Saplings

This morning was our last run of the season on our "closest to home" spring crust meadow.

A fun time was still had by all :)

"Toes on Snow is ALWAYS fun!!!" declares the happy kids at one
of our turnaround points of the morning.

Why our last run in this meadow? Well, it is becoming a "field of sapling landmines" with the fast melting snow in our recent stretch of warm daily highs. Just one week ago, we skijored this meadow with only a handful of exposed saplings here & there. Just two weeks ago, we skijored this meadow without a visible sapling anywhere. Today, though, we found ourselves navigating through and avoiding constant clusters of exposed saplings! If my ski catches one of these saplings at the speeds my partners are towing me, the ski will "lock" and I will tumble. So, it was an interesting day dodging our way through sapling clusters!!!

Trotting along as we have to keep speeds under control and
listen to my "rights" and "lefts" to navigate through the exposed
sapling landmines!

Occasionally we had a "sapling free" stretch and were able to uncork the skijoring engine. But, each such opening was short lived before we encountered another stretch of sapling landmines!

Uncork it - wheeee!
But, notice the stretch of sapling landmines just 30 or so yards
ahead that we will encounter SOON!

We did one lap through the "meadow of sapling landmines" with Zorro before dipping into the next meadow (of landmines again) to hand elder Zorro off to Nancy:

"Hi mom - here we come!" says the happy trio as we continue
dodging saplings to meet up with Nancy.

After dropping Zorro off, the kids, Jack & Rudy, and I tried to go out for more distance.

We returned to the main meadow we started in with Zorro with the intent of leaving this meadow to skijor nearby terrain and trails. But, every time we tried to exit the meadow, we ran out of snow and had to turnaround!

Returning to the main meadow after failing to exit to the east.
We have enough snow to return here, but the large puddle to our right
gives you an indication of what we found just behind us (that caused
us to turnaround)!

We tried to exit the meadow four times and failed each time. Upon each failure, we turned around to ski through the main meadow again to check a different exit path. That means we had FOUR turnaround points in the outing. Ha - you guessed it!

"Turnaround is roll around time!!!!" demonstrates the silly kids!
Doesn't Rudy look like the cutest little "stuff husky toy" you simply want to cuddle with?
Multi-talented "Cracker Jack" is showing he can roll angels while eating snowcones!

As I mentioned, between each "turnaround roll around", we skijored a different direction across the main meadow. But, as with the pass with Zorro, each lap was dominated by navigating through large patches of sapling landmines!

Opening the throttle a little before we have to slow again for the next
patch of sapling landmines!

Finally, back to the trailhead to reconnect with fun Zorro and enjoy 'end of run' treats to celebrate another day of 'toes on snow'!

"Glad you made it back through all those landmines!" says happy Zorro greeting
me upon our return.
"Creative day, but still fun toes on snow!" say Jack & Rudy patiently awaiting
Zorro and I to enjoy our greeting.

It's always sad to see another trail succumb to the "warming spring" and "inevitable summer"; but as you see from all the smiles in the photos above, it was still a fun day to creatively enjoy toes on snow: 4 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 166 days on the trails covering 1133.2 miles with 103,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Synchronized

Jack and Rudy practicing & perfecting "rolling synchronized snow angels" :)

Synchronized snow angels.
Synchronized comical, young goofballs :)

Don't tell Jack & Rudy that the Olympics have been canceled this year - they are convinced "synchronized snow angels" is a real event and they are aiming for gold :)

Aside from practicing (and perfecting) synchronized snow angels, we decided to skijor this morning too. We started with elder Zorro in the team on the Buffalo Park Trail at Rabbit Ears Pass. The beginning of Buffalo Park is a vast & wide meadow. The meadow was completely snow covered with a solid spring crust to start the morning. The surface was a little bumpy (from repeated thaw every day and refreeze every night); but was still perfect for May 7th. Zorro, Jack & Rudy decided to make use of the wide terrain by testing the left-to-right limits of the gangline:

This is just about as far apart at the trio can get within the
confines of their gangline. How polite of them to separate wide
so as to provide a wide angle view of the terrain as well :)

We did a short "out & back" with Zorro for the initial leg of the outing. Once we turned around, everyone pulled in tight to make the most use of our leg with Zorro!

