Keystone Gulch

We had some errands to take care of Wednesday morning near Keystone. So, we decided to take a skijor spin on Keystone Gulch Road once we were done.

Hitting 20 MPH on a nice straight away along Keystone Gulch Rd.
Do not be fooled - most of the outing was not on terrain this nice!

We have been on Keystone Gulch Rd a few times in the summer (hiking & trail running), but had never been on this trail in the winter as we tend to stay closer to Breckenridge. Here is a good hint to what we found: (1) the Keystone Gulch Rd trailhead is under 9300 feet elevation; (2) our typical trailheads around Breckenridge are between 10,300 and 10,600 feet in elevation; (3) it has been a dry start to January. Oh boy does that 1000 feet between our Breck trails and Keystone Gulch make a huge difference!

Yikes! Here is what we found near the trailhead (at elevations near 9300 feet).
Good thing I brought my "rock skis" with for the outing! You can see my skis hugging
the tiny little shoulder of snow as we carefully navigate our way up.

But, we kept going and the conditions kept improving. Here we are on a nice & fast packed
uphill stretch of trail.

As you can see in the photos, it was a beautiful sunny day. What did the Siberians think of that?

"Are we at sea level? Man, we've never been sooo hot! Must roll dual snow angels to cool
off!" express both Max & Zorro at our midpoint of the outing before heading back down.

Unfortunately we did not have time for a very long outing. Too bad as the conditions got better & better as we climbed to and above 10,000 feet elevation. If we had time, we certainly would have kept going up higher. But, regardless of time, we would have to return to the sketchy conditions near the trailhead...

On the way back down - once again hugging the shoulder for some amount of skiable terrain...

Needless to say, we will not be returning to Keystone Gulch Rd unless we see reports that Keystone has received some significant new snow! Tally for the short day: 6.7 miles, 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

Perfect Day

A perfect day skijoring on fast packed trails on and between Baldy Mountain and Boreas Mountain!

"Did you say 'wait, hotdog break' - I'm available!" says happy little Zorro as I did call out to
stop at our midpoint to get some hotdog rewards before starting back down.

It was a very peaceful and quiet Monday morning on the trails - just Max, Zorro & I for most of the day gracefully gliding along the packed trails. We traversed a bit under 10 miles (9.6) and climbed 1050 feet in elevation before heading down. Even the wildlife was quiet as we usually encounter at least one squirrel or snowshoe hare on the little used trail connecting Baldy to Boreas; but not a peek from any such tasty morsels all day. A perfect day to get in a groove and cruise!

Here's a fun video of our finish approaching the Boreas Pass trailhead. We never noticed how "low quality" Nancy's iPhone video cam really is until we had the high-end GoPro this year! Oh well, it is still fun to get an oncoming video (even if low quality) now & then instead of the from-behind GoPro clips...

Nice galloping approach to the Boreas Pass trailhead. Happy huskies cruising to
the end of their 10 mile run!

A few more nice shots from the day:

Cruising along a somewhat narrow trail (barely wide enough for 2 huskies side-by-side).
Notice my left ski out of the packed track. When we get on narrow (and fast) trails, I ride with
one ski in and one ski out - most of my weight is on the "in ski" as Max & Zorro tow me along.
The "out ski" is there for safety - should "something happen", I can quickly switch weight to the
"out ski" and attempt to somewhat slow down the Siberian Machine :-)

A fun section of narrow trail through an aspen grove with high cliffs on each side - wheee...

A peaceful 9.6 miles, 1050 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

Sunday Stroll

The intent of today's skijor outing was to take a moderate stroll on the trails in & around Indiana Creek. Try explaining "stroll" to two Siberian Huskies....

"This is a 'stroll' - right? Breaking trail in chest deep powder!" suggest Max & Zorro.

"Ok, if breaking trail wasn't a stroll - how about this? Weaving (quickly) through a narrow
trail in the trees. This is a stroll, right?" offer Max & Zorro.

"Ok, we got it! This is a stroll - hitting 22 MPH! Yea, this MUST be a stroll!" declare

speedy Max & Zorro.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Sorry guys, none of your suggestions is a "stroll" - here is a stroll:

Trotting gently across the snow covered meadow on a packed trail covered with about an inch
of wind blown snow - now this is a Sunday Stroll!
"BORING!" declare Max & Zorro, "We like our 3 examples of a Siberian Stroll above!"

I was clearly outvoted, 2 to 1, on the suggestion to take a Sunday Stroll in & around Indiana Creek... The stroll became 7.1 miles, 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH - Siberian Stroll :-)