Helpful

Laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow on the popular Sallie Barber Mine Trail. What a treat!

There was not a lot of new snow (you can see the footprints behind Rudy to
judge that); but any time you can lay fresh tracks on the popular Sallie
Barber Mine Trail, it is a real treat!!!

Our outing took us up the frontside of the mine, then down & back up the backside and then back down the frontside. As I showed above, we were first in the fresh snow on the frontside; well we were first in the snow on the backside too. Sweet!

Zipping along laying fresh tracks down the backside of the mine trail.

Doing this route, means we pass by the historic 1800s mine twice. The kids always pause on the first pass. Usually they both roll snow angels to reward themselves for the climb. Well, Rudy had an unusually quiet day (for him) on yesterday's outing; so I was pretty sure he was going to break form today. Yep!

"Rub a dub dub!" goes always snow rolling Jack at the historic mine.
"Wooooooo! Did you miss this yesterday?" sings Rudy who could not
possibly have two quiet days in a row :)

Then there is the second pass by the mine after going down and back up the backside. Despite this pass coming after a steep climb as well, the kids almost always forego snow angels on the second pass to sprint on by. Hey, at least they are consistent :)

No need to stop on the second pass by the mine!

We had a lot of new snow yesterday and a little more overnight. Humans tend to follow one another single file on this popular trail, so the "set track" is pretty narrow after fresh snow until someone (such as myself) decides to ski out of track and widen the set track. That was the case this morning. I noticed the set track on the initial climb was going to be too narrow for Jack & Rudy to fit in together on the return (they can fit during a climb just fine, but not at high speeds going down). So, I skied out of track all the way up to give my pals a wider trail for the way down.

Did it work? Yep! Come along and watch as Rudy is running in the set track while Jack is running in my "up track" I set for him to use on the way down. Oh yeah, talkative Rudy is there in today's video too (at about 19 seconds into the clip). Watch how Jack in my track is, for the most part, able to keep pace with Rudy in the set track. I love when I'm helpful :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We were having a great time this morning and way ahead of schedule. So, as we completed the final descent from the mine, I turned us onto the French Gulch Trail (these trails share the same trailhead parking lot). Yesterday we had a nice & rare treat skijoring all of French Gulch. I knew it would have deteriorated since then as it gets driven by cars; but we tried it anyway. Success! We skijored out the first mile or so of French Gulch and then turned around to glide back before concluding the day.

Still skiable! Yay! But it's really one warm day away from being
un-skiable again. Oh well, we made the most of it!

Fun outing, right guys?

"Yes!!!!!" states the happy & focused kids awaiting end of run treats.
Speaking of treats, I helped today - I deserve a treat too!!! I'll have
to fix that later :)

Some rare fresh tracks on Sallie Barber with a little French Gulch add on: 8.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 68 days on the trails covering 526.0 miles with 50,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Treat

Today was a wonderful, albeit rare, skijor in French Gulch. Come along for the fun!

Whee - zipping along laying fresh tracks in 2-4 inches of fresh snow.

Why was this a rare outing? Well, the gulch gets plowed after any significant amount of snow. But, with only a few inches of new snow this morning, it was not worth the time or cost to have it plowed. Yet, there was plenty of new snow for me to be on skis safely behind Jack & Rudy. What a treat!

Come along and watch some of the fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The tracks you see to our left in both the photo and video are our "out tracks" on this same trail. Knowing this, you might be wondering "what happened" in the photo above and at 21 and 25 seconds into the video. You'll notice our footprints and ski prints seem to drift off trail for a moment. Well, French Gulch is known for its active moose population. On the way out (going a little slower uphill), Jack & Rudy caught the clear "scent of moose" and had to hop up the snow wall to peek down into the gulch for moose. French Creek runs down the center of the gulch and it is very common to spot moose meandering around on the banks of the creek:

"We smell MOOSE! Must climb this snow wall to try and get a view!" says
the snow wall climbing, moose seeking sillies.

I climbed the wall too (much slower than Jack & Rudy :) to peek myself. I did not see any moose either time; but I could tell by Jack & Rudy's intensity that the scent was clear & strong in the air!

For added entertainment, we did an out & back extension on what is known as the Little French Gulch Trail. Did I say "out & back"? Well, you know what that means happened at one point!

Turnaround, roll around! The kids were slightly out of sync in rolling their
snow angels this morning. In this photo, Jack has just finished rolling his angel
(note the indentation in the snow behind him) while Rudy was just starting his.
Jack looked on with approval :)

This extension does not get plowed and is popular with backcountry skinners. As a result, it is a very narrow single track trail. It was so narrow that we had to skijor single file to fit in the packed track since the snow outside the track was very deep. Not a problem, Jack & Rudy are very capable of adapting to narrow trails :)

Jack's turn to run in front of the single file setup.
They switched after a while and then it was Rudy's turn to run in the lead. 
Flexible & adaptable guys!

After the Little French Gulch narrow extension, it was back onto the main French Gulch Trail. Wide again with fresh snow - time to floor it again!

Wheeee!

A fun French Gulch treat this morning. Right guys?

"Yes! Love our rare outings in moosey French Gulch!" says the happy kids
awaiting end of run treats atop a snow wall.

Today's tally: 8.2 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 67 days on the trails covering 517.6 miles with 49,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Is it even a dog? Not interested.

Can you just feel the power behind the impressive sled dogs in this photo. Wheeee!

Flooring it up a slight rise in the trail as I glide behind powerful Jack & Rudy!

We started today's outing in the backcountry; but with recent warm days, cool nights and no new snow, the backcountry trails are getting a bit slick and icy. So, we dropped onto the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center after a short trot through the backcountry. The nordic trails were PERFECT. As you see above, Jack & Rudy were flooring it once we got onto safe terrain. All that speed, though, means you really need to roll snow angels to cool off during any pause in the outing :)

"Rub a dub dub, cooling our jets!" says the snow rolling sillies.
Talented Rudy is rolling AND eating snowcones at the same time :)

We love running into the groomers out on the trails. The drivers know us from years of skijoring and we typically have fun passing interactions with them. But, today, we came upon the groomer rounding a corner and did not have a chance to safely pass. So, my pals and I stepped off trail to let the groomer come on by as we all watched approvingly and waved (ok, I waved, not Jack & Rudy :)

"Hey dude! Thanks for the groom, we are going to zoom!" says
approving Jack & Rudy watching the groomer come on by.

Sure enough, behind the groomer is a freshly groomed trail. Jack & Rudy know what to do with a fresh groom: Groomie Zoomie!!!!

Catching air on the fresh groom. Wheeee!

We continued flying along the fresh groom until we started encountering other people coming up the trail. But, no need to slow down for oncoming traffic - fly on by!

"Coming through! Hi, bye, made you smile!" says Jack & Rudy to the
oncoming skier. The kids love entertaining the oncoming crowds
and flying on by.

Finally, let's get to my favorite part of this morning's outing. We start today's video highlight with a nice clip of Jack & Rudy towing me to the finish of this morning's awesome skijor outing. As we arrive at the trailhead, there is a little loose snack dog meandering about. Watch Jack & Rudy's great "not interested" reaction to the barking snack dog. "If you aren't working, pulling a human or pulling a sled, are you even a dog? Not interested!" is the reaction the pest gets from Jack & Rudy. Classic! Love it!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Everybody knows working dogs get "end of run treats" :)

"You have our full attention! Was that barking thing even a dog?" says
my wonderfully focused partners.

Beautiful outing once we got onto the great nordic trails: 9.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 65 days on the trails covering 500.3 miles with 47,600 feet of elevation climbed.