sun day

 No, I am not going to use the phrase "Sunday fun-day" because, frankly, I despise that phrase.  Makes my skin crawl.  Super annoying.  But I am going to point out that on Sunday, it was a sunny day, and that was most excellent.  

Found this guy

I mean, it was cold: Milton and I had to wait until 9:15 for it to "warm up" to 20F for our Dimple Dell walk.  It was worth it, though, because the sun was strong enough that it was melting the ice on the sidewalks, and by the time we were halfway up the hill to Granite Park, I had warmed to the point where I could take off my mittens.  There weren't as many dog walkers as on Saturday but Dimple Dell was busy with lots of trail runners.  After we did our usual loop, we came home for chores, meal prep (overnight oats and balsamic tempeh) and a little baking (a coconut turmeric loaf), a little reading and another, shorter afternoon walk in the sunshine.

Scrub oak branches against the blue

Meanwhile, H also found it cold up at Alta: -2 F at 7:30 a.m., although it did warm to 9 F at the summit and low 20s at the base by the time he caught the 2:09 bus down canyon.  The snow was pretty good, the visibility terrific and it was not as crowded as it had been on Saturday. 

Clear day on Rock N' Roll

february flurries

 It's been a weekend storm cycle all winter, it seems, and this last weekend was no different.  Friday was a miserable day down in the valley: windy (it had been terribly windy all week, yuck) and a lot of rain, continuing into the night.  This meant snow up at elevation.  Luckily the canyon road never closed and so while H's bus was standing room only, he managed to get on it; and although traffic up the canyon was a red snake of taillights, they made slow but steady progress, getting up to Alta about a half hour later than usual.

Another grey day

It was yet another day that A wouldn't have liked.  It was 6 F when H   started skiing and 11 F when he finished at 2, flurrying all day with dark, flat light.  The snow was nice and soft but it was stupid-crowded, taking 34 minutes to get through the singles line for his first chair of the day.  He switched to the Supreme chair which was okay for a run or two, but by 10:15 all the corrals at all the lifts were overflowing.  And there were the usual dingdongs to contend with in the singles lines: folks who tried to ride up together, folks allowing cuts in line, folks just not paying attention when it was their turn.  You would think that anyone who is a good enough skier to ski at Alta would have at least a clue as to how to navigate the lift lines.  You'd be wrong.

Meanwhile, Milton and A did their usual Dimple Dell loop, although it took longer than usual because there were so many dogs to stop and meet: Betty, Loki, Grover, Lily, Dusty, Angus (cutest corgi), Arlo, Lucy and Annie.  Not the most productive day in the house - marinated some tempeh for meal prep, made sweet cashew cream and a chocolate pudding cake, tofu scramble for dinner - but I did finish a library book and walk to the library for more.  Some days it's okay to just curl up with a cup of tea and a good book.

workaday

 In case you haven't guessed by now, Milton is a pretty great dog.  We love him so much and we're so lucky to have rescued him.  From the time we brought him home, he's been super chill in the house, able to be left to have the run of it when we go to work.  That all changed one day last September when - as best we can figure - a massive thunderstorm, basically centered over our house and absolutely terrified him.  Since then, he's been a little nervous in our Sandy house, scared of the fridge and flinching at the noise of the furnace.  So we've been crating him and that is working really well: he goes in like a champ and seems to like it, even going in of his own volition when we're home and the door is open; and we don't have to worry about him getting hurt or damaging anything.

Hard at work (sleeping) with H

That said, both H and I are lucky to have accommodating offices post-pandemic and we're able to occasionally take the dog to work with us.  Milton doesn't really like going to my office: I'm on the sixth floor and I think he must be able to feel something in the building that we humans don't.  (Plus he's scared of the elevator so we have to walk all the way up.)  When I take him in, he is a good boy, of course.  He's quiet and pretty patient, but fidgety and nervous and has trouble settling.  It is entirely the opposite at H's work: Milt basically commandeers an empty conference room and crashes, snoozing the day away.

Woke up and moved, but now asleep again

on the homefront

Thus endeth January; on to February.  The first month of 2025 was pretty dry snow-wise, actually, and when the first storm of February made its presence known, everyone got pretty excited about it.  They were thinking up to two feet in the Cottonwoods and 2-4 feet in the mountains north of I-80.  I'm not going to say it was entirely a bust, but Alta only got 16 inches of heavy, wet snow, and then some rain on top of that.  Not ideal.

"Where's the snow at?" Milton, probably

On Saturday, H was at the bus stop for his usual 6:30 a.m. bus.  He couldn't get on it as it was full by the time it rolled up; he couldn't get on the next one either.  So he came home, at first thinking that maybe he'd wait a couple of hours and go up mid-morning.  But then inertia took over and he gave up for the day.  Sunday morning he managed to squeeze onto the 6:30 bus where it was standing room only.  And the crowding didn't stop there: for the first lift line of the day, both the singles line and the main corral were stretched up the hill, past the Wildcat chair lift (photo below).  It was a 45 minute line for that first chair.

