Tuesday Freshies

Super happy kids coming back to me at our turnaround point on the trail this morning.

"Whee! We are having a blast!" says the happy Siberians!

It was a snow gorgeous, albeit cold for the human, morning to lay fresh tracks in French Gulch with light snowfall coming down around us all outing long:

Tuesday Freshies - wheeee!

We did an out & back in French Gulch, which means we got to reuse the tracks we set on the way out to go fast on the way back:

Jack & Rudy tucked in our out paw & ski tracks to go as fast as possible :)

This trail in French Gulch is actually a road under the snow. The road is closed to the public; but there are a handful of private cabins in the gulch. The owners have keys to unlock the gate at the trailhead so they can drive to their cabins. So, occasionally we will run into a 4WD vehicle going to or from the cabin. Today was such a day as we encountered a truck leaving a cabin partway through the outing. Not a problem, though, with such good snow. Jack & Rudy simply view tire tracks like a groomed trail and they go ZOOM :)

Rudy flooring it in one tire track while Jack is enjoying the side powder at first.
Notice my ski tracks to Rudy's left. I intentionally skied next to, but out of,
the tire track after we encountered the truck to pave a nice return path for
my pals (ski tracks for one, tire tracks for the other).

Now for today's video highlight to put it all together. We start the clip running tight in the tracks we set on the way out. Then, after two corners, we come up the driveway where the truck entered the trail. Jack & Rudy adjust to make use of the track to speed up. Powder Jack starts out running in the shoulder snow while Rudy is in the tire track. Finally, as the clip ends, Rudy finally moves left into the ski tracks so Jack can take the tire track and then we can really floor it :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and nothing makes a Siberian Husky happier than having snow frozen all over your head and face :)

Look closely, both have snow frozen on their noses and forehead with
some fun snow beard icicles on their chins. Siberian bliss!

Great day laying fresh tracks in French Gulch although the wimpy human (ME) cut it a little short due to extreme cold temperatures: 5.7 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 10 days on the trails covering 77.6 miles with 7100 feet of elevation climbed.

FINALLY: Let the 2024/2025 Season Begin

 Let the 2024/2025 Skijor Season Begin! Wheeee!

Gliding to the finish of this morning's 9.1 mile run with smiling
Jack & Rudy running hard to the end!

I have been skijoring since 2010 (Max/Zorro, Zorro/Jack, Zorro/Jack/Rudy, Jack/Rudy) and have NEVER had to wait until November to start our season! But, it was a dry Sep and Oct in our part of Colorado; so Jack, Rudy and I had been moping around the outdoors all Oct wondering WHEN was the snow finally going to arrive?

Well, last night was FINALLY it. As is typical in the early season, we use Boreas Pass Road for many of our initial outings. There are no houses up this road, just a scenic drive in the summer and hunting access in the fall. As it is still fall, we often get tire tracks from hunters to make for fast packed terrain:

Jack in one tire track, Rudy in the other and myself gliding along
in the soft powder between the tracks.

At one point, on the return leg of this out/back outing, we get some nice views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. Today, most of the ski resort was under cloud cover, but we did get a nice shot of some of the lower ski runs:

Zipping along with some of the lower ski runs of Breck visible across
the valley from us.

Today's fun video highlight has Jack & Rudy running in a tire track while I glide along in the soft middle powder channel. As the video ends, my middle channel disappears so perfect Jack & Rudy slow too as we don't want my skis catching a rock in a tire track! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Jack was in perfect "Jack form": running hard up/down the trail and rolling snow angels at our turnaround point. Rudy forgot about turnaround antics today. Don't worry, he'll be back to his wooing or rolling self in no time!

"Turnaround! Roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"You said 'turnaround', not 'roll around', I'm so mature!" suggests all
business Rudy (hahaha).

One thing both certainly remembered, even after our extended time off: End of Run Treats!!!!!

"Oh, we'd NEVER forget about the end of run treats!" says the happy
and super focused pals.

Finally back on the snow after a painfully dry October: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 1 day on the trails covering 9.1 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed.

Memories

A rare treat this morning: getting out before the plows and skijoring French Gulch Road!

Zipping along French Gulch Road - wheeee!

Only 2 or 3 cars (and no plows) had been on French Gulch Road before us in this morning's new snow. So, we started our skijor a couple of miles before the trailhead and skijored the road before connecting onto the actual trails. Fun!

