early advent

It's almost like shoulder season is arriving early this year.  It was the Winter that Wasn't, so the skiing is turning towards springtime and devolving quickly, yet the weather is swinging wildly from warm to cold, from sunny to rainy, and it's a little difficult to put an active weekend together.

Take Sunday, for example.  It was a much nicer day sunshine-wise but cold, and Alta was only at 14F when H got up there for skiing.  This meant that not only did the snow set up overnight, it set up rock-hard.  It was windy too, making temperatures feel much colder.  H managed three hours before calling it quits:  "It's cold and the conditions are shit.  Stopping for [tater] tots on my way home."  Who could blame him?

Not pictured: wind chill

Because A and M were waiting for it to warm up into the 30s before venturing out for their morning walk, we were at home when A's brother J called.  His flight back to Maine wasn't until 2 p.m., so he got dropped off at our house, did our walk with us and then we dropped him at the airport, with 4.25 miles under his belt.  After that, it was just difficult to motivate, if I'm honest.  There's a bunch of weeding to be done but not quite warm enough out to be comfortable for it, so that got skipped.  I did manage to pull together a peach puff pastry galette - but storebought puff pastry (accidentally vegan) barely seems like "baking," it's so easy.

Also not pictured: the baking sheet I destroyed

with the burnt-on sticky peach juice

The rest of the afternoon was spent snuggled up with the dog reading library books.  I think that's okay.

holding at 260

I mean, yikes.  Middle of March and only 260" of snowfall at Alta on the year?  And after a sunny, warm week, the base depth is down to 90".  H didn't take the earliest bus on Saturday, nor did he feel the need to hustle down to board at the first stop.  He definitely made the right call: there were only four riders on his bus.  He could see immediately upon arriving at Wildcat base that they'd lost a lot of snow during the week.  It was cloudy and overcast and the light was as flat as light can be without actually skiing in the clouds.  It was warmish, though, already in the low 40s when the lifts started turning, so the snow hadn't set up too hard overnight.  Still, he reported it as probably the worst day of the season for him.  (Just wait until Sunday!)

Kinda gloomy

Down in the valley, A and M weren't the most productive but they were fairly busy.  After laundry and the usual five mile Dimple Dell walk, they met A's brother J and his friend B from college for lunch/beers at the Hog Wallow (M waited in the car).  They were in town for some skiing, renting a place between Solitude and Brighton in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  But they'd already had at least five ski days in Colorado before arriving in SLC, and had just done two days of touring up in BCC, so they were looking for a bit of a break.  (Of course, J did swing by Solitude after lunch for an hour or two's worth of resort runs.)  The Hog Wallow was way busier than I expected, although with the skiing such crappy conditions I shouldn't have been surprised.

Our boy loves a bar

And then, at 4 p.m., H and A and M all went to meet E and K at the Watershed's dog-friendly patio for beers and vegan bar food.  We hadn't all been together since Christmas (!) so it was good to catch up.  Plus Milton charmed a couple of bikers, making new friends as he always does.  

daylight

 HOORAY FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!  Yes, it's dark again in the mornings.  But not for long and - most importantly - it's light later.  Yay!  

On Sunday, H once again took the earliest bus to Alta (I mean, he's awake anyway so why not).  It was not nearly so crowded: just enough to fill the seats.  It was a beautiful day up there, bright and sunshiny, which helped to soften the snow that had set up overnight.  It was not nearly so good for off-piste skiing as it had been the day before (too heavy and sticky and solid) however, and H saw two LifeFlight helicopters taking off with folks who were not having good days.

The crowd vibing on the GMD patio

Down home, Milton and I waited a bit for the sun to come up before venturing out for our Dimple Dell walk.  The bright sun made the 40-something temperatures quite nice, and when we got home, Milton insisted on hanging out in the driveway, sun-bathing.  A was fairly productive indoors (vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, making chocolate chip cookies and lentil bolognese pasta sauce, and meal-prepping breakfast (overnight oats with blueberries and walnuts) and lunch (mango-collard green smoothies - better than they sound) for the next two work days, plus a vegan avgolemono soup and foccacia for dinner).

