Rudy 8000

7 year old Rudy surpassed 8,000 career skijor miles yesterday morning! Impressive!

"And I've been singing for 8000 miles too!" adds proudly wooing Rudy.

Rudy's skijor career to date is the following: 1034 days on the trails covering 8000.3 miles with 742,100 feet of elevation climbed. Consider that most of this has happened since he was 1.5 years old and that is quite an impressive career he has strung together. For the curious, 5 month older Jack surpassed 8,000 career miles himself earlier this season.

Back to yesterday's outing. It was another fun tour around the top of Rabbit Ears Pass. But, the signs of summer are really starting to come through - boo!

There was lots of breakup in open meadows:

Yikes, the snow caving in to Jack's right with more exposed water
to Rudy's left.

There was lots of dirty snow in heavily wooded sections of trail:

Look at all that "tree debris" covering our otherwise beautiful white snow!

There were lots of narrow stretches with views of "no snow" at elevations below us.

Cruising along a narrow stretch with views of snow bare lower elevations
of Colorado to our right.

But, what did remain constant with the comedians was rolling snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point:

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Which deteriorating condition to feature in today's video highlight? How about gliding along behind Jack & Rudy in the tree debris covered snow amongst thick trees. Sure, it's not pretty snow, but it is toes on snow in mid-May, we'll take that any day!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another constant, along with rolling snow angels, was still finding snow walls to climb for end of run treats. Despite heavy melting, the kids can still find a wall to scale!

"If there is a snow wall, we'll find it and climb it!' declares the happy
kids getting up to my level for end of run treats.

Yesterday's tally: 9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed with a top speed of 22 MPH and passing 8,000 career skijor miles for impressive 7 year old Rudy. Yay!

2024/2025 Season to Date: 106 days on the trails covering 810.7 miles with 80,000 feet of elevation climbed.

April Snow

Off we go!

Starting out the day with fresh snow on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail.

This time of year, ALL new snow is welcome snow! We know that April signals the season is really winding down (although we'll skijor as far into May or even June as the snow allows). So, every day that there is new snow is a celebration! Today we had fresh snow to enjoy on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. What fun!

Talkative Rudy is really a funny, wooing comedian out on the trails. When we pass other skiers, if they say anything, Rudy will almost always answer. Typically it is a "Hi" or "Morning" or "Looks fun" or some short comment like that. Well, Rudy takes all addresses as needing a "Woo" response. Such a funny kid.

This skier said, "Morning." as we were approaching. Talkative Rudy
responded with a "Woo" back to acknowledge the greeting :)

We did a short outing at Sallie Barber Mine this morning. But all outings are fun outings and all climbs to the mine must be celebrated with snow angels, silly kids.

Jack enjoying a roll in the snow.
Rudy getting a face full of fresh snow during his roll.

Now for today's video fun. Come along and watch as the clip starts with Jack & Rudy patiently waiting for me to turn around on my skis. Once turned, all it takes is me to mutter a simple "Ok" and the kids TAKE OFF! They know what to do when they get the verbal release to GO :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As I said, they know what to do :)

Flying along, wheeee!

A short outing, but all outings are fun outings, right guys?

"Yes, we had a BLAST!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting
end of run treats.

Today's tally: 4.1 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 672.0 miles with 64,600 feet of elevation climbed.

Nice up High

The snow is still so nice up high, if you can get there....

Beautiful conditions at our highest elevation point along the Harrison
Creek Trail.

"If you can get there" is the key phrase in that introduction above. We had to traverse numerous hazardous openings in the snow in the initial climb to the upper elevation goodness. Here are a two examples;

"Woo is me, I don't want summer!" woos Rudy.
"We can still make it if we hug the snow to the left!" states lead dog Jack.
Jack, of course, is right, but I still had to stop to slow us down to proceed
cautiously on the thin strip of snow to our left.

Did I say "thin strip of snow"? Well, how about this one...

Yikes, barely wide enough for my two skis to fit.
But notice how perfect Jack & Rudy are getting in tight to stay on the
little snow there is. They know to keep me on snow to continue to go!

But, as I said above, it was still so nice up high! This particular route starts with a steep initial climb (across lots of hazards this time of year) and then levels out into miles of gently rolling high elevation terrain. So nice up high!

