all is calm

 H and I don't really celebrate Christmas (I do put up some decorations because I like them but we don't exchange gifts) but we used to have the "tradition" of watching A Christmas Story and Elf.  We haven't done that in recent years, however, because we've learned that Christmas is a great time - for us - to go to Moab.  It can be cold, sure, but it is definitely the off season which means it is quiet.  Trails are sparsely populated and there is very little traffic.  It is wonderful.  You do have to time it right weather-wise to get over the Soldier Summit pass and this year, as we drove down Thursday afternoon, it was fine: cold, partially cloudy skies and dry roads.

Moody

H was tangled up with work on Friday so Milton and I just did a hike along the Pipedream trail, from the Jackson Street entrance to the Hidden Valley trailhead and back again.  That's around five-ish miles, I think, enough to give me credit for exercise and a good opportunity for the dog to get his fidgets out.  He ran and ran and ran, back and forth along the trail, charging up and down the hillsides.  There weren't any lizards to chase, of course, but he found some songbirds to flush out of the shrubbery.

Pipedream lichen (a series)

There wasn't any snow in the Moab valley itself although the benches had a dusting; higher up on the plateaus surrounding the mountains there was definite accumulation.  The trail were on was nicely frozen so it wasn't muddy.  Temperatures were in the mid- to high 30s (F) - perfectly fine for light exertion, although I didn't take my gloves off whilst in the shade.  

Lichen the winter desert a lot

We encountered only one MTBer and his dog who didn't care for Milton all that much - she set her boundaries pretty clearly but there wasn't any real kerfuffle - so for that afternoon's social interaction, H and I wandered over to Woody's (hooray for keeping their liquor license).  Our regular bartender was there so we were able to give her a Christmas card, and our buddy Chris managed to squeeze in a beer with us in between his family commitments.

I have no pun for this one

Tangentially-related:  this article explains why we like dive bars (Woody's) so much.

the aftermath

 After that incredible week of snow, very cold temperatures moved in, preserving all that snow but also making me very reluctant to strap my skis on.  I only got a ten-pack of tickets this year and I don't want to use them on days where I'm in the lodge every two runs, trying to thaw my toes.  This strategy worked for sure on Saturday where it was 10 F at our house at 8:30 a.m. and 2 F up at Alta.

Here comes the sun (Albion chair)

The ski bus is running again, albeit in a reduced capacity: every half an hour instead of every fifteen minutes and the Alta drop-off is at Wildcat Base only, not Albion Lodge.  On the face of it, this presents a problem since the "lodge" at Wildcat Base is Goldminer's Daughter, which is a hotel and which last year decided they really preferred to have their paying guests cluttering up the lodge area and jacked the day locker rentals to $15/day.  Albion Lodge is a day lodge for everyone but if you get dropped off at Wildcat Base, you can't get up there unless you put on your boots and skis and ride the tow rope.  EXCEPT that H learned - after a standing-room-only 7:15 a.m. bus - that there's an Alta shuttle that goes between Wildcat Base and Albion Lodge, dropping employees (and the hoi polloi) off as they go.  That's fantastic and H got up to Albion Lodge by 7:55.

Cold in the shade tho'

Because the new Sunnyside lift is not yet put together, Alta opened the quaint and very slow Albion two-seater chairlift to help get people out of the base area.  This is the first time either of us had ridden that chair and yes, it is excruciatingly slow, but it's very pretty AND gets you up to where you can easily access the Supreme and Sugarloaf chairs.  From there, the resort was pretty much wide open - Alta ski patrol had managed the 71" of fresh well, with only Devil's Castle, East Castle and Mt. Baldy still roped off.  It was cold, for sure, but it wasn't quite as crowded as H expected (see above re: 2 F) and the snow was magnificent, so deep and so soft.  Rocks? What rocks?  

Coming out of Catherine's Area

H skied all over - Backside, Ballroom, Catherine's Area, Fred's Trees - and worked himself hard: at one point he was in mid-thigh deep snow, which was fantastic ... until it flattened out at the bottom and left him flailing to get back onto a groomer.  He caught the 1:09 bus down (and since the reduced bus routes don't go on the bypass road between Snowbird and Alta anymore, staying on the main road instead, the trip time is a bit shorter) and it's quite possible that there was an afternoon nap when he got home.

happy holidays

 All who wander are not lost - happy holidays to all y'all!

big snow

All the northern Utah skiers just got a fantastic early Christmas present: a storm that totally over-delivered.  It started snowing Sunday evening 12/11/22 and literally - literally - did not stop snowing until Thursday afternoon 12/15.  We got about a foot total at our house; since this was spread out over 4.5 days, the commutes weren't too terrible, with Thursday being the worst for me (Monday was worse for folks who take I-15 and who were coming down from Davis County, I heard).