For the most part, we have removed French Gulch from our skijoring menu. It used to be Max, Zorro and my FAVORITE trail. Years ago it was only skiers or snowmobiles you'd encounter on the trail. But, there are a handful of private cabins in the gulch and the owners have keys to the winter gate to drive the gulch. Unfortunately, over the years, a few of the cabin owners have started paying to have the gulch plowed! It started a few times a winter and has grown into getting plowed pretty much after every heavy snowstorm. As a result, we no longer expect much skijoring in French Gulch except for a couple of times a season when we get out before the plows.

Why was this one of Max & Zorro's favorite trails? Well, in addition to once being excellent backcountry terrain, the gulch is also home to a very active moose population. I'm pretty sure we saw at least one moose on every skijor in French Gulch (which was 100s of outings). Sometimes the moose were far away and sometimes right in the middle of the trail. Regardless of where the moose was, Max & Zorro would pick up the scent of moose and get excited. If the moose was far off trail, they would stop and climb snow walls on the side of the trail to get a view of the moose they smelled.

Well, today Jack & Rudy got one of their rare skijors in French Gulch. From Max/Zorro to Jack/Rudy, some things never change. I don't know how many photos I have of Max/Zorro in this position taken by Jack/Rudy this morning:

"Beep, beep - we smell moose to the right and we see them too!"
says the intense moose seekers.

I turned myself in the direction they were looking in the previous photo. Sure enough, I saw a moose walking through deep snow across the large open space that houses French Creek just on the other side of the trees to our right. I pointed my camera that direction; but the moose was too far away to show up on video; but all three of us saw it!!!!

On the rare occasion, like today, when you can skijor through the plowed section of French Gulch, you are always treated to incredible powder caches far back in the gulch. I have so many memories of plowing through deep powder with Max/Zorro on this trail. Here's Jack & Rudy's powder treat for the day:

Whee - it sure does get deep & fun if you can get through
the plowed initial terrain.

Now come along for today's fun video. We start out on great backcountry terrain running in the tracks we set on the way out this trail. Then, a few moments into the video and we pass by one of the private cabins. Well, the cabin owner had recently driven on the trail as you see in the video. Watch as Jack & Rudy transition from backcountry terrain to share a tire track without so much of a pause in the action. Fun kids.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

If you watch the video closely, near the end you'll see Jack & Rudy are having trouble fitting both of their bodies in a single tire track. Not a problem, as a few moments after that video clip, the kids realized they can each take a tire track and I get to really enjoy the safe powder in between!

"We prefer to run 'shoulder to shoulder' but we can adapt to any
conditions to keep going fast!" says the smart kids now taking one
tire track each. It was beautiful for me in the powder down the middle
as well!

Back to the trailhead to rejoice a rare skijor in French Gulch and many fond memories of Max & Zorro. Note that Jack & Rudy got the pleasure of skijoring French Gulch with Zorro; but the majority of our skijors in French Gulch was Max & Zorro.

"We remember doing this with wonderful Zorro too!" says the focused
kids awaiting end of run treats.

Ah, memories.... and a rare skijor in French Gulch nowadays: 8.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 43 days on the trails covering 361.2 miles with 34,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Hunting

It's still hunting season in Colorado, just ask Jack & Rudy :)

"Moose went this way! Can we follow & hunt it down?" asks the silly
kids standing in a set of moose tracks leading off trail.

Ok, so it is ALWAYS hunting season for Jack & Rudy :) I only mention that it is hunting season for humans in Colorado because that means we are sharing many trails with off road vehicles for the next few weeks. Yesterday morning's adventure took us skijoring on the Harrison Creek Trail atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Here's what I mean by "sharing the trails"...

A packed trail of off road vehicle tire tracks. But also very nice
middle powder to put my ski in if the tracks get too icy.

The further we went, though, the fewer vehicle tracks we encountered. Here we are in a solo ATV track at our highest elevation of the morning:

Nice views, nice "October snow" - wheeee!

But, of course, the reverse also holds. Close to the trailhead and there was lots of trail carnage from lots of vehicular traffic. Yuck...

Guess we'll drift to the left to glide on by this vehicular mess
in the middle of the trail! Jack & Rudy are such great partners!

