Catching Air

Riding the "Siberian Skijoring Rope Tow" up French Gulch this morning :)

The sun has just risen over the mountains to unveil a beautiful bluebird day on the
trails this morning!

Today's short & fun video clip has us going up French Gulch. With just a slight incline to the trail, I can sit back and pretty much ride the Siberian Skijoring Rope Tow - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I used to think we needed sun to get impressive "airborne, hovercraft" clips of Max & Zorro. Well, I stand corrected... They are an impressive hovercraft in the shade too!

The Siberian Skijoring Hovercraft floating along the trail!

It was a fun day on fast terrain in French Gulch. But it was a rare outing to French Gulch this season as we failed to spot a moose and our noses got tickled with the 'scent of moose' only once during the outing. Oh well, still a blast - just ask Max & Zorro:

"Great day! We traded moose for speed - that's fine with us!" state the happy pair.

We did the "out & back" in French Gulch so fast that we added an additional "out & back" on Sally Barber to extend the day: 8.7 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 75 days on the trails covering 637.0 miles with 67300 feet of elevation climbed.

Hovercraft

Greetings from behind the Siberian Skijoring Hovercraft at Vail Pass this morning!

Fast trails and the angle of the morning sun make for great "catching air/hovercraft" photos
of Max & Zorro flying & floating along the trails.

A beautiful morning at Vail Pass with absolutely perfect trail conditions! What a fun day!

Out-stretched & sprinting skijor partners - wheeee!

Eventually we had to turn around and head back to the trailhead. How was the first half of the run guys?

"Turnaround? Ok, we'll repeat the sprint in the other direction!" declares happy Max.
"I am having a blast! Can we go all day?" asks giddy Zorro.

We had chores to do after the run today - so only time for this quick blog update. But what a great day on perfect conditions: 9.2 miles traveled with 1050 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 74 days on the trails covering 628.3 miles with 66400 feet of elevation climbed.

Aroma

Some like the smell of a campfire early in the morning.

Some like the smell of bacon cooking early in the morning.

And some like the smell of fresh moose early in the morning!

"Aahhh - the 'scent of moose' to the right! What a wonderful aroma!" declares Max getting
a nose full of "moose scent" as we trot along the trail.

I have mentioned this before... Only the scent (or sight) of moose can draw Max & Zorro off the trail. That is, only moose are above skijoring...

"Let me through, I want to smell it too!" states Zorro trying to join Max in the scent of moose.
"My favorite aroma!" sniffs Max.

I was able to correct them from drifting completely off the trail in the prior photo. But, sometimes the scent of moose is just too much to ignore!

"Such a strong aroma -we must pause and look!" declare the moose seekers.
Sure enough, I followed their stare into the trees across the gulch and saw a camouflaged
moose moving through the trees.

In addition to the entertaining moose distraction, it was a beautiful morning for a skijor in French Gulch:

Beautiful day, beautiful terrain - wheeee!

We did the fast Sally Barber Mine Trail before skijoring French Gulch. Here's a short video clip of us skijoring our favorite section of this trail. A quick left, a quick right and then a 'pedal to the metal' straightaway - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Great morning for a skijor and to fill your nose with moose aroma: 8.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 73 days on the trails covering 619.1 miles with 65350 feet of elevation climbed.