Wednesday, in the valley

The mountains did very, very well for themselves out of this storm.  Alta ended up with 71+ inches storm-total, 225 inches season to-date and a base of 83 inches.  That's fantastic and puts them in good shape for the upcoming circus that is Christmas vacation week.  And statewide, the snowpack is looking pretty healthy in general.  If we don't get a long dry spell (which seems to happen mid-winters of late), we might not have such a water deficit come springtime.  I mean, we won't be out of the drought but we'll be in better shape for sure.

From Thursday: the stoke was high

in between games

It wasn't all soccer, all the time, of course.  Friday evening, after we got home from the afternoon games, we found ourselves back at our neighbor's house (with Milton, who gets along with her dog), still talking about the game (our neighbor is a massive Messi fan).  Her roommates showed up, then her neighbors on the other side showed up with their cutie pie dog Terra.  Then I ran back to our place for snacks, and the other neighbor brough snacks from their place ... and before we knew it, we were having a chill, spontaneous party that was just so much fun.  When H, Milt and I finally wandered home around 8 p.m. (we were the first to leave), we realized that we'd just spent twelve hours with other people.  Wow!

Our neighbor's neighbors' dog Terra

Milton and I got out on Saturday between the morning and afternoon games for a quick three-ish miles on Pipedream.  That trail is great for morning hikes this time of year because it's along east-facing cliffs and gets morning sun as soon as it rises above the LaSal mountains.  Of course, this also means that it loses the sun quickly this time of year, with those cliffs looming overhead to block the sun.  The sections that were still in the sun were pleasant and even muddy in spots; the shady sections were definitely chilly and still frozen.

Frosty spot

Snow in the mountains

priorities

 Did we go all the way to Moab for a long weekend and spend it watching four World Cup soccer games?  You're darn right we did!  In our defense, we hadn't intended to watch the morning games, figuring we'd go out for a hike or MTB before the second games at noon.  But when your neighbor texts you at 7:45 saying that she's got coffee made and you should come over for kick-off, what are you going to do?  For the noon games, we went out to support local businesses (Dewey's, in this instance) to watch Argentina and France win to move onto the semifinals.  

Look at us, hanging out with friends even!

Yes, this is just filler.  But wait 'til you hear about how much snow we just got!  

continuing to build the base

 After the Thanksgiving weekend, northern Utah played host to two good storm systems that brought  enough to the valleys that it messed up a couple morning commutes.  More importantly, we got some terrific snow in the mountains.  The Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts both filled up so ski season is definitely on, although the ski bus still isn't running yet.

Crowded at the start

On Saturday, H skied his alpine set up and on Sunday he did telemark.  The Sunnyside lift is still under reconstruction, which means that everyone trying to get out of the Alta base areas was standing in the Collins lift line; H sent me a photo Saturday morning, saying that he was standing uphill of the Wildcat lift, waiting to load Collins.  

Less crowded in Catherine's Area

The snow was good, though, especially Saturday, with the new inches refreshing the decent existing base.  There were a couple of rocky spots - on Thursday, numerous resorts had lifts on wind hold (not that common out here) and Alta ended up closing early due to 95 m.p.h. gusts.  That'll shift some snow for sure.

Tree skiing

It was quite windy though, with the second storm system moving out, and on Sunday the visibility was terrible: flat light and snowing.  H reported hardly anyone riding the Sugarloaf lift either day as that lift is very exposed and positively miserable in the wind.  H covered some ground, however, getting into the trees and out into Catherine's Area.  After so many recent years with sparse coverage, it's fantastic that so much is open so early.

Low vis

Meanwhile, down in the valley, Milton and I took 3+ mile walks both mornings,  vaccumed, cleaned bathrooms, dealt with laundry, made two soups (red lentil and mulligatawney), baked chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread cake and pumpkin/peanut butter dog biscuits, tried a new recipe for dinner (mapo tofu) and waterproofed my ski pants ... because I'm fixin' to get up there myself pretty soon.

big fans

 The rest of the long Thanksgiving weekend was a combination of hiking, jigaw puzzles and World Cup soccer matches - no black Friday nonsense for us!  We prefer to spend our money locally, at a bar, yelling at bad calls and missed shots.

