Flying

Jack & Rudy expressing their pleasure with this morning's skijor outing :)

Great time & happy, happy kids! Smiles all around!

All professional athletes know "pre workout stretches" are a crucial part of getting your muscles limber and ready for a fast, fast run. Well, Jack & Rudy are professional athletes. So....

Doing our "pre workout stretches" while the slow human puts
his skis on to start the day's outing.

Stretches done and time to hit the trails in & around Gold Run Nordic Center. Clearly Jack & Rudy knew we had plans for the Gold Run nordic groomie zoomies as their performance matched their pre workout stretches :)

The fun kids FLYING along the beautiful nordic trail.

How about another cool shot of the speedy kids? Here we have one foot from each on the ground as they are in a full sprint stretch along the fast terrain. Zoom!

Good thing we stretched properly before today's fast outing!!!

Did I say "zooming" yet? Ha, well come along for a video glimpse of impressive Jack & Rudy towing me along. The GPS clocked us topping 24 MPH along this stretch of trail. Fast & fun kids!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The only mishap of the day? Well, the 'end of run' treat camera operator (Nancy) forgot how to line up the camera. The following photo is the most she got of Zorro in the end of run party. Poor Z getting cut out of the finale celebration footage!

"She can't operate the camera, but I can focus & accept treats!" says Zorro.
"Maybe mom should be doing some pre workout stretches to help her limber
up to operate the camera!" suggests the happy, cool kids, Jack & Rudy.

A say this a lot with Jack & Rudy; but another zippy, zoomy fun day! 9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 112 days on the trails covering 944.1 miles with 89,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Perfect

Conditions were PERFECT around Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

Wow! Oh my, what perfect conditions. Wow! :)

I only have time for a quick review of this morning's super skijor. But, the conditions were SO perfect, I had to share! How perfect? Well, if the prior photo didn't do it for you, how about this one?

Catching air as we are only second tracks on this PERFECT groomed trail!

Still not convinced? Well, come along for a video tribute to the morning. We start off this clip with Jack & Rudy towing me in a very fast gallop. Eventually, the trail takes a dip downward and Jack & Rudy FLOOR it as we fly down the perfect trail. Zoom and Wow!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Retired mentor Zorro would have REALLY enjoyed today's outing. So, let's make sure the cool old man gets to enjoy end of run treats instead!

All at attention and ready!!! :)

A zooming day on perfect conditions: 8.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 111 days on the trails covering 935.1 miles with 88,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Cats and More

Turnaround time with the goofball kids, Jack & Rudy :)

"I'm having a blast!" says happy Rudy who just finished rolling
his 'turnaround snow angel'.
"Hold on, almost done!" adds silly Jack who ALWAYS takes time
to roll the longest and best snow angel :)

Our outing this morning took us from Dry Lake (just outside of Steamboat Springs) up towards Buffalo Pass. This is a really fun route but a little out of our usual range, so we do not do it very often. The climb from Dry Lake to Buffalo Pass is popular with both snowcats (transporting humans to powder caches near Buffalo Pass) and snowmobiles. As a result, the trail is often wide and well set from both snowcats and snowmobiles.

Wheeee, zipping along the wide snowcat trail high up near
Buffalo Pass.

Did I mention snowcats? Yep! We started doing this route with Max & Zorro and have continued it with Jack & Rudy. If you start out early, then eventually you will encounter snowcats (from Steamboat Powdercats) transporting backcountry skiers up the pass. As with Max & Zorro, Jack & Rudy LOVE to encounter the cats and flirt with the drivers and passengers who also LOVE seeing them on the trail too :)

"Hey, nice contraption! But, we'll take our human up ourselves!" says
cute & curious Jack & Rudy.

If you are wondering... Jack & Rudy are faster than a snowcat on flat and downhill terrain but a snowcat is much faster than us going up steep terrain. The path from Dry Lake to Buffalo Pass is very steep in areas; so, the snowcats always catch and pass us on steep trails. We have just paused to let the cat pass us above as the trail was very wide and a steep grade was just around the corner.

Notice anything different or unusual in the last 3 photos? How about a lot of fog visible against the trees. At our highest point, the fog was very thick; so thick that I couldn't really see the trail. Not a problem, though, as Jack & Rudy will follow the trail whether any of us can see it or not (most sled dogs have this incredible trail following skill). Anyway, all was fine until Jack & Rudy's "wildlife sensors" started going off. We were cruising along in the thick fog when they both snapped to "wildlife attention" and were scanning right, left, right, left, etc. 

Cruising in the thick fog as Jack & Rudy both lock off trail to the
left on some sort of wildlife.

What got their attention? Well, luckily we never found out. But, their actions told me it was either moose or elk nearby. You better believe my head was whipping right/left constantly as I squinted to make out anything in the fog. But, as I said, luckily the moose or elk stayed far enough off trail to not be an issue!

Today's video highlight is very fun. We start out on a surprise stretch of untouched trail with a nice amount of fresh snow. So, it's "laying fresh tracks" for us as we zoom along. Eventually, we round a hairpin right in the trail and connect onto some set snowmobile tracks. Once on set tracks, Jack & Rudy do their usual and take off. Fresh tracks to snowmobile tracks! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A lot of fun to report back to retired mentor Zorro!

"Uh-huh, but what about those 'end of run' treats in your hands?" asks focused Zorro.
"From snowcats to moose scent! What a day!" adds fun Jack & Rudy.

Fun, fun day! 10.3 miles traveled with 1400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 110 days on the trails covering 926.7 miles with 87,800 feet of elevation climbed.