adventures in holiday week skiing

When we got back to Moab, I had to go back to work (boo).  But H tries to take the week off between Christmas and New Year's so he got to go skiing (yay).  Per usual, he got a varied range of experiences.

Wednesday was sort of business as usual.  Alta had gotten a little more snow since Christmas (the day before) and the skies were mostly sunny.  The ski bus was full but he managed to get a seat; once up at Alta's Wildcat base at 8:20 a.m., the corral was already filling up, with 55 minutes to go before they opened the chairlifts.  Alf's was very crowded and he had to deal with all sorts of nonsense in the lift lines.  He was on his alpine skis and poked around all over the resort, jumping on the 2:30 p.m. bus for home.

Wednesday at Alta

On Thursday, while I was dealing with some valley snow on my morning commute, the ski bus was totally full.  Alta had had more new snow and people were there for it.  It was overcast and cloudy all day, with flat light, but since he was on his telemark set-up, the visibility wasn't too much of an issue.

Thursday's scenery

What was an issue was some of the worst down-canyon traffic congestion in Little Cottonwood Canyon's history.  For some reason, the police were not in place at the base of the canyon in the morning, turning back people in 2WD cars without snow tires, so at the end of the day, when there had been some snow build-up on the road, there were multiple slide-offs and traffic was at a standstill.  The buses were late (as they usually are on snow days) but H managed to get on one at about 3:10 p.m.  The bus then proceeded to be stopped in traffic for more than 2.5 hours on the bypass road.  From his texts to me (I had rushed home to let Milton out), there was an accident at Entry B in Snowbird, a badly-parked truck blocking traffic between Creekside and Snowbird Center, a Kia Soul halfway off the road and a major slide off around Tanners Flats.  At about 6 p.m., his bus driver got the okay to skip the Snowbird stops and just continue down the canyon; once past Snowbird, traffic was moving, albeit slowly.  He got home around 7:45 p.m., making that the new record for long-ass down-canyon bus rides.

Friday: Backside

It was with a little trepidation that H got back on the ski bus Friday morning.  It all went smoothly, however, and wasn't quite so crowded due to the very cold temperatures.  It was 3F at the base, around 0 at the summit and with wind chills between -20 and -30 F.  For once I wasn't all that mad that I was at work.

Friday: Catherine's Area

On his alpine gear, he got off the groomers a bit, but still found rocks on Extrovert, Chartreuse and in Catherine's Area.  Still, with the cold he didn't have to wait in lift lines - but the lodges were all full all day, with people trying to get warm.  He caught the 3 p.m. bus (a little late but not overly full) and was back at home at 4:15 p.m., even with stopping to wash the truck.  

I guess the moral of the story is that you never really know what you're going to get with vacation week skiing, so be prepared for everything.

south for the holiday

Breaking with tradition, we decided to go to the desert for the long Christmas weekend.  We kept an nervous eye on the weather and drove down Saturday morning.  Many native Utahns I know won't go to Moab in the winter because of the sixty mile stretch between Spanish Fork and Price: a steep, winding road through a pass that is the only way over the mountain range.  Luckily, we only encountered one sketchy/icy section and by the time we were heading downhill from Soldier Summit (the high point on the drive), the road was clear and dry.  Milton didn't love the car ride - he gets very nervous and drooly, and got carsick before Soldier Summit; we made a note to not feed him so close to drive time next time.

Detail from mosaic bench at the Youth Garden Project

When we rolled in to Moab late morning, the difference from high season - which is now considered to be from March through November - was immediately noticeable.  There were hardly any cars on Main Street.  Like, people were crossing against the light and we could turn left immediately without waiting and waiting and waiting.  It wasn't completely deserted but it was great, with whole blocks of open sidewalk free and clear. 

Ranching relics along Mill Creek

The skies were blue and so we took a long walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon.  Milton was a little nervous at being in a new place so we did some exploring, finding Rotary Park alongside Mill Creek, near the approach road to the Sand Flats Recreation Area, crossing under Main Street via Moab's network of bike paths and checking out the Youth Garden Project near the high school.  There's a whole lot to Moab that we just haven't known about and we really enjoyed exploring.

The Colorado River

On Sunday, it was a little cloudy and cool to start.  It had gotten down to the 20s overnight - so much for being in the south!  We decided to head to the Colorado River to take a walk with Milt.  There is a bike path between the river and Route 128, which is the road to Castle Valley from Moab.  It runs for about 2.5 miles and there was quite literally no one on it when we were.  Quite a change from high season, I should think.  The river was calm, with ice building up along its banks.  We saw lots of tracks - fat bike, deer prints, dog prints, boot prints - but that was it.