On Friday, we headed up to Sandflats Recreation Area.  After reupping our season pass, we parked at the Slickrock trailhead.  It was early-ish and still fairly chilly so there were only a couple of vehicles there, getting ready to ride, and all the 4x4 folks were bundled up against the cold.  Knowing that the USAvENG game was at noon, we had time limitations, so we walked out along the Slickrock trail to the Abyss overlook, paused to watch some jeeps navigating the sandstone domes across from us, and then walked back via the Practice loop.  Somewhere between 4-5 miles, enough to get some exercise in.  Back at the parking lot, there were lots more people getting ready to head out and Milton introduced himself to a group who were quite charmed by him.

View from the Practice loop - what a day!

At noon, we, our friend Jose, and several other fans were standing at Woody's front door, waiting to be let in.  Every television in the place was showing the US match and every person in the place was there to watch it.  The game ended in a draw: surprising for England but a decent result for the young American team.

Saturday, Milton and I went out to Moab Brand Trails in the morning while H did some errands.  We did our now-usual Circle O route and saw literally no one out on the trails until we were heading back on the parking lot cut-off.  Again, Milt introduced himself to the people around us and proved extraordinarily brave when a baby wanted to see him; babies and toddlers make him nervous, because they can be loud and erratic, but I held him so the baby could pat him and it all ended well.

Autumnal pothole

For the Argentina v Mexico game that afternoon we found ourselves at Dewey's as Woody's didn't have the staff to open that early.  Both our neighbor Amelia and Jose joined us - we have friends! - and it was a slightly more exciting match this time.  We even stuck around long enough on Sunday to watch Germany v Spain, which was the best match of all the ones we watched.

tunnel vision

The weather cooperated - as did our work schedules - and we were able to get down to Moab by Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.  First stop: Woody's, where we met up with a buddy and learned that the bar was not, in fact, going to lose their liquor license due to some arcane Utah regulation.  We didn't find out exactly what happened but we were thankful that our local dive was keeping their doors open.

Drive to survive

Thanksgiving morning (late morning, actually), we drove north of town to the Mill Canyon trails.  We were heading for the Tusher Tunnel, a feature that I'd been wanting to check out for some time.  There are apparently a couple ways to get to the actual tunnel trailhead, one via the Mill Canyon road and one via the Blue Hills road; since both those roads are technically jeep roads and we had the Subaru, we opted to park in the OHV lot and walk in along the Mill Canyon road.  A couple of range cows, down to over-winter in the desert, watched us with a little interest.

Entrance

When we got to the 3D/Monitor & Merrimac intersection, where we'd opted to turn left for the M&M in May, we this time followed this 3D section up the very sandy hill.  The trail climbed to a ridge overlooking a very pretty wash, then dropped northwesterly into a different wash.  The trail eventually rejoined a Mill Canyon jeep road spur which deposited us at the trail head parking area.  There was fencing, signs and a visitors' log; several vehicles with slightly higher clearance than we had were already parked there.

In the tunnel

A short trail from the parking area led to the Tusher Tunnel.  It isn't a tunnel at all, but an arch-in-progress; in a couple of spots you can see some light overhead where the rock fins meet.  I didn't know what to expect but it was really cool!  Long enough, and with a slight bend so you can't see the exit from the entrance, but not so long that it was freaky - just a little ways in was enough to see the far end.  And the view from the exit was spectacular: red stone levels and fins wrapping around in a bowl with a wash at the bottom and the snow-covered La Sal mountains in the distance.

Exit

We chatted with the folks already there - from Texas and huge dog fans: they wanted to know all about Milton and then showed us photos of their own dogs - and had a quick snack.  Then, instead of retracing our steps through the tunnel, we made our way down into the wash and walked out that way until the wash crossed the 3D trail.  I had hoped that it might be out of the wind not up on the ridge; it wasn't, but it definitely cut some distance off.

The boys

Hike stats: 8.59 miles; moving 2:09 hours/4.0 m.p.h. (fast!); overall 2:26/3.5; 720 feet of elevation.