Cruising along a wonderfully snow covered ridge line.

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. A beautiful stretch of trail yesterday morning, especially for late May. But, getting to and back from the nice conditions is getting really difficult!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The snow up high was also great for rolling conjoined snow angels :)

Where does Rudy end and Jack start?
Silly kids rolling conjoined snow angels at our turnaround point.

It was also a day of wildlife entertainment for Jack & Rudy. First we encountered coyote tracks to follow along the trail for a while. Then we encountered elk tracks to sniff and follow for a short stretch. Finally, the highlight was finding fresh smelling moose tracks crossing the trail and going off into the trees. You must stop for fresh moose tracks, you know :)

"Sniff, sniff, these are fresh!" states the moose inspectors.
Notice the big two toed print between my two skis.

Despite all the tracks, we never got a visual of any of the wildlife. I am just fine not seeing a coyote; but I do enjoy seeing the big vegetarians (moose, elk) from a safe distance, as do Jack & Rudy!

We had a camera failure with Nancy's camera at the trailhead. So, we don't have our usual "end of run" treats shot to close out the blog. In place of that, we'll conclude with a shot of the happy kids looking back when I needed to pause momentarily to rest my burning legs on the difficult terrain down low on the way back from the great conditions up high.

"Just let us know when you are ready to go!" says the happy kids patiently
waiting for my burning legs to get a quick break.

So nice up high, so iffy down low; but it was worth it for a wonderful skijor on the upper terrain: 9.8 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 162 days on the trails covering 1424.2 miles with 129,000 feet of elevation climbed.

New Terrain

Who's excited about exploring some new trails today?

"I am! I am! Love new terrain!" exclaims happy Jack.
"Me too - woooooo!' adds wooing Rudy.

This morning took us to an area known as Elliot Ridge straddling north Summit County and south Grand County. We have known of this trail system for a while but never had the chance to use it (we did go explore it one summer to see that it should be in our "winter trail list"). Well, this morning found us driving nearby Elliot Ridge so we took a little detour to go enjoy some fabulous new terrain.

The main trail started amongst thick trees on each side. But, the trail went up quick and we found ourselves in thinning trees along a wonderful trail for miles & miles!

Perfect trail!

Near our high point of the outing, the terrain suddenly opened up into vast meadows on each side of the trail. We've been waiting for our first "spring crust skijor" of the season. We stepped off trail to test the firmness of the crust. Here's now Jack & Rudy test a crust :)

"Yep, it can hold our snow rolling bodies, safe to ski!" declares the goofs.

With the crust firmness confirmed, it was time to abandon set trails up high and swoosh through and across the open meadows.

Wide meadow, nice crust and fun views too!

Done with the crust at our high point and time to head back the way we came. A few stretches of trail really lived up to the name "Elliot Ridge" - check out this fun ridgeline skijoring:

The trail is the the best condition to the far right. So, skijoring the edge
of a ridgeline we go :)

Come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. We were having a blast skijoring this ridgeline edge with steep drops to the right and great views ahead.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Perfect partners exploring new terrain this morning - time for some well deserved end of run treats:

"That was fun! Now dish them out!" says the happy, happy kids.

First time ever exploring Elliot Ridge; we'll certainly be back if the opportunity arises again: 9.3 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 130 days on the trails covering 1159.0  miles with 105,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Beautiful Morning

Beautiful morning to skijor up, down and around Vail Pass today!

Great trail conditions as we have just crested over Shrine Pass and start down
the backside. Wheeee!

We did a nice, long "out & back" at Vail Pass this morning. We took the Shrine Pass Trail and skijored up to the top of Shrine and then down the backside. 

Come along for a fun skijor clip from the backside of Shrine pass. We start out on a wide & pretty smooth snowmobile trail. But, then, the trail narrows so all the prior snowmobiles had to merge. This leads to a very choppy section of trail (watch the camera, i.e., ME, bouncing all over the place). Finally, we come out of the short narrow section and the trail becomes wide and smooth again. Now that's a workout on my legs through the choppy section!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After coming down the backside of Shrine, it was time to turnaround and repeat our "out trail" back. Ready guys?

"WOOOOOOOO! READY!" adds wooing Rudy.
"You bet! Ready!" adds happy Jack in the background.

