Peak 7

Fresh tracks fun on the trails on Peak 7 in Breckenridge. Wheeee!

A wonderful layer of fresh snow all to ourselves. Yay!

We were on the trails that will eventually become Breckenridge Nordic Center once there is enough snow to support a groomer. While we expected enough snow for a groomer, it is not quite there. But, there was plenty of snow to support Jack, Rudy and I! So, it was a "backcountry style" outing on the soon to become nordic trails on Peak 7 this morning.

It was 8 degrees (F) when we started the outing. You know what that means, Jack & Rudy had to stop and use the Hallelujah Warming Hut we encountered along the way. This is how a Siberian Husky uses a warming hut:

"8 degrees! So hot! Must stop, drop and roll to cool our jets at the
warming hut!" declares the snow rolling sillies.

While we were first tracks in the fresh snow most of the day, eventually we encountered evidence of others. Not a problem, there was still plenty of fresh snow for us to use next to some other tracks on the trail:

Fresh tracks down the middle of the trail with another set of ski
tracks to our left. Plenty of untouched snow for us!!!

Now come along for some video fun. Watch as Jack & Rudy are having a blast towing me along in the fresh snow as we round many corners on the trail along the way. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, we got a real treat - our first fresh smelling moose tracks on the trail for the 2025/2026 season. Delectable!

"Sniff, sniff - these are FRESH!!!" says the moose track inspectors.

What was better - the fresh snow, the moose tracks or the end of run treats. Hmmm, I think it was a tie amongst all three!

"End of run treats are ALWAYS special!" declares the happy & focused kids.

Great day laying fresh tracks on Peak 7: 6.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 22.0 miles with 2600 feet of elevation climbed.

It's Begun!

Jack & Rudy catching air, in mid-season form, on our third outing of the early 2025/2026 season!

"We don't need time to get back in shape, we were born to do this!" demonstrates
the fun kids already in mid-season form!

We can FINALLY say that the season has fully begun! After some great (and MUCH needed) snow the last 2 days, are trails are finally in good condition and terrain is starting to become skijor-able! Yay!

Our route today took us up the front side of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. If you've followed through the years, you know that Jack & Rudy typically roll snow angels after the initial climb to the mine. Today the lace on my ski boot came loose. I thought I'd pause at the mine to let them roll while I retightened my boot lace. Well, Rudy apparently thinks I'm supposed to stand and watch the snow angels, not tend to my own business; so he let me know it :)

"WOO! What are you doing back here? You are supposed to be focused on ME!"
declares wooing Rudy coming back to get in my face loudly!!!
"I can wait for a shoe tie!" says patient, happy Jack in the background.

So we got woos (Rudy) and smiles (Jack) while I fixed my boot. I then expected snow angels once I was paying attention again. Well, not today, the frisky kids had other plans.

"Let's wrestle at the mine!" suggests the silly kids play bowing to each other.
If you know "dog language" you'll note that Jack (yes, perfect Jack) is the instigator
in this photo. Rudy, of course, never backs down from a play challenge. Silly kids!!!

We then went on to check the back side of the trail. This side is much steeper and rockier. But, I saw other ski tracks going down the trail, so we tried it. Well, skiing by yourself down a steep & rocky trail is MUCH different than skijoring behind two strong sled dogs on a steep & rocky trail. After a tumbling wipeout (of me, Jack & Rudy had no issues :), we abandoned the back side and returned to skijor down the front side of the trail. This did give us a chance, though, to fly on by the mine on the second pass:

Whee! Flying on by Sallie Barber Mine.

Now here we go for today's video highlight along one of our favorite curves into a long straightaway on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. I mentioned yesterday that my gopro died, so I'm now using an old & cheapo camera while I shop & buy a new, higher quality camera. The result, you'll notice this video is very "bouncy" compared to what I usually show. Well, cheapo cameras do not do "image stabilization" of videos, high quality cameras do. So, we'll have bouncy clips until I replace the dead gopro. But, we'll take it to be on snow!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and, being only the third outing of the season, there are no snow walls yet for Jack & Rudy to climb for end of run treats. I look forward to the snow walls as much as them - they love to climb them and I love to not have to kneel down. Soon, my pals, soon...

"As usual, you have our full attentions!" says the happy kids awaiting
end of run treats.

A fun little jaunt on the front side of Sallie Barber this morning: 4.3 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 3 days on the trails covering 15.8 miles with 1800 feet of elevation climbed.

Real Snow, Bad Camera

Finally - REAL (and deep enough) snow to really get our 2025/2026 skijoring season underway!!!

Whee - laying fresh tracks up Boreas Pass in about 4-5" of fresh snow!

This is only our second outing of the 2025/2026 season due to lack of snow across pretty much all of Colorado. But, significant snow FINALLY arrived last night. So, we got out just after sunrise to truly enjoy this late start to the season.

While the snow was PERFECT, the GoPro camera was NOT! I knew my camera was nearing its end of life and today was the day it gave out. Every time I turned on the video, it would run for 10-20 seconds and then beep, say "low battery, powering off" and shutdown. I'd then turn it back on, see that the battery was over 90% charged, turn on video again only to have it shutdown in 10-20 seconds again. Boo!

At our turnaround point, the camera had clicked off and I missed capturing Jack & Rudy rolling dual snow angels. So, I got myself centered on them, clicked the video on once more and asked "Who wants to roll snow angels again?" I knew I had only 10-20 seconds for my pals to respond. Well, here's what I got:

"You don't have to ask me twice! Rub a dub dub!" goes always rolling Jack.
"Nope, you get a big WOOOOO for asking me to perform!" responds talkative Rudy.

I kept trying to turn the video on every 10 minutes or so, hoping the camera would come back to life. But, that did not happen, I never got more than 20 seconds of video at a time (often closer to 10 seconds). Bummer....

Quick shot of the return leg before the camera shut off again.
Those are our "up tracks" to our left. We were laying fresh tracks
all the way up & down Boreas. Too bad the camera didn't cooperate!

Back to the trailhead and at least Nancy's iPhone video worked for end of run treats:

"Ready!" says always happy Jack.
"You have my FULL attention!" adds intense Rudy.

We finally got snow - yay! But we had a bad camera - boo! I'll be switching to an old backup camera in hopes of getting real footage on our next outing!

Today's tally: 8.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 2 days on the trails covering 11.5 miles with 1300 feet of elevation climbed.