Markers

Who was having a great time out on the trails this morning?

"I'm ecstatic with the day's new snow!" declares happy Jack.
"Me TOOOOOO, WOOOOO!" adds singing Rudy :)

Today's outing took us to the Walton Peak area at Rabbit Ears Pass. There was about an inch or so of fresh, new snow and no skiers or snowmobiles had been out on the trails before us. This made for an interesting trail finding outing:

Zipping along laying fresh tracks in new snow over packed snowmobile
trails. But, can you see the trail? Neither could I!

While we've skijored this area at Rabbit Ears Pass many times, today was pretty interesting as you could not identify the set trail most of the day. I only knew we were off trail when we would sink in deep snow versus knowing we were on trail when you could feel (although not see) a firm, packed trail under the new snow. There are occasional trail markers on the pass, and we really appreciated them today!

Cruising along once again with no clear sign of the actual trail except
the orange trail marker poles you see (one on the right edge of this photo
and 2 more directly up from Rudy). Without these markers, it was not
clear we needed to veer left through this section.

Whenever we could feel, but not see, the packed trail under the snow, we knew it was time to uncork the skijoring engine. Zoom:

The fun kids catching air heading towards the right leaning trail marker
you can just make out in the upper center of this photo. 

Now come along for today's video highlight as we are "skijoring from memory" of this trail as the terrain looks identical all around us! As the clip comes to an end, we finally encounter a trail marker letting us know we are on the right track. Interesting day!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I stopped twice to try and re-find the trail when we got off track. Well, you know what comes with stopping with Jack & Rudy!

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

A fun, but very interesting, trail tracking day, right guys?

"Yes, fun indeed, now how about those end of run treats?" says the
happy, happy kids.

Today's "trail finding" tally: 7.1 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 51 days on the trails covering 311.5 miles with 33,000 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Surprise

There was a lot to be excited about on this morning's skijor, right guys?

"Yes! My head is covered in snow and I love it!" declares happy Jack.
"WOO! I LOVE SNOW! WOOOOO!" belts singing Rudy.

The excitement? Well, the forecast last night was "a slight chance of a dusting of snow" overnight. But, the reality was 3-5 inches of fresh powder! We love surprise powder days!

With the surprise new snow, we headed to the backcountry at Dry Gulch to enjoy the powder:

POW - the fun kids blasting through 5 inches (or more) of snow at this
point in the backcountry. Wheeee!

While fresh snow is great for powder blasting, it is also great for rolling snow angels with gusto!

The funny kids launching snow all around themselves as they
roll with vigor!

Then, as we like to do in this location, it was time to floor it on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center after our aerobic romp through the backcountry powder. The groomer had been out on the trails recently, but there was also a fresh layer of new snow atop the groomie zoomie nordic trail. The kids were having a blast!

The fun kids catching air on the groomie zoomie with cool snow poofs
coming off their feet from the light layer of new snow atop the groom.

Today's video highlight? Well, it HAS to be blasting through the surprise powder. Come along for the fun! Note near the end of the video where I almost wipe out as my ski cut through the fresh snow to hit what was exposed ground just yesterday. But, I'm still standing!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a surprise! What a treat! Who had fun?

"We had a BLAST!" says the ecstatic kids atop a nice snow wall
to receive end of run treats.

What a fun "surprise powder" day this morning: 4.6 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 300.4 miles with 31,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Catch and Pass the Groomer

Zipping along in the morning's fresh snow in the backcountry. Wheeee!

Having a blast with my hover husky pals.

We started this morning's outing in the backcountry with a light layer of new snow and active snowfall coming down around us. After doing a few backcountry laps, we dropped onto the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Despite heavy falling snow by the time we got on the nordic trails, I could see fresh groomer corduroy lines on the trail. This meant the groomer had been here just minutes before us. I looked to my pals and said, "Oh boy, I bet we can play catch & pass the groomer! You guys ready?"

"READY!!!!!" declares happy, snow covered Jack.
"WOOOO!! ME TOOOO!!!!!!" belts wooing Rudy.

So, then it began.... First we flew:

"Where's the groomer? Floor it!" goes Jack & Rudy.
Notice some of the groomer corduroy you can make out in the bottom
center of this photo. The groomer must be near!!!