It's starting to look like spring: the weeds are simply flourishing and we are probably going to have to trade some kitchen time for yardwork time next weekend, just to try to get a grip on it.  Rats.  I'd rather be baking.

now 265

 Alta has gotten 56" of snow since H skied last, with a season snowfall total of 265" (still way low).  So when he went up there Saturday, it was to the best conditions of the season. Of course, he was not alone in thinking the skiing might be okay: he picked up the first bus of the day (6 a.m.) at the first stop (Historic Sandy) and while he did score a seat, it was SRO when they left.  The driver managed to cram another twenty-five or so folks on at the second stop (where H usually picks up the bus) but it was jam-packed.

H's favorite trees to ski

The snow was definitely better than it has been all season.  H took advantage and FINALLY got off the groomers; he only had two groomer runs on the day, the first from Collins to Supreme, and the last coming back down into Collins.  Instead he got first tracks on Challenger, got into the trees he likes off 3 Bears, went down Chartreuse and also off the High T, did the very steep skier's left off the front of Wildcat and had some untracked snow in the Backside when they opened that up.  He didn't get that many vertical feet because the lift lines were long, but he skied hard and had some good runs.

Dark blue over the backside

Items of note: H noticed 5-10 other people reading books in the Goldminer's Daughter Lodge while they waited for the lifts to open; he feels like quite a trendsetter.  And a guy told him he had the best mustache on the mountain, comparing it to the one worn by a Grateful Dead guitarist.

Not pretty, still tasty

Down in the valley, A and M were productive.  We did our five mile Dimple Dell walk, did a load of laundry/put away clean laundry, swept the garage and mudroom, dusted (!), made some stuff (four quarts of lentil soup, a quart and a half of black beans and monkeybread) and tried a new recipe for dinner (broccoli steaks with white bean puree and turmeric-harissa couscous).

mind the gap

 Oops - certainly didn't mean for such a long break between posts.  We went down to Moab last weekend for a friend's mother's funeral, and then I had to work long hours to make up the time (without burning a precious vacation day), so things just got away from me here.

On the trail again

It was a little surreal, being in Moab and having to do grown-up things, like wear real clothes and be places at certain times.  The funeral was at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Moab Community Church (which amazingly didn't immediately catch fire when H and I entered), then a luncheon, and then the graveside service out in Castle Valley.  The funeral was nice, actually, very personal with folks telling stories about the decedent, plus lots of songs.  And we hadn't thought to bring beer to the graveside service, but a number of folks did, so there's that.

"Whazzat?" Milton, probably

That afternoon, we hung out with our neighbor and her dog, drinking beers and getting caught up.  That was really good too and we hadn't had the chance for a while: she is a commercial fisherman who spends her late springs/summers/early falls on her boat in Alaska.

Keep 'er movin'

We did manage a little bit of trail time, much to Milton's delight, putting together a 7+ miler on Pipe Dream.  Despite the snow earlier in the week, the trail was in good shape - mostly dry and not muddy.  It wasn't heavily trafficked either, although we did meet a couple of nice dogs out with their people.

Here come the spring flowers!

And finally, to wrap up the adulting, our hot water heater/tank needs to be replaced as it has no expansion tank (?) and is leaking directly onto the pilot light.  There were lukewarm showers all weekend, which wouldn't have been a problem if it was already summer.  It was a decent weekend but all things considered, I think I prefer not to have to adult so much.

untitled (because i've been sitting for 20 minutes unable to come up with something clever)

Ski-wise, Sunday was pretty close to Saturday, although a little less: a little less crowded, a little less sunny, the snow a little less good.  H took the 6:10 a.m. bus again and found it about as full as the day before.  In case you're wondering, that bus gets to Wildcat Base at 6:50 - which is almost 2.5 hours before the lifts open.  He sits in the Goldminer's Daughter Lodge, drinks his thermos of coffee and reads.  And that, my friends, is dedication.

Looks like they got the Backside open

Milton and A had a pretty full day.  We did our Dimple Dell walk, then got some bread dough started.  While that proofed, we did a Costco run and a load of laundry.  Then the rest of the day got fit in between stretching and shaping and resting and baking the baguettes: cleaning bathrooms, making peanut butter cupcakes (with chocolate frosting) and a tomato-chickpea stew for dinner.  Written out like that, it doesn't seem like much but the whole baguette process takes 5+ hours.  Not something that can be done on a weeknight.