Sure do dig that view

Back home it was a low key Thanksgiving with Bloody Marys, shepherd's pie and chocolate chip cookies.

day three and return to telemark

The third day of opening weekend for Alta: no new snow, bluebird skies, slightly warmer temperatures.  While Milton and I took a long walk, made Italian white bean and pasta stew, pumpkin-cornbread muffins, chocolate chip cookies and a plum compote (and Milton followed the sun from window to window around the house), H got out his telemark gear and headed up to Alta.  

Bluebird sky

He got to Albion lodge at about quarter to eight.  The crowds are down a bit (Sunday, plus early season, plus no new snow) but he did see a good number of other tele skiers.  Like the day before, there were no lift lines once the initial crowd cleared out and he was able to ski right onto the lift for most of the day.  Unlike the days before, it was slightly warmer and, since he was working harder on his tele gear, he ended up being overdressed - which must have been a nice change from frozen toes from the last two days.  

There are no storms in the forecast (and it's starting to get inversion-y in the valley) so everyone is making the most of it: on the other side of the Wasatch, Canyons Park City has opened their 9990 area for the first time EVER in November.  Stoke is high for the season - let's hope it's a good one.

second day, much like the first

I  just bought a ten-pack of tickets this season since I've only managed twelve or so ski days for each of the last few years.  So I am not about to use one of them on the second day of the season when it's so frickin' cold.  Texts from H:  At 7:37 a.m. - "Albion Day Lodge.  It's 9 F."  At a little after 11 a.m.:  "Stopping in Watson's to warm up."  H almost never has to warm up.  

Top o' Supreme

There wasn't any new snow - although these frigid temperatures are certainly helping to preserve it - but Alta did get the Supreme lift opened to spread folks around some.  H rode up with a patroller on one chair ride and learned that they'd really only started roping things off on Monday.  Takes a while to cover all that terrain.  

Supreme selfie

H skied until 1 p.m. and then headed back down canyon, rejoining Milton and me.  We had had a productive day down in the valley ourselves: a 4ish mile walk; dealing with all kinds of laundry; prepping and freezing produce (sauteed celery and onions for future soups; roasted butternut squash cubes); making a batch of spicy black beans in the Instant-pot and a double batch of soy curl jerky in the dehydrator; and trying out a new recipe for dinner - homemade wontons in chili-scallion broth (delicious but a lot of work).

opening day 2022/2023

 I mentioned that winter has arrived in Utah: not only has it been 10-15 degrees colder than "normal," recent storms in the northern part of the state have brought more snow than we've seen this early in years.  Big Cottonwood Canyon got hammered, inspiring Brighton and Solitude to both open Veterans' Day weekend.  Alta and Snowbird held out for another week, and yet their 2022/2023 season opening days were still weeks earlier than they have been recently.

He just looks cold, doesn't he?

Alta opened November 18 and H was there, as he likes to do.  The ski bus doesn't start for a while yet so he had to drive up, but things have been dry since that last wonderful storm so the road wasn't an issue.  He went to Wildcat base and was first in line to pick up his season pass.  I was at work and was kept updated by text.  

"Everyone got their boots buckled?"

The new Sunnyside lift is still under construction (completion by Christmas, they hope) so they were running the Collins, Wildcat and Sugarloaf lifts.  At 10:23 a.m., he reported: "Very cold.  Snow is pretty good for before Thanksgiving.  Especially before Thanksgiving."  An amazing amount of terrain was open, including the Ballroom (!), Backside (!!) and the High Traverse (!!!).  He did find that the snow was better on the Sugarloaf side: there's a lot of manmade snow on the front side, especially in the high traffic areas, and the natural stuff is just better.  H skied until after noon, then headed down with cold feet.

The Ballroom on Opening Day

where the new content at?

 Ooh boy, we have been in a veritable content desert here, despite a recent sojourn in the actual desert.  Winter has arrived, in SLC and Moab (less so in St. George, which is much lower in elevation), and when we were in Moab last, it was 20s F overnight and barely reaching to 40 F during the day.

Remnants of recent rains

This is far too cold for me to MTB - my hands and feet get too cold under 50 F - but H can still do it, so we all went to Moab Brand Trails so Milton and I could hike whilst H rode.  We each did our usual routes but apparently the chilly temperatures encouraged Milt and me to walk much quicker than we've been doing, so we were already heading back to the truck via the parking lot cut-off when H met us.  There were a fair number of people there, heading out, coming back, puttering around, and we realized it wasn't too cold for a beer while we chatted with people.  Including a young Quebecois couple who were van-camping and thought they might head south to warmer locations (re above re St. George/Hurricane).

