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.

'tis the season

With some extra hours worked and plus some PTO, we headed to Moab early Christmas Eve.  H wanted to leave at 6 a.m.; A was leaning towards 7; we somehow split the difference and were on the road by 6:30.  Traffic was light, the roads were dry and it was (unbelievably) 64F when we rolled into town around 10 a.m.  That's St. George temperatures, not Moab.

Too warm for December

Our guests for the weekend, E and K, had laughed heartily when we said what time we were leaving.  They left SLC around the time we arrived in Moab, so we had some time to spare.  After unloading and unpacking, H did a five mile trail run on Pipe Dream while A and Milton did a 3.25 mile town walk.  It seemed quieter in town than it had over Thanksgiving, but it certainly wasn't a ghost town.  With the ski areas not having any snow, we figured we'd see more folks in the desert.

A moseying past Bowtie Arch

E and K arrived mid-afternoon, their three little dogs - 9-year old mix Stevie and 17 year-old mini-dachshunds Oliver and Lily - in tow.  Soon there were small dog beds and blankets everywhere, the fridge was full to bursting and the holiday had officially begun.  We had pasta with lentil bolognese and a salad for dinner and then, because it was still so crazy warm, we had Christmas Eve champagne around the fire pit in the backyard.

K and Oliver 

On Christmas morning, we all enjoyed a delicious breakfast casserole that E had made before heading out for a hike.  We decided on Corona Arch, H and I figuring that it had been at least a decade since we'd done that one.  The trailhead parking lot was pretty full but it didn't really seem like that many people out on the trail.

Corona Arch ahead

It was a stunning morning, warm and sunny with a bright blue sky overhead.  We did keep the dogs leashed for the most part since there were signs about it and all the other dogs (and there were lots) were on their leashes.  When the elderly weiner dogs got tired, the girls just put them in backpacks, although I was amazed at how much they actually walked.  There are a couple of spots that the dogs - even Milton and Stevie - didn't love, involving chains and a metal ladder, but there are work-arounds and any fit dog can deal with them.

On approach

We did a little gift exchange back at home and went next door to see our neighbor A's brother's family's new puppy.  When it got dark, H and K and Milton drove up to Sand Flats Recreation Area: K is a photographer and wanted to get some shots of the night sky.  I helped E put together dinner: vegan Wellington with mashed potatoes and gravy.

New Christmas bandana

There were ginger cookies, dog snuggles and lots and lots of laughing after dinner.  H even stayed up until 10 p.m.!  Happy Christmas indeed.

Art shot