Back together as the fast & tight team as Zorro takes the middle to lead
us to the end of his portion of the skijor.

Zorro was "all smiles" as we ended his stint and was happy to stay behind with Nancy while the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, took me on an extended "out & back" at Buffalo Park. Here is an absolutely stunning and unbelievably cool shot of "May 7th at Buffalo Park":

The conditions - wow! Snow covered & firm crust as far as the eye can see!
The youngsters - cool! Flying Jack on the left with hovering Rudy to the right.

Come along for today's video highlight from Jack & Rudy and watch the mature kids who have just about mastered skijoring. We start out in the shade on a well-packed and somewhat bumpy snowmobile trail. The youngsters are galloping along keeping the speeds to a minimum as the terrain is a bit tough on me. Eventually we transition out of the shade and onto wide open terrain. Watch as I glide right onto much smoother snow. With smooth conditions, I am able to put the skis parallel and the kids "feel" this release and proceed to FLOOR it on the wide open trail. Smart guys!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Those are some pretty incredible photos and cool video for May 7th. But, we must admit that summer is really hovering just around the corner. The "signs of summer" will start to show more and more as we proceed through May - boo! But, YAY for such incredible conditions for this morning's May 7th.

Oh my - those "signs of summer" to our right as a fast flowing
"snow melt river" is rushing by!

Back to the trailhead and time to rejoin forces with Zorro for well-deserved 'end of run' treats:

"Me first - ready!" declares Zorro.
"Me next!' adds focused Jack.
"Whee, I'm happy, happy number three!' says patiently waiting Rudy!

A wonderful morning to skijor Buffalo Park at Rabbit Ears Pass: 7.3 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 165 days on the trails covering 1129.2 miles with 103,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Up/Down

Great shot of "hovering Jack & Rudy" on the vast & endless spring crust on Walton Peak this morning!

Woo Hoo, the "hover twins" flying along the perfect terrain.

We had a unexpected but wonderful surprise this morning. The forecast said temperatures at the base of Walton Peak were going to get below freezing for only 1 hour (and 1 degree below freezing) overnight. Well, the forecast was wrong, we arrived at the trailhead to find the temps in the mid 20s (F) which was much colder than forecast and also meant it had been below freezing for more than just 1 hour. The result? Well, just look at the photo above, we were able to abandon set trails and skijor any direction we wanted up, down and around Walton Peak. Woo Hoo!

We started the morning without Zorro to give the kids, Jack & Rudy, a long run before adding Zorro into the group at the end. We started on the set trail to cruise up Walton Peak - riding the "Siberian Husky Towrope" up the mountain :)

Up we go as I right the Siberian Husky Towrope!

Ok, young Jack & Rudy, complete this sentence, "What goes up, must ....":

"What goes up, must stop, drop & roll to turnaround - is that it?" suggests the goofy kids.
Rolling snow angels at the top of Walton Peak with the communication towers
atop the peak in the background.

Ok, kids, not quite, let's try that again: "What goes up, must ....":

Got it - what goes up, must come down! Wheeee!
Fun wide angle shot of the fast duo coming down Walton Peak (after finishing
rolling snow angels at the top ;)

It was such a perfect morning, I had trouble deciding on a video highlight for the outing. I finally settled on the following "fast, fun & beautiful" skijor minute. Come along as we top 22 MPH skijoring the endless spring crust atop the vast meadows on Walton Peak!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back near the trailhead and time to pickup Zorro to give the fun elder a short sprint to the finish with his younger brothers:

Happy faces, happy huskies. Happy human to be towed along!

Why is the prior photo a bit blurry? Well, it I had to zoom in from Nancy's footage from a bit far away. Why the need to zoom? Well, big Rudy is on the inside of the team as we approached Nancy. Once we got close, the big red eclipsed smaller Zorro & Jack on the other side of him!

Rudy the eclipse!
But, you can see Zorro & Jack's ears & tails :)

Beautiful morning, right pals?

"You bet!!!! Love snow, love skijoring!" says the happy trio!

A fast outing with the kids with a surprise "firm crust" and then a fun group finish with elder Zorro: 8 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 164 days on the trails covering 1121.9 miles with 102,500 feet of elevation climbed.