Then we caught the groomer!

"You cannot outrun us! Whee!" says the fast & fun kids who LOVE
catching a groomer in front of us.

Finally, we passed the groomer!

Coming on through!
Jack likes to pass right by the groomer while Rudy likes to swing a little
further away from the big machine.

We know the groomer drivers from years of skijoring these trails. When they see us come up behind them, they will always slide right or left when the trail is wide enough and stop to let us pass. We swing to the wide side and trot on by. I always smile and wave to the driver who is always smiling and waving back.

So, let's put it all together in today's video highlight: 1) flying... 2) catching... 3) patiently trotting behind... 4) passing... and FINALLY, 5) flooring it again once past the groomer. Wheeee! We love this fun game. Oh, and notice the nice, heavy snow falling throughout this video. Yay for Snow!!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Yes, we LOVE catch & pass the groomer!" says the happy & focused kids.

Today's tally: 5.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 37 days on the trails covering 236.3 miles with 26,000 feet of elevation climbed.

It's Begun!

Jack & Rudy catching air, in mid-season form, on our third outing of the early 2025/2026 season!

"We don't need time to get back in shape, we were born to do this!" demonstrates
the fun kids already in mid-season form!

We can FINALLY say that the season has fully begun! After some great (and MUCH needed) snow the last 2 days, are trails are finally in good condition and terrain is starting to become skijor-able! Yay!

Our route today took us up the front side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. If you've followed through the years, you know that Jack & Rudy typically roll snow angels after the initial climb to the mine. Today the lace on my ski boot came loose. I thought I'd pause at the mine to let them roll while I retightened my boot lace. Well, Rudy apparently thinks I'm supposed to stand and watch the snow angels, not tend to my own business; so he let me know it :)

"WOO! What are you doing back here? You are supposed to be focused on ME!"
declares wooing Rudy coming back to get in my face loudly!!!
"I can wait for a shoe tie!" says patient, happy Jack in the background.

So we got woos (Rudy) and smiles (Jack) while I fixed my boot. I then expected snow angels once I was paying attention again. Well, not today, the frisky kids had other plans.

"Let's wrestle at the mine!" suggests the silly kids play bowing to each other.
If you know "dog language" you'll note that Jack (yes, perfect Jack) is the instigator
in this photo. Rudy, of course, never backs down from a play challenge. Silly kids!!!

We then went on to check the back side of the trail. This side is much steeper and rockier. But, I saw other ski tracks going down the trail, so we tried it. Well, skiing by yourself down a steep & rocky trail is MUCH different than skijoring behind two strong sled dogs on a steep & rocky trail. After a tumbling wipeout (of me, Jack & Rudy had no issues :), we abandoned the back side and returned to skijor down the front side of the trail. This did give us a chance, though, to fly on by the mine on the second pass:

Whee! Flying on by Sallie Barber Mine.

Now here we go for today's video highlight along one of our favorite curves into a long straightaway on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. I mentioned yesterday that my gopro died, so I'm now using an old & cheapo camera while I shop & buy a new, higher quality camera. The result, you'll notice this video is very "bouncy" compared to what I usually show. Well, cheapo cameras do not do "image stabilization" of videos, high quality cameras do. So, we'll have bouncy clips until I replace the dead gopro. But, we'll take it to be on snow!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and, being only the third outing of the season, there are no snow walls yet for Jack & Rudy to climb for end of run treats. I look forward to the snow walls as much as them - they love to climb them and I love to not have to kneel down. Soon, my pals, soon...

"As usual, you have our full attentions!" says the happy kids awaiting
end of run treats.

A fun little jaunt on the front side of Sallie Barber this morning: 4.3 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 3 days on the trails covering 15.8 miles with 1800 feet of elevation climbed.

Smooth Shoulder

Wonderful conditions on wide snowmobile trails on the Harrison Creek Trail at Rabbit Ears Pass!

Nice, wide trail with soft snowmobile tracks to gallop in. Wheeee!

We did an "out & back" skijor at Harrison Creek this morning. So, that means we got the typical antics from the comedians at our turnaround point :)

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Once done rolling, it was time to run back. Zoom!

