Jack found us a moose off trail and deep in the trees this morning.
Our first "moose sighting" on a skijor in what seems like quite a while even though we've encountered lots of moose tracks and other moose evidence!
"My moose detector says THIS WAY!" points Jack into the forest.
"Where, where?" asks young Rudy who has not yet perfected moose detection.
Unfortunately for you readers, the moose was deep in the trees in the prior photo so you cannot make it out. Fortunately for me on the trail, the moose was deep in the trees :) I followed Jack's line of sight into the trees and saw a camouflaged female hidden amongst the trees.
After having two big outings in a row for older Zorro the last two days, we left Zorro out of the run for most of the day and added him in the team at the end. We need to rest the old guy now & then while still exercising the young monsters!
For the third time this season Jack & Rudy topped 24 MPH skijoring but did not quite get to 25 MPH. It sure felt like it to me and I was surprised the GPS only reported 24. I thought we were easily above 25 and maybe even 26 MPH. Oh well, 24 MPH it is - here's what 24 MPH skijoring looks like :)
Fast pair in a synchronized sprint tuck along the groomed zoom track!
Rudy may not have a well defined "moose detector" yet; but he CERTAINLY has well defined rodent swan dives. He treated us to another beautiful dive this morning to join rodent dunking Jack in the deep snow off trail:
"Incoming!" demonstrates Rudy with a beautiful rodent swan dive.
"DUNK - where are the rodents?!?" asks submerged Jack.
Dunk & dive over, so back to skijoring. We love passing people on the trails and putting a smile on their faces at the sight of the handsome, happy sled dogs towing me along.
"Hi - made you smile!" says the duo passing by the smiling onlookers.
Today's video clip goes along with the prior photo and also showcases the beautiful groomed nordic trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. We start out flying along the groomie zoomie. Then, we see the people coming up the trail - I slow a bit (if you can tell :) until I determine they do not have a loose dog with them (which is a common occurrence on this trail) and then let Jack & Rudy open it up to fly on by once I see it is safe. Finally, we end the clip going into and out of one of my favorite tight lefts on this network of trails. So fun to be behind the skijor machine and we lean into and out of a tight corner!
Ok, Jack & Rudy exercised, time to add in fun Zorro to end the day. Look at those happy faces as they tow me to the finish!
Smiles, smiles, smiles!!!!!
Zorro is really enjoying our setup this season. He comes with on many 5-6 mile outings and then stays back now & then while we run Jack & Rudy for extra distance and let Zorro join for the finish. Just look at Zorro's happy face at the end of our outing!
"That was fun - thanks for wearing the kids out first!" exclaims happy Zorro.
"Hey, moose footprint!!!!!" declares print sniffing Jack.
"Whew, you wore me out!" demonstrates flat Rudy. A tired Rudy is a GOOD Rudy!
A 9+ mile groomed fun run for the kids with a light (and happy) finish for Zorro: 9.6 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 308.4 miles with 30,100 feet of elevation climbed.
Very focused and very happy trio waiting for their 'end of run' treats this morning:
"We had a blast; but you now have our FULL attention!" says the happy & focused trio :)
We skijored the upper trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. It was a surprisingly interesting terrain for this time of year. We found the middle of the trail to be pretty soft while the sides were quite firm. There were post holes from previous dogs on the trail down the middle and Zorro, Jack & Rudy found they were poking through too if they ran the middle. Not a problem, though, my smart partners quickly figured out to avoid the middle and run the sides. But, not all three could fit on the same side without the inside guy drifting into the soft middle. Again, not a problem, the smart fellas simply separated and Zorro ran one solid side while Jack & Rudy ran the other solid side. I, on the other hand, could ride the middle as you don't post hole on skis. A perfect configuration with the sled dogs on the firm sides and the skis down the soft middle!
You can see some of the pre-existing post holes down the center. Smart Zorro moved to the left and
smart Jack & Rudy moved to the right. All paws now on firm terrain with me skiing down the middle.
