Slick

Jack & Rudy's preferred ways to express happiness & satisfaction :)

Jack: always that happy, happy smile usually with a wag or two (or more)
of his big swooshy tail!
Rudy: happiness & satisfaction are defined by woos!!! "WOO!" is
extreme satisfaction :)

It has been an unseasonably warm start to March which has had our trails melting in the afternoon to then freeze overnight. That means we encountered very icy and slick conditions on the trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. 

The shininess you see "around Rudy" is slick ice.
The trails were dominated by the dangerous ice patches most of the outing!

At some point in March or April, the crust on the snow off trail becomes firm enough to support Jack, Rudy and myself on skis. With super slick conditions on trail this morning, we decided to give the crust a test. It was still too early for the crust to hold us; but Jack & Rudy gave it a thorough inspection!

See the post holes from Jack & Rudy behind them. The crust could
not support them walking yet. But, the good news is the crust is solid
enough to support a snow angel roll without busting through. Almost
time for the spring crust :)

With the crust not firm yet, it was back onto the nordic trails. Once we got far enough from the (heavy use) trailheads, the ice became less & less of an issue. So nice up high and far away from civilization!

Whee up high! No shiny iciness way up here!!!

But, most of the day was spent on slick & icy conditions. Jack & Rudy are PERFECT at slowing down when they hear my skis scraping like crazy to try and keep myself under control. What great partners!

Time to report back in with retired mentor Zorro after another successful skijor outing:

"Glad they kept you upright!" says handsome Zorro.
"Waiting our turn!!!" adds wonderfully patient Jack & Rudy!

A fun day, but boy oh boy was it slick out there!!! 9.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 101 days on the trails covering 846.8 miles with 79,800 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Perfect

Near perfect stretch of groomed corduroy for Jack, Rudy and I to zoom, zoom, zoom!

Perfect corduroy along the left edge of this wide trail to uncork the skijoring
engine. Note the angle of the gangline puts me & my skis on the corduroy.
Perfect conditions for me to safely let Jack & Rudy set the speed & pace!!!

We spent yesterday morning doing a quick tour of the main snowmobile trails in and around Dumont Lake at Rabbit Ears Pass. The local snowmobile club grooms the main trails to keep them from getting too beat up and bumpy over a season of daily snowmobile traffic. Jack, Rudy and I are members of this local snowmobile club (Routt Powder Riders) as Jack & Rudy ARE snowmobiles after all and we love to share these trails :)

Usually you will find snowmobile tracks the entire width of the main trail within hours of a new groom. This still makes for very fun & fast terrain for Jack & Rudy as you see below:

Snowmobile tracks the full width of the trail at this point with
Jack & Rudy catching air.

A little further along and we still have snowmobile tracks the full width of the trail. But, notice anything in common between the following photo and the prior two?

How about: the synchronized & airborne Hover Huskies in all three shots. This tells you how fast, easy and fun it is for the kids to get out an run on snowmobile trails!

3 for 3 "hover husky" shots from yesterday morning's skijor!

While snowmobile tracks are perfect & easy for Jack & Rudy to run along; they can get a bit bumpy, uncontrollable or icy for me occasionally. "Uncontrollable?" you ask? Well, yes, if both my skis get caught in the runner tracks from snowmobiles, then I am locked in a frictionless ride, unable to slow down, until I get at least one ski out of the runner track! Back to the first photo above and notice what we found. For a nice extended stretch, the left side of the wide snowmobile trail was virtually untouched by tracks, leaving it as a virtually untouched groomed corduroy! You better believe I moved the team to the left of the trail as soon as I saw this to put myself on perfect stretch of groomie zoomie!

Come along for the video counterpart to what I was just describing: skijoring a "perfect stretch" along the left of the snowmobile trail near Dumont Lake. Notice that we have moved far left on the trail to use the perfect stretch of groomed corduroy that has been virtually untouched by the snowmobile traffic you see going along the middle of the trail. Cool!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As usual, we had the goofballs rolling snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point of the day. Did you ever wonder what Jack & Rudy think/discuss while they roll snow angels and I stand and watch?

"You'd think he'd get down and join us! So refreshing!" says Jack to Rudy.
"No kidding, dumb human doesn't know what he's missing!" responds Rudy.
And, no, I have never yet been tempted to 'stop, drop, & roll' with them :)

While I do not join in rolling snow angels, I do participate in 'end of run' treats! Ok, I don't eat any, but I do hand them out!

"Nice treat bundle!" says Zorro focused on my stash.
"Yes, that looks like just enough!" adds inspector Jack.
"I'll take any & all treats!" replies mellow Rudy.

A great skijor on wide snowmobile trails at Dumont Lake with a wonderful perfect groomed stretch along the way: 7.8 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 100 days on the trails covering 836.8 miles with 78,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Endless

Fun shot of Jack & Rudy towing me to the finish as our retired mentor Zorro looks on approvingly :)

"Looking good kids!" says approving Zorro.

Today was "endless skijoring" atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Once we get into March, we start checking the snowpack at all our "go to" trails, hoping most are showing signs of maintaining snow well into May and hopefully June.

Well, Rabbit Ears Pass currently looks incredible and ready for run well into May - Yay!

Endless snow as far as the eye can see as Jack & Rudy are kicking
up snow poofs behind them as the fly along a snowmobile trail.

Jack & Rudy were in a real groove to go, go, go! How's this for proof of that?!?!

The hover huskies catching air along the zippy fast trail. Wheeee!

Come along for a cool video highlight from the morning. Suprisingly (to me), the GPS clocked our top speed at 22 MPH. It sure felt faster to me :) Guess that's what you get when hanging on for life behind the fast kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

March also signals the transition into warmer days. Jack & Rudy will roll snow angels to cool off at 10 below, so you know what they will do at 20-30 above!!!!

Cooling the jets! Ahhh!

That's all for today as we conclude with as usual sharing 'end of run' treats with retired mentor Zorro:

All smiles, all ready for treats!!!

Wonderful endless morning atop Rabbit Ears Pass: 12.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 99 days on the trails covering 829.0 miles with 78,400 feet of elevation climbed.