The fun kids catching air as we zoom along.

Then, I stopped to check our time out on the trails to decide which direction to follow at a juncture. Well, this second stop was met with protest from Rudy :)

"WHY ARE WE STOPPED?!?" asks singing Rudy.
"I'll wait patiently for you to restart." adds mellow Jack.

Once restarted, Rudy and I found a wonderful stretch of trail to use. Watch how Rudy and I are on a bit of untouched corduroy to enjoy on the left shoulder of the trail. Meanwhile, Jack keeps dipping his head to sniff the moose tracks going down the center of the trail. Talented "sniff & run" Jack without breaking stride :) The moose tracks must not have been very fresh as Rudy was not interested; but they were definitely fresh enough for Jack to keep sampling with his nose.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then it was "all business" to end the day. 

"Almost done? We need to floor it to empty our tanks!" says the fun
kids running fast to the finish.

Finally, everybody ready for some end of run treats?

"You bet!" says the happy, focused & fun kids.

Today's tally: 7.6 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 89 days on the trails covering 690.5 miles with 65,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Bluebird Day

It was a beautiful bluebird morning to catch some air high in elevation at Breckenridge Nordic Center!

Catching air on this beautiful morning skijor at over 12,000 feet
above sea level. Wheeee!

Today's outing took us to the higher elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. Despite being high in elevation, we start the outing flying along in a dense forest of trees.

Jack & Rudy literally flying along a perfect nordic trail in the woods!

Then, we climbed, climbed and climbed in elevation until we got over 12,000 feet amidst thinning trees. The reward for the climb? Well, turning around and flooring it back down! Come along for today's beautiful high elevation skijor clip as the GPS registered us topping 24 MPH. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually it was back into thicker trees but still beautiful bluebird conditions:

What a glorious morning!

Along the way, those pesky rodents under the snow distracted Jack for a moment. He had to lunge off trail to dig for the rodents. Rudy is always quick to follow with one of his beautiful high arching rodent dives to go searching for rodents himself!

"Dig, dig, I KNOW they are under the snow right here!" goes rodent dunking Jack.
"Oh really? Well, then, INCOMING!" joins Rudy via one of his patented
rodent dives.

Time to turnaround, everybody having a good time?

"You bet!" exclaims happy Jack.
"WOOOOOO, me TOOOOOO!" adds singing Rudy.
Oh, don't worry, they both rolled snow angels immediately after this shot.
The "stop, drop & roll" professionals :)

Over 9 miles and topping 24 MPH - now that's how you earn end of run treats!

"Yes, we earned them, dish them out!" says the happy & focused kids.

A zooming day on fast & wide nordic trails: 9.3 miles traveled with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 64 days on the trails covering 491.0 miles with 46,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Huts

Awesome views from high up on Peak 7 at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning!

Stunning views.
Awesome trail conditions.
Beautiful sled dogs! Wheeee!

We spent this morning zipping around the freshly groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. We were first tracks on the fresh groom some of the time and only second or third tracks other parts of the outing. What perfect conditions this morning!

Common skiers & snowshoers at Breckenridge Nordic Center appreciate the warming huts that are available out on the trails as we are at very high elevation (above 11,000 feet) almost the entire time on this network of trails. Both huts have wood burning stoves to warm up and one even has a wood burning powered sauna!

What do Jack & Rudy think of the warming huts? "Pffft, what a silly idea! We've NEVER been cold in our lives!" is their opinion. So, what do with the huts we encounter then? Well, why not use them as something to zoom on by!

There is Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut - zoom on by!

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Then there is the Hallelujah Warming Hut - zoom on by!

Still zooming!

So, let's put it all together into today's video highlight of the outing. "Hut 1, Hut 2, GO - let's fly on by the huts!" Fun partners :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

One of my ski boots came untied at one point, so I had to kneel to retie. Well, kneeling and tying is stopping and stopping is drop & roll time to Jack & Rudy regardless of the reason :)

"Stop, drop & ROLL!" goes the goofs who will roll snow angels to cool
off at any stop, regardless of the reason!