First ever baguette attempt

made it to 209

Finally, we got some snow.  A decent storm rolled through Tuesday night through Thursday morning, leaving 3-5 inches in the valley and a nice 44" up at Alta.  My commute home Wednesday evening was a little gnarly: although there wasn't that much snow, the roads were icy and there were multiple slide-offs and crashes to avoid in my dependable little Subaru.  This brings the base depth at Alta to 93" and their accumulation to date to 209".  That's pretty meager for almost end-of-February, but we'll take it.

Clear and cold to start

All the skiers, of course, collectively lost their minds and it was crazy-busy up in the Cottonwood Canyons.  Snowbird had to close their parking lots - full - by 7:30 a.m. Friday morning.  And H, figuring it would be a madhouse, got up even earlier and took the first ski bus of the day, snagging the next-to-last seat at 6:10 a.m.  On the ride up the canyon, the driver of the 6:30 bus came on over the radio, saying that after the very first stop, they were completely full; over in Big Cottonwood Canyon, the bus driver reported leaving 70 people behind after filling his bus.  The Goldminer's Daughter Lodge was packed by 7:30 a.m.  Lift lines were ludicrous, with the Supreme singles line wrapping around one side of Alf's Lodge and the Sugarloaf singles line wrapping around the other side.  Best snow of the season - practically the only snow of the season.

Meanwhile, down in the valley, A and M did their five mile Dimple Dell walk; A also later walked to our local library to restock.  There were house chores (laundry, vacuuming, changing sheets), some baking (vegan hermits) and some cooking (Tuscan-style multi-bean soup, veganized arugula pesto, cashew cream and Mexican-style black beans for burrito bowls for dinner).

cuzzins

 We just got back from a long holiday weekend in Moab.  This time, we had to be social as my youngest cousin B, her boyfriend A and one of their friends P, joined us for a couple of days, out from Brooklyn.  P's parents relocated to Park City several years ago so their ultimate destination was the Wasatch Back and (hopefully) some skiing.  But they decided to come out a little early and drove down to Moab Saturday morning.

H and M finishing their trail run

While we waited for them to arrive, H and Milton did a six mile trail run and I did a 4.6 mile (random distance) walk on Pipe Dream.  It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm.  And when the kids (B is the oldest at not-quite 31) arrived, they wanted to do a hike.  We took them to Amasa Back which, surprisingly, was not that busy.  We saw a few MTBers out on the trail, and some side-by-sides in the distance, and a couple of BASE jumpers and rock climbers at the trail head.  But we largely had the Hymasa trail to ourselves.  It was fun to go with people new to the area and full of appreciation for the scenery.

After the hike and a quick parking lot beer, we went back to the house.  The kids wanted to check out Milt's Stop & Eat so after everyone got cleaned up, they walked there for an early dinner.  H and I had soup at home - Milt's, although wonderful, is not particuarly vegan-friendly.  When they came back, we all walked to Woody's for a couple of pitchers and some Olympics viewing.

Culvert Canyon view

Sunday was still warm but not nearly as pretty a day, with overcast skies.  We took the group on a Jeep Arch hike and it was clear that Milton was enjoying have a group of people around.  All three of B, A and P are dog lovers and Milton just circulated from person to person, getting all the loves.  After the hike, the kids explored downtown on foot - including Lin Ottinger's Rock Shop, Back of Beyond Books, Pagan Mountaineering and lunch at El Tapatio, which they said was really good.  (It is not at all vegan-friendly, if you're wondering, and not really vegetarian-friendly either as the refried beans are made with lard and the rice is cooked in chicken broth.)

H leads the way

Late afternoon found B and bf A explorying the Practice Loop at Sand Flats while the rest of us had some quiet time at home.  And then it was dinner at home, and early to bed: the kids were up and out the door by 6:15 a.m. on Monday, planning to hit up Arches National Park before heading back north to SLC.

