 'on by' Jack & Rudy! Come along and watch the fun:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another fun, fun day to report to our favorite retired mentor, Zorro:

"You have my full attention!" says focused Zorro.
"King of the Mountain!" declares silly Jack.
"Chilling back here; how about more deer meat?" asks Rudy.

Our usual "Breckenridge to Frisco" fun on the rec path but with a little added deer meat treat along the way: 8.3 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 77 days on the trails covering 629.5 miles with 59,050 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Trail Snack

Jack & Rudy cruising along as they towed me up & down Boreas Pass this morning!

Cruising! Wheeee!

While an energetic run up & down Boreas was fun, it was far from the highlight of today's outing. Come along for the photo play-by-play of the top action of the day :)

We were gliding along when I saw what looked like some partially snow covered logs in the middle of the trail in front of us. I was thinking that I'd pause to remove the logs from the trail to help other skiers. Silly human...

Me, "Weird, who put those logs in the middle of the trail?"
Jack & Rudy, "Clueless human! Don't tell him!!!!"

Huh, don't tell me what?

Well, it was not a log (or logs) at all but a bent deer leg with some meat still intact! Jack & Rudy were way ahead of clueless me and were on the leg before I realized it was free meat, not logs!

"Yum, yum, fresh frozen meat!!!" declares the taste testers.

Once I realized it was a deer leg, I reached down to remove it from Jack & Rudy's mouths and the trail :)

"Hey! We were using that!" demands Jack.
"So tasty!" smacks Rudy.

Much to my partners dismay, I tossed the leg off trail. Much to my partners objection, we did NOT follow the leg off the ledge I tossed it over :)

Tasty deer leg gone, we might as well get back to skijoring. Nice view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us as we come around a bend in the trail:

Jack & Rudy cruising again. Nice view of the ski resort to our left.

Back to share 'end of run' pork treats with elder Zorro. Everyone ok with pork instead of deer?

"Yep! Yum Yum!" declares Zorro taking a piece of pork from my palm.
"Us next, us next!" says the focused kids who know their treats come from
my other hand, not the one Zorro is eating out of! Smart kids!

A peaceful run up/down Boreas this morning with tasty trail snacks along the way: 8.8 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 35 days on the trails covering 272.3 miles with 25,400 feet of elevation climbed.