Nancy's camera wasn't working today to get our traditional "end of run" treats shot to complete the day's blog; so, we'll go with another fun moment out on the trails. At one turnaround point, I asked if everyone was having a good time. Here's the responses:

"I'm having a BLAST!" states happy Jack.
"It's a WOO, WOO wonderful morning!" adds singing Rudy.
Yes, I should know better than to ask Rudy a question, he'll ALWAYS answer!

A beautiful and peaceful morning to zoom around Breckenridge Nordic Center: 9.4 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 44 days on the trails covering 323.2 miles with 29,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Singing

Some smile about how much fun they are having and some sing about it!

"I'm having a blast today; but he sure is loud!" says smiling, happy Jack.
"Woooo, I approooooove!" belts singing Rudy.

After spending the last two days skijoring fresh powder in the backcountry, we decided to open up the throttle on groomed nordic trails today. Jack & Rudy were in a groove, flying all over the place:

Beautiful bluebird morning as the speed demons catch some air flying along the trail.

You can see a few pre-existing tracks on the trail in the prior photo (both ski tracks and dog prints). The trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center had been groomed late yesterday, so a few had been out on the trails before us. But, to our shock and joy, once we got further from the trailhead than most humans ski, we found the groomed trail untouched! So, it was flooring being first tracks on a fresh groom for a while! Wheeee!

No humans had made it this far by themselves; but Jack & Rudy propelled
us to be first tracks far from the trailhead!

A little further along and still laying first tracks but with pretty views as well :)

First tracks on the fresh groom with stunning Rocky Mountain views
ahead and to our right.

It was around zero degrees (F) when we started this morning's outing. As I mentioned, Jack & Rudy were flooring it all outing long. So, the comedians decided they need to pause at the warming hut to use it Siberian Husky style:

"Rub a dub dub, rolling in the snow to cool our jets!" Yes, the nuts get
hot at zero degrees!

Today's video highlight can be summarized with two words: Zoom, Whee! Come along and watch the kids flying along as the propel me along the groomie zoomie trail.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and, you guessed it, a snow wall for the comedians to climb to get end of run treats:

"Ready!" says the focused & happy sled dogs.

What a groomie zoomie day: 9.4 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and our top speed of early in this 2024/2025 season of 23 MPH (we typically hit 24 MPH regularly and top out around 26 MPH once the conditions get perfect).

2024/2025 Season to Date: 16 days on the trails covering 125.2 miles with 12,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Groom, Zoom

The first groomed trail of the season yields the first hover huskies of the season :)

Jack & Rudy, the hover huskies, catching air as we are first tracks on a
freshly groomed nordic trail! Wheeee!

It was an absolutely beautiful morning out on the trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. The upper elevation trails had been freshly groomed and there was light on & off snowfall throughout the outing. The perfect morning did not go unnoticed by others. Come along for some of the "flirt & fly" fun Jack & Rudy had on the trails this morning.

It was flying on by some oncoming skate skiers. Every time I see skate skiers coming uphill, I am thankful I have Jack & Rudy - it looks like so much work without Siberian Husky assistance :)

"We could tow you faster!" suggests Jack & Rudy to the hard working
skate skiers.

Then it was zipping on by a group of skinners (skinning uphill on their fat skis to then ski down off trail through the deep snow in the forest):

"We could tow you faster on those fat skis too!" declares Jack & Rudy
flying on by.

Then it was flying by a pair of skiers paused on the trail. We usually get smiles & waves from paused skiers. Look closely and the person to our right has her left hand up waving to us. I always wave back :)

"Thanks for the wave! Wheeee!' goes fast running Jack & Rudy.

Now let's put the last two photos together for today's video fun. Come along as Jack & Rudy are zipping around the trail, flying by oncoming skiers and topping 22 MPH! Zoom.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Hey, Jack & Rudy, do you approve of today's skijor outing?

"I doooooooooooooooo!" belts wooing Rudy.
"Having a blast!" adds happy Jack.

Finally, nothing better than sharing 'end of run' treats with my great pals on a mini snow wall to end the day:

"Ready! You have our full attention!" says the happy, happy kids.

A really fun day on our first groomed trails of the season: 9.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2024 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 38.9 miles with 3700 feet of elevation climbed.