H, M and I did a town walk, then H and I met a friend at Woody's for beers and more Olympics.  (During the Olympics is really the only time I miss having live t.v.)  And that was it, although we did take Tuesday off too and timed our return north around the next storm system due to hit Utah.  Will we actually get some snow?  Stay tuned ...

if all else fails, carb load

 Sunday was just like Saturday (although we did have some high, thin clouds in the morning): clear, sunny, unseasonably warm and no snow.  It was literally 61F at our house when H got home from skiing at Alta.  Where dudes were skiing in t-shirts.  On the 8th day of February.  I mean, it's awfully nice for walking but holy hell there are WEEDS ACTIVELY GROWING and Utah's reservoirs are going to be in dire straits if something doesn't change soon.  At least H did remember to put on sunscreen.

Only slightly less sunny than Saturday

All whilst bemoaning the current non-winter, A and M had a very productive Dimple Dell walk Sunday morning.  We helped a guy find his lost phone.  We saw four chonky mule deer (one buck with antlers (which, shouldn't those have shed this fall?) and three does).  We met a nine year old rez dog rescue named Snow, originally from Farmington, NM, who was lovely.  And then once we got back home, Milton once again basked in the sun in the driveway all afternoon.

Underfoot, trying to be patient, while A

mixes up cookie dough pre-walk

Meanwhile, inside the house, A made a red lentil soup, meal-prepped her breakfasts and lunches for the next two days, baked chocolate chip cookies (because H is addicted to them) and baked that olive bread that had been started the day before.  

Maybe could have stayed in a little longer?

Looks pretty good tho (especially for me)

at least there's cinnamon rolls

I really, really try to keep this blog as positive and innocuous as possible.  But I mean, the twits who say climate change isn't real should just go take a jump in a lake.  If there's even any lakes left because as of the date of this post, Alta has gotten approximately two inches of snow since New Year's Eve.  The mountains of northern Utah used to be smothered in light, fluffy snow by now.  Alta should have a base depth of well over 100 inches by now (they have 57" - and probably less by now because: melting).  Utah depends on snowpack for its water and it looks bad right now.

Not a cloud in the sky.  Unfortunately.

At any rate, H, who is determined to get the most use he can out of his season pass, went up to Alta on Saturday.  It was not crowded and the skiing was not good.  At the Wildcat base area, the grounds look like April - dirty grey, slushy snow.  When he left, midday, it was 50F and, under all those clear skies and bright sunshine, everything was melting.

I would get chucked out in the

first week on the GBBO

Down in the valley, A, who is very much feeling smug about not having bought a season pass, took the dog on a five mile walk.  Then, while Milton basked in the sunshine on the driveway, like he does in the summertime, there was laundry (always so much laundry), making of cinnamon rolls (better than expected), cashew cream and vegan parmesan, and starting a bread dough.  The cashew cream stood in for sour cream on some pretty dang tasty tacos we had for dinner that night (the "tamale-style" ones, veganized with Trader Joe's soy chorizo).  And the bread dough?  Well, we'll just have to see ...

dry february

I mean, we're all back to having a beer or a glass of wine with dinner.  But snow?  In Utah?  Not so much.  This last week, a teeny little system brough Alta about two inches, which is literally the only snow we've had since New Year's.  Greatest snow on Earth?  Not hardly.  H, because he is dedicated/foolhardy/will drive himself crazy if he doesn't go skiing, went up both days this past weekend.  On Saturday, under mostly blue skies, it was 34F at the base for his first chair lift ride of the morning and it was 49F for his last lift ride.

Lotta bare dirt there

On Sunday, it was more of the same: mostly blue skies, unseasonably warm.  Like, 50F when he left in the early afternoon.  On January 31st.  Does it count as a "January thaw" when winter hasn't even started yet?

Spring skiing on 1 February

On the homefront (and A is continuing to feel pretty good about her decision to not get a season pass again this year), A and M kept busy.  Saturday was a 4.8 mile Dimple Dell walk, then vacuuming and laundry, and making a batch of InstantPot chickpeas, running a couple of errands (too many people out and about on Saturday mornings - yeesh), and baking chocolate chip cookies.  Kind of a quiet day.  Sunday saw us doing our DD walk again - lots of people out there on a Sunday, walkers and runners and dog walkers and equestrians, all enjoying the springlike conditions - and then it was so warm that Milton got to hang out in the sun on his tie-out in the driveway, just like he likes to do.  A made a batch of vegan bolognese pasta sauce for the freezer and swiffered everything.  Not that it needed it.