Desert lichen

The next day we three did a short hike, checking out an out-and-back, hiking-only trail just off the start of Poison Spider.  This is an easy walk on an old road under the Poison Spider Mesa cliffs and just goes out a little ways to a view of the Colorado River (about 3.5 miles RT total).  Because we were just above the river, there were lots of smooth cobblestones and former river rocks.  Afterwards, we again found it not too chilly for a parking lot beer and chatted with folks as Milton went up and introduced himself.

Overcast on Poison Spider Mesa

And that was about it - hopefully we'll be able to get out on some more interesting trails soon.

baking interlude

 November has definitely arrived in northern Utah.  This past weekend was gray and cold and wet and gloomy: very November-y.  The mountains are getting good snow, so that's fantastic, but there was no getting around the fact that it was pretty dreary down in the Salt Lake valley.

On the plus side, cold weather means I can start baking again!  I made a couple of very healthy things: vegan chai-spiced breakfast cookies (with rolled oats, flaxseed, coconut, maple syrup, hemp seeds, dates, pistachios, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, cloves and pepper); and Josey Baker's Adventure Bread (rolled oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, almonds, psyllium husk and chia seeds).  H's comment on the bread was, "It tastes like it's good for you," - which is true, but it's also sliced thinly, toasted and smeared with peanut butter and blueberry jam.  It would work with a savory spread too, like hummus.

Gluten-free and accidentally vegan

Lest you think it's all healthy up in here (it's very much not), I also made a batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies.

time flies

 Whoops!  That week completely got away from me.  We three had gotten down to Moab last weekend but by the time Friday morning rolled around, a nasty head cold had pounced on me (much worse than my bout with COVID at the beginning of September).  I managed to manage it with judicious applications of DayQuil/NyQuil over the weekend but then it stuck around through the week, stealing my voice and most of my energy.  Fortunately H has stayed healthy and mostly annoyed at all my nose-blowing.  I'm pretty annoyed by it at this point too.

That most recent weekend in Moab wasn't entirely wasted, however.  H and Milton did a Moab Rim hike on Friday; we three and our neighbor Amelia, plus her dog Moscow, went for a short hike on Johnson's Up-top, a very locals place that she knew about.  And on Sunday, before the drive back to SLC, Milton and I did the Millcreek rim/canyon loop, having the place largely to ourselves.

The La Sals from Millcreek rim

divide and conquer

On our last day, we decided to divide and conquer Moab Brand Trails: MTBing for H to MTB and hiking for me and Milton.  If it had been just a little cooler, we probably could have both MTBed and had Milt run alongside; it's still warm enough that we didn't think that was the best idea for him.  It was another absolutely gorgeous day.  We got going around 9 a.m. and while the parking lot was quite busy, the trails weren't too bad.

Swimming/wading

Milton and I saw absolutely no one out on Circle O; H only met a couple of riders on his MTB loop.  Milton ran a lot, chasing critters, so much so that I ended up putting him back on the leash for about fifteen minutes until he stopped panting so hard.  There was plenty of water for him, though, with clean to drink in the shallow potholes and muddy to swim in the deeper ones.

Shake it off

H met us at the northern end of Circle O and Milt ran back to the truck with him.  He was very tired and had torn a claw enough that it was bleeding a little, but he didn't flinch or whimper when I poked at it so we don't think it was hurting him much.  In fact, after eating some of his breakfast, he felt good enough to cruise the vehicles parked on either side of us, looking to make new friends.  Milton is always up for new friends.

Art shot

regrouping

 After the Murphy Hogback hike, we took a rest day.  Sort of: while H MTBed back out at Moab Brand Trails, Milton and I did the northern section of Pipe Dream (from Jackson Street to the northern terminus).  Then, we packed a cooler, grabbed our books and drove out to the new picnic spot along the Colorado River.  We hung out there for a couple of hours, reading and people-watching.

The next day, we headed to Pritchett Canyon.  We'd seen some videos showing that the canyon had been hit hard by one of the August floods.  As we were driving out there, we realized that this was the first day of the Moab 240 as there were lots of runners coming down off of the Moab Rim and running out along Kane Creek Road.  We had intended to park in the OHV-trailer lot, right next to Pritchett Canyon, but that lot had been taken over as a base camp for the race so we parked at the Amasa Back  lot instead, which meant we got to see three BASE jumpers launching off the cliffs.  We checked out the base camp as we walked past - breakfast (including multiple vegan options), gear exchange, medical tent, portopotties, water - and cheered with the other fans as the runners headed out on Jackson's.

