Packed Leftovers

Look who was enjoying "toes on snow in mid-May!"

"We LOVE toes on snow!!!" exclaims the super happy kids thrilled
to still be on snow in mid-May.

We returned to Rabbit Ears Pass for another skijor this morning. We started the day by skijoring yesterday's surprise groomed trail. We just HAD to do this wonderful stretch again today!

The kids flying along yesterday's surprise groomed trail. Wheeee!

After flying along the 1.5 mile groomie, we changed our route from yesterday to follow leftover snowmobile trails towards Walton Peak. There is a network of "primary trails" on Rabbit Ears that get tons of snowmobile and snowcat traffic all winter long. These heavy machines really pack the snow. As a result, the leftover snowmobile trails remain skiable far into May even though conditions off trail are quickly deteriorating. Here's what I mean:

The fun kids catching air as you can make out the packed leftover trail in
front of us as compared to the choppy mess off the trail. Nice leftovers!

Now come along for the video example of what I am talking about. Watch as Jack, Rudy and I are having a blast skijoring the packed leftovers at the base of Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. What fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

This particular network of trails has one "guardian" to how far into May you can use them. There is a "snow bridge" crossing Walton Creek that is formed by snowmobiles and snowcats continually running over snow covered Walton Creek. There is no real bridge, just a bridge of packed snow. Once this bridge melts, there is no way to cross the creek and we have to abandon this route. We are happy to report that the packed snow bridge was still intact this morning!

You can see exposed Walton Creek to our left. Directly in front of us is
a bridge made out of packed snow allowing us to still skijor over the creek.
It's melting fast, but still intact this morning!

We did an "out & back" on the snowmobile leftovers. So, you know what that meant happened at turnaround time :)

Turnaround, roll around!!! You are pretty much guaranteed to get the
comedians rolling dual snow angels once we get into warm May days :)

Back to the trailhead and the kids found a mini snow wall to climb for end of run treats:

"We love snow walls! We LOVE snow!" says the happy kids awaiting
their end of run treats.

A wonderful mid-May skijor this morning: 9.6 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 105 days on the trails covering 801.7 miles with 79,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Endless Meadow

Another wonderful, early morning skijor atop a perfect Spring Crust.

Today was at the base of Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass.

Cruising behind my fun pals with Walton Peak in the upper
left of this photo.

Today's outing took us to one of my favorite Spring Crust tours. We started out cruising along a nice ridge line with steep slopes on each side of it:

Steep to the left, steep to the right, but perfect ridge line down the middle.

The goal, though, was to use this ridge line to get to the base of Walton Peak. Once at the base, we are treated to two absolutely endless snow covered meadows. With a firm Spring Crust, we are able to abandon set trails and roam back and forth through these two large meadows. Jack & Rudy, of course, know what to do with a firm crust and endless terrain - zoom!

The hover huskies catching air as we fly through this endless meadow.

How endless? Well, come along and see for yourself. Today's video highlight is a minute of fast skijoring through a meadow that never ends :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

When we finished one large meadow, we hung a right to do the next meadow. Everyone ok with that plan?

"Sounds wonderful!" states always happy Jack.
"I apprOOOOOOOOve!" adds wooing Rudy.

We then went out & back in the second large meadow. But, that means we had to turnaround at one point. Yes, you guessed it: Stop, Drop and Roll:

Look at those blissful faces as the sillies roll snow angels to cool off.

The only letdown on today's outing? Well, there were no snow walls to climb for end of run treats. Oh well, I can kneel sometimes to come down to Jack & Rudy's level:

"We had a BLAST today!" states the happy, happy kids!

What a wonderful May skijor: 9.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 152 days on the trails covering 1285.1 miles with 127,700 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Repeat

Look at this "groom treat" in May! Yay!!!!

A groomie zoomie in May! What a treat!

We went back to the same area on Rabbit Ears Pass this morning that we skijored yesterday. This groom treat started right at the trailhead and went west towards Walton Peak. Now that you see this incredible groomed track in May, you can understand how I forgot to turn on the GoPro yesterday and, thus, had no footage from the outing. I was so excited, I wanted to get on the groomie as quick as possible and lost my head :)

Well, today we went back to the same location and I was able to remember to turn on the camera before getting going with my fast pals. Come along for a video glimpse into this incredible groomed trail in May. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The groomed track only lasted for about 1.5 miles; but it was 1.5 miles of super fast fun as you see in the prior video. After sprinting the groom track, we did roughly the same route as yesterday. We continued past where the groom ended and took the Spring Crust towards Walton Peak. Today was a little warmer than yesterday, so we cut the outing a little shorter. Yesterday we climbed most of the way up Walton Peak, today we stopped to turn at the base of the final climb up the peak. Everyone ok with skipping the final climb and turning left instead?

"Yep, you just tell us which way to go!" says the happy, happy kids.

Why turn instead of continue the climb? Well, there is a HUGE endless meadow extending away from Walton Peak. I wanted to get on this meadow while the Spring Crust was still firm. So, with rising temperatures, it was time to get on the crust to continue on.

Endless snow covered meadow with a firm Spring Crust. Wheeee!

Eventually that meadow ends and connects into another vast meadow. But, this next meadow is the home of Walton Creek. All the snow melt in this area of Rabbit Ears drains into Walton Creek which takes the snow melt into the Yampa River and eventually into the Colorado River. The creek starts to break through the snowpack in May, so eventually it becomes impassable. But, there is a "snow bridge" that lasts longer than most of the snowpack. This is not a real bridge but the route the groomers and snowmobiles take all winter as the main trail out this direction. So, after months of heavy machinery packing the snow, it holds as a snow bridge over Walton Creek longer than the rest of the snow.

Crossing Walton Creek on the groomer/snowmobile packed snow bridge.
All the holes/indentations on either side are openings in the snow into
an exposed Walton Creek.

Once over the snow bridge and it was back to yet another vast meadow with a wonderful Spring Crust to take us to the finish for this morning. Yesterday we came this same route but then continued on the original groomed track to keep going. Today we ended the run after this meadow.

Whee, back to a great crust in vast, endless meadows.

Now you see why I forgot to turn on the camera in excitement yesterday! How were my pals with doing the same basic route two days in a row? Well, they were just as thrilled as me :)

"That was a BLAST again!" exclaims the happy, happy kids awaiting
end of run treats.

What a perfect skijor day in May: 7.6 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 152 days on the trails covering 1343.4 miles with 122,600 feet of elevation climbed.

This is now our second biggest skijor season ever. Max & Zorro had 1433.5 miles in 2016/2017 and 1341.8 in 2013/2014. Jack & Rudy just passed the 1341.8 season and are chasing the 1433.5 mile season. Will we catch the 1433 season? Probably not as that year had epic spring snow. But, stay tuned for how much more we are able to pull out of this year's snowpack...