So, we then skijored back up the backside of Shrine Pass to then sprint down the frontside. The frontside offers some really stunning mountain views (and some pretty impressive views of Jack & Rudy too :)

Fast moving kids with some nice Rocky Mountain views ahead of us.

A little further along and more stunning views. Look very closely up and to the right of Jack (to the right of the tree). The lines you see in that mountain are some of the ski runs of Copper Mountain Ski Resort. The ski runs are quite clear in person, just a little hard to see in this shrunk down photo.

Jack & Rudy, still zooming :)

Back to the busy trailhead. Jack & Rudy like to climb the snow walls in the parking lot at Vail Pass to get out of the way of all the cars and snowmobiles to get their end of run treats. Smart kids!

"We are out of the way of traffic and READY!" announces the cute pair.

Beautiful morning to cruise around Vail Pass: 9.7 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 91 days on the trails covering 798.8 miles with 73,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Early Talk

Jack & Rudy FLYING along a narrow side trail in the backcountry this morning.

Zoom, zoom, zooming!

Rudy started this morning's skijor in a very chatty mood. He kept wooing in Jack's ear for the first mile or so. Mellow Jack simply ignored the loud pest and kept trucking along. They may both be 5 years old, but they are worlds apart in personality & demeanor :)

Talented Rudy showing he can "woo and trot" without breaking stride.
More talented Jack showing he can completely ignore the loud kid.

With so much early talk from Rudy, I knew he'd be into rolling snow angels instead of wooing at today's turnaround point. Jack, of course, always rolls snow angels!

"Ah, rolling to cool the jets!' go the silly kids.

In between early wooing and rolling snow angels, we did get in some serious fast skijoring (see the first photo above :) We started in the backcountry on narrow trails and then dropped into the wide trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. The upper nordic loop had not been groomed since yesterday but that was ok because not a lot of other skiers make it this far to track up the trail. It was safe to zoom on the day old groom up high:

Day old groom, but still safe enough to ZOOM!

After two passes on the upper loop, it was time to connect onto the main trail back to the trailhead. This trail gets a lot of use, so I was happy to see it had been groomed just minutes before we connected onto it:

Catching air on the fresh groom. Wheeee!

For today's video highlight, let's go back to the first photo on narrow side trails. The kids were flooring along this fun trail. But, given how narrow the trail was, I had to really ski too! Every time you see Jack & Rudy dip out of the camera, that is because I'm in a tuck working the skis hard to keep up with them. Great workout partners :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Wooing to zooming, what was the most fun?

"I liked when the kid shut up so we could zoom!" states happy Jack.
"Aw come on, you know you love my woo!" adds cute Rudy.

A great, fast day on all kinds of trail conditions: 10.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 90 days on the trails covering 789.1 miles with 72,400 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Meet and Go

Hey Rudy, how was this morning's skijor?

"WOOOO - FANTASTIC!" belts out wooing Rudy.
"How long must we listen to him?" asks quiet Jack :)

With no new snow recently and daily highs well above freezing with nightly lows well below freezing, some of our favorite ungroomed backcountry trails are getting VERY icy and slick. As a result, we spent most of this morning's skijor on the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. It was zooming on the nordic trails!

Jack & Rudy flying. Wheeee!

That was the theme on the nordic trails all morning - zoom, zoom zoom :)

Zooming!

People sometimes ask me what Jack & Rudy do when we encounter loose dogs on the trail. Well, I slow to a stop (since you never know about the dog's behavior). Jack & Rudy simply want to do a "quick greeting" and then move on. After all, it's more fun to run fast & skijor than sniff a random dog :) Come along and watch to see what I mean. Such good partners to meet, greet and quickly move on.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, not all encounters go as smoothly as in that video. It all depends on the other dog(s). But the video shows you what Jack & Rudy want - a simple meet, greet and move on. If every dog was as well behaved as Jack & Rudy (as was the one in the video), this would be every encounter. Good boys just hoping loose dogs we encounter are good too...

Here's a great shot of the happy kids towing me past Nancy as we conclude this morning's skijor. Jack & Rudy truly LOVE to go, go, go :)

All smiles from the endless running sled dogs!

Good boys deserve end of run treats and Jack & Rudy are always good!

"Ready!" declares my great partners.

