Jack & Rudy had a GREAT time skijoring Vail Pass this morning. Can you tell?
"Yes, yes, we had a BLAST!" exclaims the happy, happy kids.
We only had time for a short run at Vail Pass; but Jack and Rudy certainly made the most of it!
They were "catching air" in the shade:
Hover Huskies in the shade.
They were "catching air" in the sun:
Hovering over the trail again :)
They were flooring it on the Shrine Pass Trail. Come along a see for yourself in this fun video clip. In addition to flooring it, watch the cool "pass action" at about 20-30 seconds in the clip. Jack & Rudy slow naturally as we encounter a snow vehicle coming up trail. No need to stop, though, just slow, move to the right and then floor it again once past. Great partners!
Finally, of course there were snow angels to be rolled at our turnaround point on the backside of Shrine Pass. Goofballs :)
Turnaround.... Roll Around!
As I said, only time for a short run, but Jack & Rudy made the most of it: 7.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH - zoom!
2022/2023 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 341.5 miles with 29,650 feet of elevation climbed.
Jack & Rudy running strong on the front side of Shrine Pass at Vail Pass!
Zoom!
We decided to bring Vail Pass back into our regular trails this season. For years, Vail Pass was a staple for Max, Zorro and I to skijor 10-14 miles. It has wonderful, endless terrain. But, we had to take Vail Pass off the trail list for a few years after Max passed away. First, we were training young Jack to skijor alongside Zorro. Well, Vail Pass is not very good for training runs. Then, we were training young Rudy to skijor alongside Zorro & Jack. So, again, not a good option for training. Then, once Jack & Rudy were over 2 years old, we were winding elder Zorro down (as he was over 11 years old). So, similar reasoning, Vail Pass was not a great option for going easy on Zorro and letting him run part of the outing.
Now here we are in 2022 and Jack is 5 years old and Rudy is 4 (soon to turn 5). Well, the kids are in the prime of their lives right now. As a result, we brought Vail Pass back into our main repertoire of trails; just as we did when Max & Zorro were in their prime. Fun memories today of Max & Zorro while running this great terrain with Jack & Rudy!
One thing about Vail Pass, you share the trails with snowmobiles. No problem, Jack & Rudy have no problem running near snowmobiles. But, it does make for some fun flirting opportunities. We came upon one group of 3 snowmobiles paused on the trail. Rudy proceeded to woo at each snowmobile we passed. Jack flashed his beautiful smile and swooshed his fun tail.
"Woo!" says Rudy to the snowmobiler. Silly kid.
A few moments after we passed this group, they restarted and passed us along the trail. Here's the thing: Max & Zorro HATED to be passed by anything. Zorro taught Jack & Rudy the dislike in being passed. Now, mature Jack & Rudy are the same - they HATE being passed by anything. So, once the three snowmobiles went on by, the kids launched into overdrive to try and keep pace. Funny kids.
"Oh no, you don't pass us!!!!" declares the monsters launching to chase after the third snowmobile.
Jack & Rudy have done a few skijors at Vail Pass before. But these were all in May when we go to skijor the spring crust on the front side of the pass. The kids had never skijored the pass "in season" like this morning when you can go forever! Here they are on their first ever skijor on the backside of Shrine Pass.
New trail, same results. Zoom :)
We then headed up the Lime Creek Trail - another first for Jack & Rudy. Time to turnaround on a new trail. Well, new trail, old trail - same turnaround goofs!
"Turnaround! Roll around!" demonstrates the silly kids. Nice face full of snow by each!
Finally, here we go coming to the finish of today's 11+ mile skijor. Impressive video especially when you consider Jack & Rudy had been towing me running & jogging for over 10 miles before this clip!!!
Laying fresh tracks in a nice layer of wind blown fresh snow. Whee!
The "haze" on the trees in the foreground is NOT fog or low clouds, it is snow being whipped around by strong winds!
It was a very windy morning out on the trails. The temperature when we started the outing was around 7 F with a strong wind bringing the wind chill to well below zero. I was expecting a cold morning but not strong winds to add to the cold. As a result, the wimpy human cut the outing short due to extreme cold. But, it was only me who thought it was cold :)
The haze in this shot against the bottom of the trees is snow blowing in the wind! Brrrr!
Come along for a fun video clip of the outing. If you simply watch the clip without volume, it is just impressive & fast running Jack & Rudy towing me along this fun and winding trail. But, if your volume is up, you'll hear the extreme wind being captured by the camera microphone. It is REALLY windy for the camera mic to pick up this much wind noise!!!
Goofy Rudy is usually good for at least one "dork with my brother" moment on every skijor. Mature Jack often just looks the other way and ignores the silly kid...
"You KNOW you want to play with me!" says Rudy baiting Jack. "You are a goofy little brother!" responds Jack.
But, occasionally Jack falls for it and takes Rudy's bait. Shall we dance?
Dancing or wrestling? Silly kids! Oh Jack, you fell for it :)
As I said, only I thought it was cold; but I still get to end the outing early. Unfortunately, Nancy's camera had a smudge on the lens. But, you can still make out Jack & Rudy's happy faces for end of run treats:
Their happiness can shine through a blurry camera!
A wicked wind leading to a wimpy human calling the day early: 7.7 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.
2022/2023 Season to Date: 39 days on the trails covering 323.0 miles with 27,850 feet of elevation climbed.