And it was barely worth the effort, he said later, noting that it was possibly the worst day of the season.  Flat light, crazy windy, super crowded, rain starting midday and really heavy snow that got pushed into huge bumps by run #2 - and you couldn't see those bumps because of the flat light.  (Yet another day that A wouldn't have liked.)  He had been intending to take the 2:09 bus down-canyon but when the rain started, he sprinted for the 1:09 instead, nabbing one of only five seats available.  Seems like he wasn't alone in calling it a [grey, soggy] day.

#iykyk but an aerial shot of these lines would be impressive

Meanwhile, down in the valley, Milton and I had a fairly productive weekend.  Thanks to our new Garmin watch, we finally know that our Dimple Dell loop is 4.8 miles: we did that loop both Saturday and Sunday, getting to meet friendly dogs each time.  Saturday it was supposed to be raining but wasn't; Sunday was terrifically windy.  Personally, I prefer rain to wind.  In addition to our walks, we made chili and a Korean kimchi stew, chocolate chip cookies, 4+ quarts of vegetable broth and an apple galette, plus tried a new baked oatmeal recipe and went to the local library.

let the sunshine in

By Sunday morning, the storm had moved on, leaving it sunny and cold: 12 F to start H's day at Alta and "warming up" to 17 F by the time he left at 2.  Of course, 17 and sunny is much warmer than 17, overcast and windy, but still.  That's cold.  The road was clear enough that the SRO bus made it up no problem, and while it was busy and crowded, it wasn't Christmas-level busy and crowded.  No mustache compliments, alas.

View from Razorback

While that was happening, A and Milton did another Dimple Dell loop: we heard, but didn't see, the coyotes this time, plus M scored some first tracks.  It was 24 F when we started but with the sun out, it was really pretty pleasant.  Back at home, there were chores to be done: vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, laundry, mending (every pair of flannel jammies has lost a button), and cream (vegan) of broccoli soup.  And muffins, because I like making muffins.

Milton got first tracks

stashes for 'staches

After about a week with no new snow, a small storm rolled into northern Utah Friday night through Saturday.  It didn't bring all that much to the party (Alta got about three inches, just barely more than we got in the valley) but at least gave things a little refresh.  H's morning ski bus was completely full.  It was not a particularly pleasant day up at Alta - yet another one A wouldn't have enjoyed - being cold, windy, socked in/skiing in the clouds with very flat light.  He didn't even stay all that long, leaving on the 1:09 bus.

H must have at least looked like he was having a great time, though, because of the facial hair commentary: upon noticing H's ice-caked mustache, a lifty gave him a fist bump and said, "Looks like somebody's finding some snow!"

Gloomy Alta scene

Meanwhile, down in the valley, A and Milton did their Dimple Dell loop, where we met Chance, the 100 lb. husky mix, who chased Milt a little (he was not quite fast enough to really give M a workout) but mostly leaned against A's legs for butt scratches.  It snowed all day but the flakes were tiny, barely adding up to two inches.

On the homefront, we did some snow shoveling, made five quarts of veggie broth, a braised Indian chickpea stew for the freezer, Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes (with cinnamon and cayenne) and an "orange chicken" dish for dinner, using soy curls.

sidewinder

 On Saturday, it wasn't quite as sunny but still cold.  And windy this time.  I had in mind to go back to finish off the Moab Brand trails; H declined to accompany Milton and me in the face of all that wind.  (He did end up doing a town walk where it was yes, still cold and windy.)  To be honest, about fifteen minutes into a headwind out of the north, I was thinking that H had the right idea.

Heading north on lower Sidewinder

Milton and I drove out to the Killer B parking area off 191, just north of Arches National Park, and hopped onto the paved bike path until we reached the lowest exit of the Sidewinder trail.  The wind was brutal.  My hands were super-cold, despite mittens, and I wished I'd worn a beanie that covered my ears better.  Nevertheless, we persisted, and once we got onto Sidewinder proper, we had some protection from the wind with the cliff walls.  The trail was pretty and red, hard-packed dirt mostly, and it climbed steadily - with a couple of cliffy spots - until we got to the Rusty Spur intersection.

From there we crossed the paved bike path and made our way to a big intersection: Bar M loop, Lazy EZ and Deadman's Ridge.  When we turned onto Deadman's Ridge, we were mainly heading south and it was much, much more pleasant with the wind at our backs.  I'd hoped to knock off the whole trail segment (3.4 miles) and I think we got most of it, although at one point we must have turned wrong and finished up on Bar B instead.  Still, it's a great trail to walk (way too technical for me to ride), with rolling ups and downs and varied terrain.  From Bar B we segued to Killer B, and thus back down to the car.  We'd seen no one the whole time.

The wash between Sidewinder and the paved bike path

After getting cleaned up back at home, H and I walked to Josie Wyatt's for a beer and managed to run into a friend there.  Dinner was again soup and the evening's entertainment was exactly what it had been the night before (different KZMU radio shows though).

Stats: A and M hike: 6.34 miles; H town walk: 4.00 miles; A and H roundtrip to JW's: 2 miles; soup: green chile stew.