Now for a little video fun from the morning. Here we are cruising along the Harrison Creek Trail. When the conditions are sketchy, Jack & Rudy slow to a gentle trot and weave through obstacles. When the conditions are good, the kids floor and off we go. They do all this without a single verbal command from me. They really understand how to keep the human upright so we can keep on going :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another fun outing, another team celebration at the trailhead :)

"You have my full attention!" says happy Jack.
"Aren't I adorable???" asks cutie Rudy.

6.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 6 days on the trails covering 37.0 miles with 3250 feet of elevation climbed.

Lead

My perfect partners getting their well-earned 'end of run' treats this morning!

"You have our FULL attention!" says the happy & focused trio.

We did an out & back on the French Gulch Trail this morning and the kids, Jack & Rudy, got to demonstrate what mature sled dogs they have developed into. Zorro is, of course, already very mature; but it is so nice to see Jack & Rudy development.

Mature Act Number 1: Come along for our video highlight as Jack & Rudy politely let elder Zorro run in the ski track I set on the way out while the kids run in the shallow powder on each side of the set track. So nice to let Zorro have the easiest path!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now, wait until you see "Mature Act Number Two"... We were ahead of schedule to meet Nancy back at the trailhead, so I turned us onto a narrow side trail to see how the trio would configure themselves. The side trail was only 2 Siberians wide, so we could not fit "3 wide". To my shock and excitement, everyone auto-configured into what you see below: Jack in lead with Zorro & Rudy side by side in swing. This is absolutely perfect as Jack has the personality to be a lead dog. Zorro knows everything about skijoring; but he has never had the lead dog personality (except when moose are involved :) and Max was my leader for years alongside Zorro. Rudy is similar to Zorro - he is a machine on the trails, truly understands skijoring but he is not "lead dog personality". So, imagine my delight when the team auto-configured into exactly what I would want on narrow trails!

Young Jack has developed into an up & coming lead dog - yay!
Elder Zorro is quite happy to let Jack take lead.
Impressive Rudy is also quite willing to give the lead to Jack - IMPRESSIVE!

Done with the side trail and back onto the main French Gulch Trail as I paused before starting us back. Wait, what is this - a pause and the kids are upright?!?

Look at the mature and very happy trio!

But, alas, I paused so I could change some equipment. This required taking off my backpack and doing some reorganization. It was too long of a pause for Jack & Rudy to remain upright :)

"Give us a break! You expect us to stay upright through an equipment change!"
demonstrates the snow rolling goofball twins.
Zorro is, of course, maturely waiting at my side during the equipment change.

Next, Mature Act Number Three. I have mentioned in past posts that French Gulch contains a handful of private cabins and the owners have keys to the access gate allowing them to use their vehicles on the trail. Well, here we are today encountering a group of owners coming up the trail. The front truck stopped and waved us on. Here are mature Zorro, Jack & Rudy cautiously & perfectly passing by the stopped truck. Nice work.

"Hi... Bye!" says the trio gliding by the stopped truck.

Finally, guess what was on the other side of the two trucks we passed? Well, two perfect packed tracks (tire tracks) for us to utilize. As expected, Zorro took one tire track and Rudy the other while Jack prefers to run in either the side or middle powder (the side in this case). With packed tracks it was ZOOOOM the rest of the way back in French Gulch.

Track for Zorro, track for Rudy and shallow powder for Powder Jack.

What a day of maturity on the trails: politeness, perfect configuration on narrow trails and cautious going past stopped vehicles: 5.3 miles traveled with 450 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 87 days on the trails covering 598.2 miles with 55,250 feet of elevation climbed.

Perfect Plan

Riding the "Jack & Rudy Tow Rope" as we lay fresh tracks skijoring up Boreas Pass Road!

Laying freshies in 3-5 inches of fresh snow all the way up Boreas. Wheeee!

We came up with a perfect idea of how to make use of Boreas Pass in early season as we try to exercise the youngsters (Jack & Rudy) while still allowing elder Zorro to come along for part of the outing. Here was the plan: (1) Jack, Rudy & I would start skijoring up Boreas Pass and Nancy & Zorro would stay behind at the trailhead; (2) After giving us a headstart, Nancy & Zorro would eventually drive up Boreas until they reached us; (3) We would then add Zorro to the team, Nancy would drive back down Boreas and Zorro, Jack, Rudy & I would skijor down the pass.

This plan was perfect for two reasons: we got a full outing in for Jack & Rudy and then Zorro got to come along for a short run downhill in packed tire tracks. Perfect!