Awesome firepits

And then, when H got home from skiing, the whole family went out for beers and vegan sammiches at The Watershed, where Milton made friends with everyone on the dog-friendly patio.  Just because it's not feeling like winter doesn't mean we can't take advantage of it.

diminishing returns

"Not a good day," was H's post-ski text to me as he boarded the bus heading down Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Sunday was definitely worse than Saturday: colder, cloudy (which means no passive solar warmth, plus flat light) and windy.  H even wore his face mask, to protect himself from the biting wind.  He skied a short half day, catching the 12:30 p.m. bus, because it just wasn't that much fun.

Parking lot not even full.  On a January weekend.

Down in the valley, A and M did their Dimple Dell walk and the excitement this time was: spotting an ermine!  The little stoat, in his white winter coat, ran out onto the trail, saw us and dashed back into the underbrush.  Milton thought this was quite wonderful and after sniffing around, wanted to push further into the bushes after it.  I suggested maybe not, since ermines are in the weasel family, which is known for sharp teeth and temperments.

Made with Vecinos Marketplace dried herbs

Back at the house, there was more laundry to be folded, vacuuming to be done, and puttering around in the kitchen: making cashew cream (a sour cream substitute), lentil soup, mocha cupcakes and the best focaccia to date!

dry january

 In an attempt to give her liver a break, A has been doing a dry January.  Unfortunately, it seems like the Utah ski areas have been doing so as well: there hasn't been any noticeable snow since the beginning of the month.  H will not be stopped, however, continuing to sharpen the edges of his rock skis, ride the early bus, sit in the Goldminer's Daughter lodge with his thermos of coffee and book and shooting the shit with the other locker room denizens, and doing rock-hard groomer laps until the 1:30 p.m. bus.  

Needs more snow

This past Saturday was the coldest day this season, with beginning temperatures of 11F and a midday "warm-up" to 22F.  Yikes.  It was a beautiful day up there, of course, and he snapped the above photo, capturing a ribbon of low cloud making its way up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The chocolate chips keep them

from being entirely healthy

Down in the valley, A and M were pretty productive.  While waiting for the temperature to rise to 22F, A did a load of laundry (so much laundry) and made Instant-Pot black beans and a batch of chocolate-hazelnut-coconut breakfast cookies.  We did our Dimple Dell walk, where we got to see (a) a cute little kestrel sitting atop a spruce tree, ignoring the nearby flock of robins who were watching him very closely, and (b) our walk acquaintance Aya, the cutest, sweetest Norwegian elkhound, who was overjoyed to see Milton again.  

All fluffed up against the cold

Back at the house, we made those black beans into four quarts of soup for the freezer, turned frozen cranberries into sauce for oatmeal topping, folded and put away a metric ton of laundry (so much laundry), walked to the library (just A, no dogs allowed), changed the sheets in the guest room, and made some headway in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (not A's usual genre but fascinating).

No snow in the forecast, by the way.

winter desert sojourn

This January there has been an ugly little virus going around and both H and A caught it.  Don't know if it was a weird flu, a COVID variant or some other virus, but we were both sick as dogs for a while.  (Conversely, the dog has never been healthier.)  Mostly it's been congestion and a deep, lingering cough, but A also had a delightful twelve-hour interlude of chills - no fever, just chills - and even called in sick to work for a day, which never happens.

We're all better now, but when we went to Moab for the MLK Jr. holiday weekend, we were only mostly better.  We drove down Friday afternoon, with little traffic and no snow; the no snow situation had brought a lingering inversion to the Salt Lake Valley, with nasty smog, so we were glad to get out of that.  We were glad to see some snow in the La Sals, but it's up pretty high and not nearly enough.  Just like everywhere else in the state.

