mixed bag

On Saturday, H went back up to ski.  It was really windy and overcast - a system is moving in - and spitting snow all morning.  The light was very flat.  But despite the less than ideal (and still early-season) conditions, he wanted to go: with the ski bus not yet running, and without snow tires on the truck, he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to get up to Alta on Sunday, once the snow started.  On the plus side, he had two different lifties separately comment on his mustache: one saying "that's a wicked good 'stache" and the other declaring it the "best mustache on the mountain."  

Down in the valley, Milton and I did a warm but windy morning walk in Dimple Dell.  I am once again watching too much Great British Baking Show and decided to bake a loaf of bread.  With yeast.  With the usual results: I think I overproofed it (I've read that when baking at elevation, you should decrease the amount of yeast - which I didn't do) so even though it rose, the loaf collapsed and was quite dense.  Still really good for dunking into mulligatawny soup though.

By Sunday morning the little storm system had moved in.  We got a couple of wet inches of snow in the valley (Alta got six inches) which dripped off the trees onto our heads when Milton and I went for a morning walk.  The clouds broke up a bit by early afternoon, revealing the Wasatch mountains with their new coat of white.  Once the sun was shining, H had a momentary "I could have gone skiing" moment.  But we had already determined to hunker down for the day, however, for laundry, vacuuming and reading.  I also did more, and more successful, baking: dark chocolate oat scones (recipe from The Full Helping's The Vegan Week) and pumpkin-peanut butter dog cookies (PETA's recipe).  The scones turned out well!  It's yeast I struggle with the most, apparently.

See? I can bake (sometimes)

opening day 2024

 With a season total (so far) of 59" and a base depth of 21", Alta opened for the 2024/2025 season on Friday, November 22, 2024.  They had posted that they would open the Collins and Wildcat lifts at 10 and that the skiing was for "expert skiers" only.  Twenty-one inches is barely anything at Alta: the terrain is so rocky that they really need to have a five foot base before you can leave your rock skis at home.  They've been making snow but that only goes so far.

While Milton and I went to work, H went skiing.  He got his pass and a really good parking spot (the ski bus doesn't start until a couple weeks into December), and reacquainted himself with the Goldminer's Daughter locals locker room.  He texted me throughout the day, reporting on all the regulars he saw - the usual cohort.  There was at least one monoski guy and one ski-blades guy in attendance, as well as lots of 20-somethings skiing way too fast for the limited runs and thin conditions.

Looking towards Devil's Castle

from the top of the Collins chair

It was a gorgeous day, though, in the 40s and mostly sunny - good for softening the snow a little.  He skied until 12:45 and then called it good.  Here's hoping for a safe and snowy (in the mountains) ski season.

posting up at home

 Ah, a pre-ski season November weekend in SLC - the very definition of shoulder season.  Alta is expected to open on Friday 11/22/24, however, so we'll get some skiing stuff to post about.  For full disclosure, I did not get a ski pass this season.  I just barely got in all ten days for my ten-pack last year, begrudgingly going up on cold and stormy days (although I had a couple of sunny spring days that were just so much fun).  And for some reason, Milton is having some separation anxiety issues - after six years of absolutely no problems at all - and we've started to crate him while we're at work.  He doesn't seem to mind it too much, and it is safer for him and the window blinds, but I am glad that I will be with him on the weekends while H is skiing.

Meanwhile, shoulder season.  Friday night, H and I went out to a new (to us) bar, The Midway, to see a friend's band.  (Milton hung out in the car.) We'd never been there before: it's got a mixed vibe, part sports bar, part working class dive, and a huge outdoor patio with firepits.  The band was fun, doing 70s and 80s covers.  The bar staff were all super friendly (nothing vegan on the menu except fries and chips and salsa) and we'll have to find out if the patio is dog-friendly.

It started precipitating as we drove home, continuing overnight and into the morning, leaving a couple inches of snow.  Saturday stayed pretty gloomy and cold, with snow showers off and on.  Milton made out like a bandit on walks: a four-miler with A in the morning, a 3.2 miler with H early afternoon, and then another mile or so later in the afternoon.  It seemed like a good day to bake (chocolate chip cookies and a chocolate-zucchini bundt cake) and braise (tomato-fennel braised chickpeas for dinner).

The weather system moved out and Sunday was chilly and gorgeous: 25F and bright sun when A and Milton headed out for their walk.  H had hoped to go for a bike ride but, given the temperature and all the downed and damp leaves on the road, opted for a trail run instead.  Clouds moved back in starting around noon, which led to more cooking: pumpkin muffins, homemade vegetable stock and a Thai green curry soup for dinner.

holiday weekend, in summation

Oh hey.  So, in real life ("IRL," as the kids say) we are reeling a bit in the aftermath of the election.  We are worried and concerned for our friends and family, as well as the environment and public lands we love.  But that (for now, never say never, I guess) is not what this blog is about so we will compartmentalize as best we can and keep sharing our experiences.

Pipedream

For example, we just got back from a long weekend in Moab.  We looked at the weather report - mostly sunny, chilly overnight, mid-50s during the day - and said tra la la we won't pack our raincoats!  And so Friday it was cold and rainy, with a couple of snowflakes, at least until mid-morning.  Saturday morning was chilly and overcast too, but the system - which was lingering after a bunch of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, apparently - finally moved on, leaving us with sunshine in the desert and snow-capped mountain peaks for Sunday and Monday.