Jack, Rudy & I were making such good time going up, that we skijored roughly a mile past Bakers Tank and then turned around and skijored back to Bakers Tank to wait for Nancy & Zorro. We got to open up the skijor engine coming back in the track we set going up:

Zipping along in the track we laid on the way up.

We were so fast, that we got back to Bakers Tank before Nancy & Zorro arrived. What do you think Jack & Rudy did while we waited for Nancy & Zorro? Ha, you guessed it...

"We are stopped, so we will roll snow angels!" demonstrate the goof twins.
Pretty shot of Bakers Tank too :)

Once Nancy & Zorro arrived, we added in Zorro and ZOOOOM, we took off using the tire tracks Nancy & Zorro set on the way up as a pseudo groomed trail. Wheeee!

Yay, we've got Zorro added in for the short & easy return leg.

Today's short video clip is the counterpart of the prior photo. Come along as we make use of the tire track for a fast packed trail coming back down Boreas Pass.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually we caught up with Nancy waiting for us a ways down the road. Happy, happy sled dogs completing their morning run:

"Hi mom - this was a PERFECT day!" exclaims the happy trio.

A perfect day exercising the youngsters with a fun way to add Zorro into the end of the day's outing: 6.5 miles traveled with 650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 9 days on the trails covering 51.7 miles with 5250 feet of elevation climbed.

Success

Happy boys at one of our "trail junctions" this morning!

"I'm having a blast!" declares ecstatic Zorro.
"Me too! Can we go this way?!?" adds happy Jack.

We took a calculated risk this morning and boy did it pay off. The risk? Well, deciding to try and skijor the French Gulch Trail. Why a risk? Well, some rude people have moved into the gulch the last few years and they PLOW the trail when it snows too much. Ugh! The "calculated risk"? Well, it has been snowing on & off the past few days but never a heavy & deep dump. I figured the gulch should be driven but not plowed. It has to cost these rude people a fortune to plow the entire trail (the county will not do it for them, they are footing the bill themselves). So, with a few days of light fresh snow, why would you waste money on plowing when you can drive it with a capable 4WD vehicle?

What did we find? Success!!!! Just as I hoped, the lower sections of French Gulch had been driven but not plowed. Nothing wrong with that as tire tracks simply make a packed & almost groomed trail for Zorro and Jack. See for yourself below:

"This is a 'groomie zoomie' to me!" says Zorro sprinting in the tire track.
"Middle powder for me!!! Wheeee!' demonstrates fun Jack ignoring the tracks and
having fun running the powder between the tracks.

In fact, the condition of the gulch far exceeded all of our expectations. We got to skijor the full range of conditions. First was the "fast packed" lower terrain you see in the prior photo.

Second was a narrow single track in the mid gulch (once you got past the rude people's cabin):

Running in a set single track barely 2 sled dogs wide. You've gotta like your brother to
run shoulder-to-shoulder this narrow :)

Third was out-skiing all existing tracks and finding ourselves breaking trail in 12+ inches of powder in the upper gulch! Wow!

No humans have made it this far - sled dogs making the trail :)

Fourth was taking a detour off French Gulch to flirt with tourists on the Sally Barber Trail. Young Jack is still learning the "on by" concept with people & dogs; but he is really "getting it":

"Just follow my lead." demonstrates all business Zorro.
"Hi folks! Are you having as much fun as me?!?" asks fun Jack as he trots by.
As usual, all smiles from the tourists seeing the crazy guy getting towed by sled
dogs on skis!

For today's video highlight - back to the "calculated risk success". Come along as we skijor tire tracks and shallow middle & side powder in French Gulch. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I was hoping to get a 10+ mile outing with the big boys. But, we were happily slowed by narrow single tracks and breaking trail in the mid and upper gulch: 9.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 122.5 miles with 11,000 feet of elevation climbed.

White Christmas

A Merry, Merry White Christmas from Zorro, Jack and I!

Celebrating the end of our short morning run with my very focused partners.
Notice the snowflakes you can see against Jack's dark black and my coat and pants.
White Christmas!

Every once in a while, it is snowing so hard that the plows cannot keep up. When this happens, we get the fun experience of starting a skijor run from our garage and tour the local streets and trails around our house. Now this is how you celebrate a White Christmas!

Starting out in our driveway as you see the stair railing to our front door to the right and a
neighbor's house at the end of the street in front of us.