A nice morning on nordic trails: 9.1 miles traveled with 650 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH. It's supposed to snow again this week, so we'll be able to safely bring some of our backcountry trails back into the mix! Yay, Pray for Snow!

2022/2023 Season to Date: 86 days on the trails covering 752.2 miles with 69,000 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Bumpy Ride

Wooing while jogging - talented, Rudy, very talented :)

"Woooooo!" says Rudy to the crowd to our left.

We had just started our skijor when we passed by the group you see to our left. It was actually a snowcat tour company that was preparing their supplies to take guests out for the day. Silly Rudy will woo at anyone who will listen. No, actually, it doesn't matter if you are listening, silly Rudy will woo at anyone :)

One of the tour guides wooed back and that got an even louder (and prouder) response woo from Rudy as we passed on by. Silly kid.

Today's forecast was "sun in the morning, snow in the afternoon & night." Hmmm, we started our skijor just before 8am, isn't that morning? Look at the following photo near the start of our outing. Notice that big snowflake hitting the camera and blocking part of Rudy. Notice all the white speckles (active snowfall) against all the trees. So much for the forecast!

Light to moderate snowfall occurred for our entire outing.

The snowfall was actually quite welcome by me as it helped smooth the trails. Now look at this very deceiving shot from the outing. Notice anything different than usual?

You don't usually see this much of the carabiner attaching the gangline
to my waistband. Why is that?

It was a very bumpy skijor for extended stretches in Wilder Gulch this morning. The bumpiness is due to lots of recent snowmobile traffic (every time a snowmobile increases acceleration, it leaves a bump along the trail). You'll witness the bumpiness in two ways in the following skijor video clip. Watch the carabiner and notice how much it is bouncing up & down. Second, you see so much of the carabiner and my skis because I'm in a constant tuck trying to keep control over the bumps. What a wild ride this morning!!! 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Some need to roll snow angels to cool off after a bumpy ride. That would be Jack & Rudy. Some need to soak their sore knees in a nice hot bath. That would be me.

"Aaaah, cooling our jets!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
I'll spare you the photo of my bath :)

Finally, everybody was packed in tight to get those end of run treats at the finish!

"Dish them out!" demands the focused kids :)

A peaceful albeit very bumpy at times skijor in Wilder Gulch at Vail Pass: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 82 days on the trails covering 715.4 miles with 65,850 feet of elevation climbed.

Safety Dust

Sing it out Loud Rudy :)

"WOOOO, what a perfect day on the trails!" belts out singing Rudy.
"Ah, cooling my belly in deep snow!" adds happy Jack.

This morning was absolutely perfect on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. We got a surprise dusting of snow overnight which made the conditions perfect! Without the dusting, the trails would have been tracked up and slick from a busy weekend of skiing. But, with the surprise dusting, it was perfect and we found ourselves first out on the trail to enjoy the dusting.

Catching air and laying fresh tracks as we approach the Kathy's
Warming Hut along the trail.

A really gorgeous morning! Here's a shot from one of our favorite view spots along the way. 

Nice views as Jack & Rudy lay fresh tracks on each side of the classic
ski track between them.

I like to call a dusting like this "safety dust" as it allows me to let Jack & Rudy go as fast as they want and I can easily control the skis using the dust. Without the dusting, it would have been too slick to let the kids uncork the skijoring engine all morning long!

Beautiful shot of the airborne kids flying along this
perfect trail!

Come along and see what I mean by "safety dust" as I've got my skis pretty much parallel with the help of the dusting to let the kids open it up. Top speed in this clip? 24 MPH. Zoom!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

You might be thinking, "Uh-oh, Jack is upright in that first photo cooling himself without rolling upside down!" Well, don't worry, we had multiple turnaround points on today's outing. The streak is intact, Jack has rolled at least one snow angel on EVERY skijor of his life!

"Of course I kept the lifeline streak alive!" says snow rolling Jack.
Love the peaceful look on his face, he LOVES to roll in the snow!

I love the polite attention I get from my pals when it is time for end of run treats!

"You have our full attention!" states the happy pair.

I don't know if I could have asked for such perfect conditions as we had with our safety dust this morning: 10.3 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 59 days on the trails covering 509.3 miles with 45,500 feet of elevation climbed.