Happy little goofball

In our not-entirely-back-to-normal states, the outdoors activities were limited, although we did get outside each day.  On Saturday, while H did a town walk and errands, A and M did 5.5 miles on the Pipe Dream trail.  This time of year, with the sun so low, that trail stays pretty shaded and icy, if there's any snow.  Milton was super happy to get some off-leash time; A had to take a nap that afternoon before venturing over to Woody's with H.

Needs more snow

There was some improvement by Sunday, so A and M put together 7.2 miles: from Jackson Street, south on Pipe Dream to the Hidden Valley trailhead (some ten cars there, in the bright January sunshine), then back along the Pipeline jeep road.  It was quite pleasant in the sun and chilly in the shade as temperatures were low 30s.  After an afternoon nap, A and H went to our friends' house to watch the Bears football game.  

Country roads

Monday and Tuesday were pretty chill: long town walks with the whole family (5.2 miles and 4.7 miles, respectively), reading and a Woody's session on Monday, housecleaning and driving back to SLC on Tuesday.  By the time we arrived in Sandy, we were mostly feeling back to ourselves again.  Maybe getting out of the SLC smog to the desert sunshine was all we needed?

department of underwhelming bakes

 Since A stopped getting season ski passes, she is trying to get better at baking.  To be honest, it's a struggle.  I'm pretty good at cookies, okay at cakes and cupcakes and pretty terrible at bread.  Bread is hard.  I want to get better at bread.  I won a KitchenAid stand mixer at my work holiday party and have been hopeful that it will help me get better at bread.  Not so far, but I ain't giving up yet.

Here are three of the most recent things to come out of the oven.  Bless H's heart, he eats it all.  And even the worst bread is edible when dunked in soup.

King Arthur Flour recipe for

"easiest loaf ever" lol

Isa Chandra's marble banana bread (much

more work than regular banana bread, but tasty)

Two layer chocolate fudge cake

with chocolate vegan butter cream frosting

after a bit of snow

 We did finally get a decent snowstorm, after vacation week when the Christmas vacationers had gone home and H had gone back to work.  It was a decent little storm, dropping about two feet at Alta and saturating the valley with rain and about a half inch of snow at our house.  When H went up on the bus Saturday, he managed to score a seat, but there were lots more people than of late, everyone drawn by the promise of new snow.

Pretty nice day out there

The storm system had moved on out, of course, so he had a bluebird day.  And by the time the weekend rolled around, ski patrol had been able to open more runs - big, popular ones, like Challenger (off Supreme) and Extrovert (off Sugarloaf) - which spread the people out a little.  H declared it his best day of the season to date.

Catherine's Area

Sunday was the same but worse: high thin clouds giving way to sun, no new snow, a little fewer people.  Ski patrol has been keeping after it, though, and H got into Catherine's Area for a few runs.

Down in the valley, A and Milton did their usual thing: five mile walks in the morning through Dimple Dell, a little cleaning (bathrooms and vacuuming), a little laundry, a little cooking (green chile stew and rosemary navy beans in the InstantPot), a little baking (chocolate chip cookies), a little reading, a little napping.  Most of the holiday decorations have been put away but I'm dragging my feet on the white lights because I find them cheerful.

the week of skiing (second part)

The next bit of H's ski week was a bit unsettled.

Friday 1/2 - He took the bus up to Alta at the usual time.  Around 9 a.m., as the lines for first chair were getting long, word came out that there'd be a delayed opening, which there often is when there's some new snow.  Then the lights in the Goldminer's Daughter lodge blinked off and on.  The Collins and Wildcat lifts stopped running - a power pole had snapped by Wildcat - and they said that it would be a couple of hours until the generators could get those lifts running again.  It became a total shitshow, with a massive line at the rope tow, with people trying to get over to Sunnyside and Sugarloaf.  Plus all sorts of people went to the ticket windows, either asking for their money back or changing their Alta pass to a combination Alta-Snowbird pass.  

Too. Many. People.

H just gave up, getting home at 11:20 and taking himself to lunch at A Bar Named Sue (Milton got to hang out in the truck.)  He said the bus was packed but that 90% of the riders got off at Snowbird, hoping to salvage their ski day.  As you can see from the photo above (stolen from Reddit), folks didn't get to do much actual skiing at Snowbird.