We started from our driveway and then took a hike/bike trail to nearby Carter Park. We were first in the park and got to enjoy breaking trail in deep snow through the park:

Breaking trail in Carter Park! Wheeee!

After an aerobic plow through the park, we cut back onto streets and followed tire tracks with 2-4 inches of snow cover in the otherwise 12+ inches of fresh snow. Come along for a short run in the tracks as you see Zorro towing me "in track" while little Jack simply tries to keep up and fit in the track with Zorro.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fun little White Christmas run on the streets and trails around our house: 1.1 miles traveled with 200 feet of elevation climbed. Merry Christmas!

2017/2018 Season to Date: 18 days on the trails covering 120.7 miles with 10,900 feet of elevation climbed.

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Soon Jack

A beautiful bluebird day to skijor the fresh snow up & down Boreas Pass!

Cruising along behind Zorro as a nice shot of the snow-covered runs of Breckenridge Ski
Resort comes into view across the valley.

About 6-12 inches of new snow fell overnight in and around Breckenridge (6 at lower elevations, 12+ up higher). Zorro and I set out to skijor the new snow on Boreas Pass. It is still hunting season, so Boreas is open to 4WD vehicles. Hunting ends this weekend and, then, Boreas is closed to motor vehicles until May and it becomes one of the most popular cross-country ski and snowshoe trails in the area. But, the benefit of it still being hunting season - well, look at the photo above and video below... When there is enough snow, then a vehicle traveling the pass serves to pack the terrain and produce a nice fast-packed trail to skijor!

Come along and watch a short video clip of Zorro towing me along the packed tire track on what turned out to be a beautiful bluebird morning with lots of fresh snow. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Here is a great shot from the front of happy Zorro towing me along as we near the end of our run up and down Boreas:

"Wheeee! Look at me!" says happy Zorro towing me along.

Who took the prior "shot from the front"? Well, Nancy of course. Not just Nancy; but Nancy and Jack!!! Introducing Jack, our new little puppy and Zorro's future skijor partner. Jack is still a baby at this point, but we will start introducing him to short & easy skijor runs in a month or two and plan to have him up to medium length skijor runs by the tail end of this season. As you can see from the photo below, Jack believes he is ready NOW as he is airborne, bucking up & down to get loose from Nancy and join Zorro. Soon Jack, soon...

"I want to come! I want to come!" exclaims bucking bronco Jack.
"Soon kid, you couldn't hang with me yet!" says Zorro running by.

A better shot of Jack with his big brother Zorro as our parting shot of the day:

"Love you big bro!" says cute little Jack sleeping on Zorro.

A fun cruise with Zorro up & down Boreas Pass: 6.7 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 33.8 miles with 3400 feet of elevation climbed.

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Single-Dual-None

Beautiful bluebird day on the trails today!

End of the line on this side trail with a nice shot of part of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the way.
"End? Really? Why not drop down to the right?" suggests crazy Max.
"Uh-oh, snow ends just in front of me!" says alarmed Zorro.

We had the range of trail conditions today from "single track" to "dual track" to "no track". Come along for the fun...

(1) Most of the day looked like the following: a wide tire track that enabled Max & Zorro to run shoulder-to-shoulder. I could ride one ski "in track" (for speed) and one ski in the middle powder (for control). Lean in-track to speed up and lean in-powder to slow and stay (somewhat) under control :)

Great shot of the shoulder-to-shoulder sled dog machine! So much fun to watch them run in
a tight configuration like this!

(2) Some of the day looked like the following: tire tracks not wide enough for shoulder-to-shoulder so each takes his own track and I glide down the middle.

We tend to slow to more of a trot when conditions separate Max & Zorro by this much. They
would rather be shoulder-to-shoulder when sprinting.

(3) A little of the day looked like the following: breaking trail in untouched snow on a side trail all to ourselves - wheeee!

So peaceful when you find untouched powder to carve for yourselves!

Which was best?

"We loved it ALL!" say the happy pair at a turnaround point on one of the side trails.

Most of the day looked like the "single track" photo as trucks had been driving the trail transporting hunters around the forest. Thankfully, hunting season finally ends this weekend so trucks will stop overpacking and tearing up the trails!

A nice "range of conditions" today as we covered 8.2 miles with 950 feet of elevation climbed.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 11 days on the trails covering 91.3 miles with 8850 feet of elevation climbed.