PS - I didn't take any other photos so here's a quick run-down of the rest of weekend: additional hikes/trail runs: A and M 4.8 miles, H 4 miles; additional town walks: 1.5 and 3.48.  Two more soups: red lentil and then again back to regular lentil.  We like soup.

pritchett

Per usual, behind on posting after a long Moab weekend.  At least I'm consistent.  We got out of Dodge (SLC) Thursday afternoon before the MLK Jr. long weekend.  Traffic was light heading to Moab and the roads were clear and dry, because it has been a not particularly snowy January thus far.  (The commuter in me delights in this; the person who likes to shower and drink water and do laundry and keep the trees in my yard alive is slightly stressed by it.  We've still got a lot of winter ahead, though.)

Winter in Pritchett Canyon

Friday morning was gorgeous, with clear blue skies.  It was also quite cold, in the teens Fahrenheit, and so Milton and I waited until after 10 to go for our hike.  It had warmed up to the almost upper-20s F by then.  We left H behind to deal with some work stuff (although he did manage to get out for a town walk) and drove out the Kane Creek road to the OHV trailer lot, just after the pavement ends.  Once we were in Pritchett Canyon proper, I let the dog off leash - we had the place completely to ourselves, with no worries about 4-wheelers coming up on us.  

Look. At. That. Sky.

My plan, such as it was (not really much of a "plan"), was just to walk about an hour or so to see how far we'd get and then go back.  We followed the road on the way out and since there wasn't any wind, it was actually pretty pleasant in the sun.  To make things interesting, we stuck to the wash on the way back.  We saw literally no one until we got back to the car: some folks had parked right next to us so Milt was able to introduce himself.

That afternoon, H and I strolled to Woody's for a couple of beers and then strolled home.   Dinner was soup and the evening entertainment was reading on the couch to whatever excellent radio show was on KZMU.

Stats: A and M hike: 6.67 miles; H town walk: 3.89 miles; A and H roundtrip to Woody's: 1.5 miles; soup: lentil.

more bettering

 Undeterred, H was back up at Goldminer's Daughter by bus (SRO again, red snake all the way up) by 7:30 Sunday morning.  It was again poor visibility and snowed all day, with the added bonus of being extra cold: single digits at the start -- to be exact, 6 F -- and "warmed up" to 13 F by the time he called it quits.  (Yet another day I wouldn't have enjoyed.)  The snow was good and ski patrol is continuing to get more and more terrain open.  He did some skiing off of the High T as there's finally enough coverage there.  

More importantly, he got three separate facial hair compliments.  "Sweet 'stache, dude" and "I remember you from yesterday - I recognize the mustache" in the lift line; and best of all, during a lift ride with a girl and a guy, the girl said she liked his mustache.  No way of knowing if they were a couple ... but I'm guessing that guy starts growing his own crumb catcher tonight.

Coming down off the High T

The canyon road wasn't nearly as messy this time.  The 2:09 bus was there and waiting when H went out for it and it was a straightforward trip down canyon, getting him home about three hours earlier than the day before.

As for Milton and me, we weren't quite as productive.  We did our Dimple Dell walk again and, before that, M chased and wrestled with a new dog friend (Cooper) in the ball fields behind an elementary school.  Then it was changing sheets and laundry (both doing and putting away), and making a batch of chickpea salad for lunches, and meal-prepping overnight oats for breakfasts.  But when I got out all the ingredients to try to make bread, I just ran out of steam and read my book instead.  The bread will be there next time.

bettering the snowpack

 Now that the Christmas/New Year tourists have gone home, we've gotten a couple of nice little storms in the mountains.  Not overproducers by any means, but enough to grant some soft turns and some stuffed canyons.  Case in point: it started snowing Friday night so it was standing room only for H on the Saturday 6:30 a.m. bus.  Roads were fair, and he got to Goldminer's Daughter in about an hour.  It snowed all day, cold, with poor visibility, but with 16" in twelve hours, the skiing was about the best it has been so far this season.  

Starting to stack up over the lodge entrance

He was at the bus stop for the 2:09 p.m. bus, which didn't arrive until 2:35.  Then they couldn't get back out of Alta because there was a car stuck at the top of the driveway, blocking traffic.  Then the bus got a little stuck.  Then they got diverted to the bypass road (which is protected from avalanches, unlike the main canyon road).  Because of the red snake, it took them 1.5 hours to go less than a mile on the bypass road.  They got to Snowbird Center at 5:17, which filled the remaining space on the bus (too bad for Creekside hopeful bus riders).  The lower they went in the canyon, the clearer the roads were and they got to the mouth of the canyon at 5:54 p.m.  Another day, declared H, upon his return home nearly twelve hours after he left, that I wouldn't have enjoyed skiing.

I did enjoy my day, though.  Milton and I slept in until 7:15, did about four miles through Dimple Dell, where we saw a hawk, three fat bikes, one cross-country skier and one of M's dog friends, Aya, a Norwegian elkhound who is about the cutest and sweetest dog I've ever met.  In addition to that, I made two soups (lentil, for the freezer, and avgolemono for dinner), InstantPot black beans (for the freezer), a batch of brownies, a peach crumble (using summer CSA peaches) and roasted and mashed a squash for the dog.