Also stolen from Reddit

Saturday 1/3 - When H got home Saturday, he'd had a better day.  It was the most crowded that it's been all season, of course, but it was also the best snow all season.  And even though it was really windy and the light was flat, he didn't get drenched and chilled.  The newer snow is a little unstable - wet and heavy and lying atop old crusty stuff - and there was a slide across the EBT, which cut the available terrain even more: too many skiers on not many trails.

Holiday day tickets are $227: for flat light and no snow

Sunday 1/4 - More of the same, with no new snow, but perhaps slightly fewer skiers as the Christmas week tourists head home.  The light was flat and it was windy and still too warm, raining a bit at the base and then sleet and graupel at elevation.  On his arrival home, H commented that there are two kinds of ski bus drivers: the one who goes so fast that you think that the bus might roll on the corners; and the ultra-cautious poky one.  He got the poky one this time.

The flat light would be fine if it would actually 

snow in the mountains

the week of skiing (first part)

H usually takes the week between Christmas and New Year's off to ski.  Despite the complete lack of snow so far, he stuck to tradition, and added a couple of additional days to boot.

Monday 12/22 - The conditions were worse even than they had been the just-previous weekend.  The snow totally set up hard, despite the warm temperatures.  Rocks were poking through as Alta tried to move the snow around.  The parking lot wasn't full and even some of the locker room regulars declined to come up.

Gloomy Monday

Tuesday 12/23 - Conditions were so bad.  Really thin.  Nobody (relatively speaking) was skiing - and this is with Alta having the most snow along the Wasatch Front/Back.  H gave up and took the bus home a half hour earlier than he had been.

Thin Tuesday

Monday 12/29 - There had been a small storm over the holiday, adding about a foot to the snow totals.  When H went up, it was colder to start and definitely more crowded, being the holiday week.  He rode a chair with a retired ski instructor who declared it to be "the worst start in 52 years."  She ought to know.  At least it was sunny.

Bluebird Monday

Tuesday 12/30 - Same as Monday but deteriorating conditions since no new/additional snow.

Sunny Tuesday

Wednesday 12/31 - Each day, said H, is just a little worse than the day before.  No new snow. 

Hard pack NYE

Thursday 1/1 - A storm moved in.  But even Alta, with its base area at 8,000+ feet, was 41F and raining when H left at 12:30 p.m.  He was soaked through and pretty chilled by the time he got home.

Wet start to the year

'tis more of the season

 On Boxing Day (not a thing in the U.S., I realize, but don't care), the whole crew went to Millcreek for a longer (4.1 miles) hike.  All the dogs enjoyed this more than the Corona Arch hike, I think, since they could be off leash.  Milton and Stevie chased each other in the straightaways; and the weiner dogs did awesome, just needing some assistance in the steep or really rocky parts.  Also the water crossings: the water wasn't high but their legs are so, so short.

M post hike

I remembered to bring post-hike beers this time, although it wasn't quite as nice a day as it had been on Christmas.  Still, a parking lot hang is a parking lot hang!  Afterwards, we took advantage of the four dogs being tired for the four people to stroll over to Woody's.  We took control of the jukebox and had a couple of pitchers, then walked back home for leftovers.

E and Oliver

To give the smaller dogs a break, on Saturday, while H and Milton went for a 4 mile trail run, A, E and K put some money back into the local economy.  We went to the thrift store owned by Milton's rescue, Underdog, and were pleased to see it's pretty good.  It's a big place with a wide variety of things: I got four cookbooks; K bought books and record albums and postcards and a dog collar; E got an amazing 70s-esque caftan.  We cruised Main Street next, hitting up a couple of little boutique shops and Back of Beyond Books, before having lunch at The Spoke.  Dinner was at home: vegan BBQ pulled pork (soy curl) sandwiches.

Not literally all of us in flannel

And then the long holiday weekend was over.  E and K got up and got going early.  H, M and A were not too far behind: doing a town walk and then cleaning house before heading back to SLC ourselves.  Traffic was light, the road was clear and dry, and we all made it home safe and sound.  And then H got organized for the week of skiing ahead.