Yum

"Yum, Fresh Bird Food!" Zorro, 07/20/2012...

Taking a quick break in the shade at an old abandoned cabin high up on Baldy Mountain.

Jogging along the trail to True Romance Mine, having a great time... "What's that off in the bushes? Hey, a baby bird!!!" exclaims Zorro. Dive off the trail, land in a bush, and pull out a yummy baby bird - performs Zorro.

"Whoa, get that out of his mouth - I want half!" declares Max. "What??? Wait! No, why are you kicking the carcass off the trail - that's fresh food!" gasps Max.

Total Damage Done: Zorro pulled a baby bird out of a bush along the trail. I believe it was a Quail, but hard to tell by the time I got to view it. As I pulled it by the tail out of his mouth and onto the ground, it was missing its head and one wing (and Zorro was happily swallowing those parts). To Max's dismay, I then kicked the remaining carcass off the trail before we started off running again.

Today's Trail Running Route: (1) Start at Carter Park in Breckenridge; (2) Jog up to Sally Barber Mine; (3) Hang a right and jog up to the True Romance Mine (eating 1/2 a bird along the way); (4) Hang another right and jog up to an unnamed mine high up on the north face of Baldy Mountain; (5) Connect onto the main Baldy Mtn trail and run down to the Baldy Road Trailhead.

The "True Romance Mine" marker. In the winter all traces of the mine are covered
by snow and this marker is all that is visible.

Dipping our heads into one of the old mine shafts at True Romance Mine. What are
we mining for, you ask? Gold? Silver? No... Furry Creatures! Now that would be
a Siberian Treasure!

The last, unnamed mine on today's route. It was a steep jog up 1700 feet to get
to this high point.

Hiking 4000 Feet Up

My Father's Day Present from Max & Zorro?

A hike 4,050 feet up to snow at the top of Peak 10 (and then back down). Woo, those two sure know how to throw a party!

Here we are about 1,000 feet from our high point. Notice the "dent" in the back
of Max's head... Well, it's not a real dent, that just shows how hard the wind was
blowing as we approached the top of Peak 10. The wind gusts were easily over
40-50 MPH as we got near the summit!

Here is a look at Peaks 8, 9 & 10 on the Breckenridge Ski Resort. And, yes,
we started at the base of the ski resort and hiked all the way up to the top
of Peak 10! Siberian Fun!

Our Route: Start near the base of the Breckenridge Ski Resort and then: (1) Hike up to and past Peak 9 Restaurant; (2) Continue on the jeep road ascending up Peak 9 and connecting over to Peak 10; (3) Continue on this jeep road all the way to and just past the Weather Station near the top of Peak 10; (4) Turn around and come down Peak 10 until connecting with Wheeler Trail; (5) Take Wheeler Trail to the Crystal Lakes trail and then to the Spruce Creek trailhead.

A Siberian Great Time - ascending 4050 feet on the way up (& then back down) and covering just under 11 miles. A steep ride up & down with lots of "snow treats" near the summit!

An abandoned cabin at (exactly) 13,000 feet on the path to the top of Peak 10.
Max & Zorro inspecting the cabin, "Hmmm, looks intact - can we move in here
for the summer?" they ask...

Approaching the Weather Station at approximately 13,300 feet elevation.

"Hi weather station. Bye weather station - we've got more elevation to climb!"

A look back from our high point (at about 13,500 feet). You can see the abandoned
cabin from a previous photo as a dot along the jeep road. We are about 100 feet
from the top of Peak 10 in this shot; but we ran out of "jeep road" at the weather
station and then ran out of snow at this point. The remaining 100 feet required us
to traverse a stretch of extremely sharp rocks. We chose not to risk our toes on this
last stretch. So, we can say we "hiked to the top of the snow on Peak 10, just below
the actual summit."

Who is crazy enough to hike to the top of Peak 10, you ask...
"Just us Huskies and a pair of desperate skiers hiking the final patch of snow
on Peak 10 to ski down!"

"Ah, rolling in the snow, cooling my jets! I love hiking the peaks!"
demonstrates Zorro.

"Move over, let a professional snow-angel-maker take over!" says Max.

Zorro's Birthday Party!

June 1st - Zorro turned 4 years old. I wonder what Zorro would want for his birthday???

Ok, so skijoring is not an option in June. So, Max & I gave him the next best thing we could think of...

A hike up & over Breckenridge Ski Resort and down to Copper Mountain Ski Resort. We love doing this hike in the summer, it is a true Siberian Treat: 11.2 miles in total distance with 3050 feet of elevation gain and 3150 feet of elevation decline. Woo - what a steep up & down - happy husky tails all around!

On the path up & over Breck Ski Resort. Max & Zorro looking at the fun snow
just a few thousand feet above us!

"Ah, snow!" says the birthday boy. When else could you hope for on a
June birthday?!?!

"This is nice, but how about MORE?" ponders birthday boy Zorro.
"More" is Zorro's FAVORITE word!

"Ahhh, now that's what I meant by MORE! Rub a dub dub!"

"Hey, don't forget about me! This birthday bash was MY idea," says Max.

"DEER! Did anyone else see the DEER??? Snow, Elevation and DEER, now
that's a birthday party!" proclaims intense little Zorro.

Taking a break at the Wheeler Trail Summit between Breckenridge and Copper
(elevation about 12,500 feet). Notice Zorro, the mature little 4 year old, sitting
for the photo shoot!