oh yeah it's spring

In case you're wondering: Alta's year-to-date snowfall is still at 260".  That's just over half the historical average.  It almost hit 90F in SLC in the middle of March.  It's so bad.  But no, climate change isn't real.  (That was sarcasm.)

"Thin cover"

Still, ever the optimist, H went skiing on Saturday.  Ski resorts are closing early left and right around here.  Alta probably has the most snow but it's melting quickly.  The photo he took, looking down at Wildcat base, shows the southern-facing slopes across the canyon nearly bare.  And people have moved on, not wanting to pay the exorbitant pass prices for such subpar conditions.  H walked out of the lodge at 9:17 a.m. (Alta's chairs start loading at 9:15) and walked right onto the Collins chair without waiting in line.  When he left midday, the Wildcat base parking lot was not close to full.

Forsythia (and now I've exhausted my

knowledge of flowering trees/shrubs)

Down in the valley, A and M did their thing: five mile walk, taking photos of all the neighborhood flowering trees; and then nearly three hours of weeding.  The weeds are early and extra-prolific this year because they never stopped growing - it never got wintery enough.  

Pink one (might be a nectarine tree?)

There was also time for laundry and chocolate chip cookie baking and a trip to the library.  

At the neighborhood park

Oh!  And the day before, on A's way home from work, she stopped by SLC's Chinatown.  It's not really Chinatown like in NYC or Boston or San Francisco: it's a strip mall with lots of restaurants, stores and the biggest Asian grocery store in Utah, which is why I stopped.  

There's even a gate

I love an Asian grocery store with the variety of veggies, tofu, noodles, spices and so many snacks.  And I had a momentary pang of wishing I wasn't vegan when I saw the multiple bakeries - I LOVE Chinese pastries.

It was wonderful but so very loud

It was a little overwhelming - brightly-colored and -lit, with music blaring, and very busy.  I got tofu, rice sticks, rice noodles, mirin, some ruffle-y baby bok choy, Szechuan peppercorns, Chinese five-spice and an Indonesian hot sauce.  I wanted to get so much more (they had fresh jackfruits - huge!) but was proud of my restraint.  I can't believe it's taken sixteen years for me to get there.  To be honest, I prefer the Ocean Mart in Sandy: it's a little smaller, but calmer and still has a huge variety.

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)