I believe the soft center was caused by a few factors. First, we had a TON of snow recently. Second, the nordic center groomer has only made 1 or 2 passes on the upper trails since the recent snow. Third, few people make it to these upper trails (it's a long haul without dog power). So, lots of snow and little use (groomer or skier) made for the soft center. Note that the firm sides mirror what would be the heavy treads of the groomer machine.
Another shot, this time in the shade showing the soft middle:
Same as above - Zorro on the firm left, Jack & Rudy on the firm right, me skiing down
the middle and a bunch of pre-existing post holes from some "not as smart" dogs
that ran the trail before us.
In addition to interesting upper elevation terrain, the comedian kids were in rare form this morning.
At one quick pause on the trail and here comes the rodent "dunk & dive" twins:
"DUNK!" demonstrates Jack.
"Incoming - DIVE!" demonstrates swan diving Rudy.
"Kids, it was just a quick pause, let's go!" adds mature Zorro.
At our turnaround point of the morning, it was the usual "stop, drop and roll" twins:
"Ah - stop, drop & roll!" demonstrates the goofball twins.
"You two! I give up!" adds Zorro :)
We started this season with the comedians rolling snow angels at every pause. Then they added "dunk & dive" to their repertoire recently. Well, today, Jack the consummate clown expanded the comedy act. The new antic? Poke the brother:
"Hehe - POKE - you know you are laughing!" says Jack the clown to Zorro.
"Oh, 'poke', I like that addition!" adds onlooking Rudy.
We'll see if Jack keeps the "brother poke" as a regular addition to the comedy act or if it just an occasional addition :)
Anyway, back to skijoring... The lower part of the trail was stable from side to side as it gets a lot of use. Thus, proving my theory that the lack of traffic on the upper trail was the reason for the soft center today. Come along for fun along the lower solid trail; but note that everyone is keeping the "configuration of the day" (Zorro left, Jack & Rudy right) just in case it gets soft in the center.
An interesting day showcasing smart trail configurations by Zorro, Jack & Rudy and a day of extra comedy from the silly kids Jack & Rudy: 6.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 45 days on the trails covering 298.8 miles with 29,400 feet of elevation climbed.
You know a moose had been in the area recently for Zorro to join the youngsters, Jack & Rudy, in off trail antics :)
All three of my partners wondering off trail as they try to follow a moose trough in the
deep snow going into the woods.
If you have followed along this season, you know Jack & Rudy are becoming famous for their off trail rodent dunks & dives as something as simple as a rodent under the deep snow can get their attention. But, for reliable veteran Zorro to drift off trail too means only one thing - MOOSE! We did not see a moose today, but the reaction from all three above (especially Zorro) told me this moose trough was very fresh and one had been in the neighborhood very recently!
We did a quick out & back in French Gulch this morning. Unfortunately the French Gulch Trail gets plowed & driven in addition to skied, as a result, it was a pretty thin snow cover that was almost too fast packed to be safe. We are one warm day away from French Gulch being ubskiable until our next snowstorm. Here is a fun shot of the trio working shoulder to shoulder as we go:
Synchronized & out-stretched skijoring machine :)
As nice as the prior photo actually looks, the reality is it was very thin and almost too packed in areas. Come along for today's short video highlight and you can see just how thin and fast packed the trail really was. Barely enough snow cover to go and certainly not enough to encourage my partners to really open the throttle!
Time to turnaround, time to get a smile from attentive Zorro and antics from the kids:
"Hi - I'm listening!" says happy Zorro.
"Still looking for those moose!" adds moose seeking Jack.
"We stopped, I roll!!!!" demonstrates silly Rudy.
Oh, don't worry, Jack rolled a snow angel too (after he was done scanning for moose), keeping his record alive of rolling a snow angel on every skijor outing of his young career :)
Done with out "out & back" in French Gulch and all smiles as we arrive to the finish:
"Wheeee - we had a blast!" says the happy running trio.
A short & quick day on fast packed French Gulch with an off trail moose trough distraction for all: 5.3 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 44 days on the trails covering 292.7 miles with 28,700 feet of elevation climbed.