Ravaged by the floods

Pritchett got hit pretty hard.  The cute canvas tents at the mouth of the canyon had been swept away - although one set of bunkbeds was still standing - and the trees and vegetation in the wash had been scoured clean.  We also immediately noticed that the floods had drastically changed the 4x4 obstacles, completely changing the lines.  This canyon was already one of the most difficult 4x4 routes in the area; now everyone is going to have learn the new routes.

Much, much, much more precarious in real life

We had only planned to be out for a couple of hours, but when we met three Michigan jeeps, we stopped to watch them winch themselves down into the wash before Chewy Hill.  Usually this is "driveable" but the flood had taken all the sand and dirt out of the wash bottom, leaving behind massive boulders to navigate.  We turned around here but we could only imagine what the rest of the trail looked like.

After getting cleaned up, we walked over to Josie Wyatt's to see Crystal before her shift ended.  This place is considerably more upscale than our usual haunts, given that it is the bar at the Hoodoo, but the best kept secret in town is that they have draft PBR pints for $2.00 and extremely reasonable sandwiches on the lunch menu.  Shhhhhh - don't tell anybody.

Hike stats: 5.98 miles; 1:58 hr/3.0 m.p.h walking; 2:19/2.6 m.p.h. overall; 680' elevation

murphy hogback

Our other long hike (both of the long hikes were suggested by H and I gladly agreed) was to go back to Canyonlands National Park for the Murphy Hogback loop.  (Technically a lollipop.)  We've done this trail twice before, in 2016 and in 2018, and I always remember it as one of my favorites.  

H making his way down

We didn't get on the actual trail until 10 a.m. as it takes an hour to drive there from town, plus we'd waited for it to warm up a little.  There is a big, fancy, new parking lot at the trail head (although a pit toilet would be *chef's kiss*) and plenty of parking.  Although we were far from the first people there, we were the only ones not doing just the overlook.

Looking back up at the mesa

This time, the trail down the cliff face seemed a little more intimidating as it is very exposed.  It was in good shape, though, and still only took us about thirty minutes to go down (and also back up).  The hogback section is my favorite: easy walking with expansive views.

H on the hogback

When we got to the White Rim Road, we had to wait for about fifteen minutes for road construction.  No, seriously.  Here we were, out in the middle of literally nowhere, and a flagger waved us down: they had set a small charge to remove a rock from the steep hill section of the WRR between the hogback trail and the wash trail.  We found a small tree, hunkered down in the shade for sunscreen reapplication and snacks, and continued on our way when he gave us the all's-clear.

View towards the White Rim Road. Note the white rim.

The wash portion was easier walking than it sometimes is since the sand had been well-packed by the recent rains.  We made our way to the base of the cliff, rejoining the trail we'd come down on.  It took H 32 minutes to get to the top of the mesa; I struggled a little bit from the wooden bridge to the top, but once I got off the steep section, I bounced back.  I suspect it was a nutrition issue as neither of us had the stomach for post-hike beers back at the truck.  We did manage to quaff a couple at Woody's later, though.

Hike stats: 10.61 miles; 3:44 hrs/2.8 m.p.h. walking; 4:06/2.6 m.p.h. overall; 1,590' elevation

in which we actually get on our mtbs

We did get out MTBing a couple of times - a rare occasion this season, I must admit - but since we didn't go anywhere we haven't gone many, many times before, we didn't take any photos.  So I'm just going to lump these two excusions together in this one post, for posterity.

It was another gorgeous day at Moab Brand Trails: clear, sunny, scarcely a breeze, cool but comfortable.  We noticed that some of the dirt trails had taken a little damage from the recent storms: some runoff channels, some looser rocks, lines slightly different, but nothing too bad.  I was not riding particularly well, with no confidence and shakier-than-usual bike handling skills.  I did manage to catch up with a dude riding an e-MTB on the back half of the Bar M loop, though, so I felt pretty good about that.