Also Pipedream

We didn't do anything extraordinary.  There were a couple of days of trail time on Pipedream (all stats listed below); on Sunday, Milton and A scored a Jeep Arch hike with our neighbor, her dog and one of her friends, while H did an eight mile trail run out at Moab Brand Trails; and on the Monday holiday, we three did a town walk before heading back to SLC.  We are pleased to report that, at least for the time being, the PBR tap is fixed at Josie Wyatt's.  And we did stop in at Woody's Saturday afternoon whilst the bar was being decorated in advance of an evening wedding.  Not just a wedding reception: one of the Meandercat band members was getting married right there.

Spire

The drive north Monday was about as easy as that drive can be: clear skies, dry roads and not too much traffic.  It was sunny and windy back in SLC as a weather system moved in ... and then Tuesday, it snowed enough to stick.  In case we weren't sure: summer is over.

Culvert Canyon wash

Trail time stats: Friday: A/3.2 mile hike and H&M/4.0 mile trail run, Pipedream; Saturday: A/4.0 mile hike and H&M/5.0 mile trail run, Pipedream; Sunday: A&M/4ish mile hike, Jeep Arch and H/8.36 mile trail run, Moab Brand Trails; Monday: A&H&M/4.64 mile town walk

wrapping things up

While H and Milton did a five mile trail run on Pipedream Saturday morning, A did quick grocery store/bike shop errands and chopped down our past-their-prime sunflowers.  After that, H and A did the 31 mile road ride again, and timed A's climbing of that long hill: thirteen straight minutes.  Despite how long/slow that portion was, the ride was overall faster than Thursday's version.  Our afternoon including picking up Heidi Redd's new book, A Cowgirl's Conservation Journey, at Back of Beyond Books.

They're repainting the mural along

the creek under Main Street

On Sunday, we three went to Millcreek to do the regular loop.  We rigged Milton's harness up with our old handheld GPS (double-wrapping it in ziploc bags because he likes to run through the creek) to see just how much further he would go than us humans.  But he must have had some cumulative fatigue because he really didn't range that far afield.  We'll have to try it again when he's well-rested, maybe at Sand Flats where he likes to run so much.  H hadn't been up Millcreek for a couple of years and he was shocked at the damage from two summers' of floods.

Summer's end

In the late morning, after H fixed A's second flat tire of the week, the humans did a 21 mile road ride.  A's legs felt a little heavy - my own cumulative fatigue.  It was busy on the bike path with families, runners, walkers, dog walkers, e-bikers, cyclists and photo shoots.  We had afternoon beers at Woody's, obsessively checking the live updates of our Moab 240 runners.  The evening brought us a firepit in the backyard with our neighbors.  When the propane ran out at 8 p.m., it felt like vacation was over.  Nothing left to do but clean up, pack up and drive up to SLC.

Vacation stats: 204 miles on the bike; 33.3 miles running (H); 31.6 miles hiking

rest day (for some)

 On Friday, all three of us went up to Sand Flats for a quick 2.27 mile Practice Loop loop.  Milton loves it up there and covers a lot of ground: he can run way out but, because of the terrain (sandstone domes) he can keep an eye on us.  It was a gorgeous morning and we were early enough that it was really just starting to get busy as we were finishing up.  The campground seemed pretty full, at least the first couple of site groups.

Sandflats selfie

Then, after H fixed A's flat tire, H and A did a 23 mile road ride, with a pause on the way back to watch the start of the Moab 240: 240 miles, most of them trails, on foot, in under 117 hours across some of the Moab area's gnarliest terrain.  We chatted with some racers and spectators at the start and then cheered the racers on as they started.  With GPS and social media, it was very easy to follow the racers' progress, even as they were in such remote locations.  So we picked five racers - our Dutch buddy from the Moab Rim parking lot and four women (one we talked with, two we stood next to and one we had seen running on the bike path earlier in the week) - to follow, in addition to the two men's leaders and the two women's leaders.  We must have picked well because four out of our five selected runners finished and, strangely enough, those four spent most of the event within a couple of miles of each other.  The men's winner - Max Jolliffe finished in 69 hours 22 minutes; the final finisher came in just under the 117 hour cutoff.  It is amazing what humans can do.

And they're off!

We, however, figured we had done enough with our 25.27 mile day (23 on wheels), and later that afternoon, picked up our friend Chris on our way over to Woody's for beers.  It really is amazing what humans can do.

We bought a sticker.  We like the fox.

paths and trails

By Wednesday, H was ready to do his first post-marathon run, taking Milton for a short two miles on Pipedream.  He reported that neither of them was moving super-fast, with Milton recovering from his ten-milers the previous day with A.  After that, H and A hopped on the road bikes for a 25 mile road ride, going a little past Arches National Park to where the hill really begins to climb (gonna save that bit for later).  Late afternoon found us at Woody's, where H and the bartender traded war stories about Saturday's trail race; the bartender had done the 15K.  Consensus: very sandy course.

Road riding goofballs

The next morning, all three of us did a short (just under 3.5 mile) hike on Pipedream, going north this time.  We met two friendly Underdog rescue dogs and saw a Grand County work crew rebuilding a washout.  We also saw the pink and blue flags marking the Moab 240 course.  

Need new handlebar tape

We dropped Milton back at home - it was so nice all week that we were able to keep the back door open, so he could be inside or out in the courtyard at his choosing, even if we weren't there - and headed out on the road bikes.  This time we did 30.5 miles, going all the way up that long (1.6 mile), steep (7% grade) climb to the kiosk at the Moab Brand trails road.  For A, climbing is way preferable to descending, but with the new brakes and new tires, descending was much less scary than before.

Not that tall this fall