We also got back up to Dead Horse Point State Park.  It was very busy, because we were later than we often are, having waiting for it to warm up (as opposed to the summer months, when we try to get on the trails just as the sun comes up so it isn't too hot), plus it was a Saturday.  And although it was busier than we've experienced it for a while, it truly wasn't that bad out on the trails as we were able to leapfrog several groups at opportune times.  I rode much better this time, even managing this one tricky uphill/corner/tree/rock combination that usually gives me trouble.  It was a good ride and great weather.  It's no wonder that October is one of the busiest months in Moab with days like that being common.

hidden valley to moab rim

Everything was still drenched in the morning so MTBing was out.  We had wanted to do a couple of longer hikes while we were here and today seemed like a good opportunity to knock one of those out:  the Hidden Valley/Moab Rim connector.  We had first done this in 2020, without Milton; this time we took him with us, knowing that he could easily do the distance.  After H dropped the truck at the Moab Rim trailhead and biked back, we three set off on foot from the house, jumping onto Pipe Dream via Jackson Street.  The trail was definitely rougher than it had been just a couple days before because of those big storms on Saturday and Sunday.  It was a gorgeous morning but humid and the ground was saturated.

This massive cut just as the trail starts to go up

When we got to the Hidden Valley trailhead (lots of cars), we were shocked to see it inundated with mud from slides coming down the cliff face.  Half the parking lot was ankle-deep in sticky mud and the connection from Pipedream to the parking lot was obliterated.  Also obliterated: from the parking lot to the base of the cliffs.  You could see the gash in the cliff where the water had shaken the dirt and rocks loose; we had to pick our way down and then up across the slide path to start the steep part of the climb up to Hidden Valley.  From just a little way up, you could see the devastation the slide had caused and it had slid very close to a couple of houses.  That must have been terrifying, with the noise of the water and the huge boulders getting tumbled down.

We made good time going up, passing a couple of groups, and then had the valley traverse all to ourselves.  Milton was staying pretty close - as he'd already done a fair amount of running recently - but sprinted around the meadow whenever he saw a bird.  As we approached the saddle, we saw a huge group making their way up towards the petroglyphs (a tour group, I presume).  Once we crossed the saddle and headed down along the Moab Rim trail, however, we saw no one.

View from the saddle

There was even more water and mud in the wash than there had been the day before, and there was so much fresh water in the potholes that Milton was able to swim a little, albeit inadvertently.  As we descended the front side, with its expansive view of the Colorado River, we encountered three side-by-sides, one dirt biker and three brave (foolhardy?) MTBers on their way down.  Having just done this bit the day before, my knees complained about the steepness.  All that was forgotten when we got to the truck, since there was beer waiting for us.  

That evening, to celebrate move-iversary (thirteen years in Utah!), we three walked to the Spitfire.  We were in time to see our favorite ex-Woody's bartender, Crystal, and talked with her for a long time, getting to meet her giant Great Pyrenees mix, Hildy.  And later that night, it stayed clear enough for a firepit with Amelia and Moscow.  Long, full day for us all.

Hike stats: 10.00 miles; 3;23 hours/2.9 m.p.h. walking; 3:44/2.7 m.p.h. overall; 1,780' elevation

getting ahead of the (bigger) storm

Moab Rim seemed like a good hike for the next morning as I figured the potholes would still be full of rainwater; I was right and didn't even need to bring the extra water bottle I usually carry for Milton.  It even rained, just slightly, just sprinkles, as we churned our way up the Stairmaster trail (the hiking-only trail to looker's right of the Moab Rim jeep road), but the clouds had mostly cleared out by the time we got to the top.

Clouds clearing (for now)

We met a group of friendly jeepers - well, the guy on his back underneath his jeep wasn't that friendly but the rest of them were - who liked Milton a lot,  Then, we continued around the loop, going up Tire Test Hill and then down Sand Hill, which was actually in great shape, all packed down from the recent rain.  The wash was wet and muddy and we had it all to ourselves, not meeting anyone else until we were heading back down the front side.

Wide open spaces

Later that afternoon, H took his road bike to Chile Pepper, hoping that they could figure out his shifter issue.  And then we went back to Woody's where it was busy with Sunday football fans.  Since we don't care about football, we went out onto the patio where we were treated to quite a show as an even bigger than yesterday storm rolled in.  It rained really, really hard and got cold, with a period of hail and quite a lot of impressive lightning.  This time, on the walk home, Millcreek was out of its banks and we had to wade (just up to our ankles) for a bit.  No firepit that night - it rained until after we went to bed.

"Lightning possible" lolol no kidding