H and M, river walking

After getting cleaned up, we walked Milton over to the Kokopelli Lodge to see Katy, the motel's proprietor and the head of Under Dog Rescue, which is where we got Milt.  We had texted her to let her know we were in town.  We paused for a quick photo op at Milton's namesake, Milt's Stop N Eat, and then spent a little time with Katy, her sweet dog Pearl, Des (dog adoption coordinator) and Des's sweet dog Paisley.  Milt was his own sweet self, a little nervous at first and then sitting up so everyone could rub his tummy.  By the time we left, he and Paisley were pawing at each other, ready to play.

It's Milt at Milt's!

We took Milton home - where he quickly made himself comfortable on the bed, of course - and then walked to Woody's for a couple of beers.  We knew they weren't going to be open on Christmas Eve and we wanted to make sure that we stopped in for a drink.  It's not really a trip to Moab without a beer at one of the last remaining Old Moab spots.

My boys heading out on the Pipe Dream trail

Christmas Eve was clear and sunny and, after a chilly (20s) start, warmed up to the high 40s.  In the sun, at least: the moment you stepped into the shade, the temperatures plummeted.  We did a couple of errands and then collected Milt for a short hike.

The LaSals

H discovered the Pipe Dream trail (mixed use MTB/hiking, please clean up after your dogs) on one of our maps, running up against the red cliffs on the south end of town.  The southern terminus has trailhead parking for the Hidden Valley hiking trail and the Pipe Dream trail, as well as the old gas Pipe Line double-track. 

Funky ice crystals

The Pipe Dream trail is about five miles long and technical - too technical for me to ride.  But I was happy to walk a good portion of it.  Milt was happy too: lots of critter tracks to sniff out and he even spotted a desert cottontail rabbit.  Very exciting!  Although there were several other cars in the trailhead parking lot, we didn't see anyone out on the trail itself.  Gotta love the off season.

Sun goes down early this time of year

We took Milt home and headed back out ourselves for Christmas Eve beers at Zax, one of the only places in town still open.  When we sat at the bar, we felt a little awkward since we were the only ones there.  But the server assured us that the place would fill up shortly and it did; our new friend Tom (originally from New Hampshire, whom we've talked with at Zax the last two times we were in town) even showed up and we bought him a Christmas beer.

Merry Christmas Eve

As with all our trips to Moab, this one had an expiration date and we had to drive back north on Christmas Day.  But not before H got out on his MTB for one last quick ride, the final one of 2018.  He rode up - and up and up - the road to the Slickrock Trail, then out a little ways on the slickrock.

Out on the Slickrock

We got on the road before 1 p.m. and the drive was quick and uneventful, except for poor little Milt getting carsick again.  [New note to selves for the next time: no food at all before car rides.]  Back at home before dark, we opened a bottle of champagne to go with our chili, and watched A Christmas Story.  Merry everything to all, and to all a good night!

upcoming: christmas in the desert

H and I aren't very Christmasy - we don't give each other gifts - and recent years have found us skiing Christmas morning while everyone else is opening presents.  This year we broke from our tradition and went south/east to Moab for the long holiday weekend.  We'd never really been to the desert in the wintertime and wanted to see what it was all about.  SPOILER:  we liked it.

More to come but in the meantime, here's Milton on the Pipe Dream trail in south Moab.

playing favorites

Last Saturday, on one of our chairlift rides at Alta, H challenged me to name my three favorite hikes from the Year of Hiking we just had.  The Big Hike (a/k/a the Under the Rim trail at Bryce Canyon National Park) didn't count - plus I don't think either of us would have chosen that one: it's gotten better the further we get from it but it was a suffer-fest at the time.

H's favorites were, in no particular order:

1. Emma Ridge
2. Ben Lomond
3. Naturalist Basin

My favorites, with the qualification that I might have to change my mind because I wasn't sure I was remembering them all, were:

1. Emma Ridge
2. Brighton Ridge Run
3. Ben Lomond or Silver Fork/Honeycomb

But when I got the chance to review the list of all the hikes we did, I think I have to replace Brighton with Murphy Hogback.  I just love that one.  I love Canyonlands; I love the views from that hike; I love that so few people are on it, despite it being in a national park.

We found it interesting that we both had Emma Ridge and Ben Lomond on our respective lists, and we liked those hikes for the same reasons.  Emma Ridge was because it was new, with not many people on it, and with a different perspective in an area we know well by now.  Ben Lomond was because it's long but not difficult, because of the views down into Eden and Liberty and because there were not many people on it (hordes of dirtbikers at the end notwithstanding).

It was kind of fun to spend that chairlift ride remembering all the great hiking we just did.  Yes, the mileage we put in was in training for the Under the Rim trail but as it turns out, we got more than just training out of each individual hike.  (Maybe not Alta Dry Fork/Snowbird - I can give that one a rest for a while.)  I do love skiing but I think hiking may be my favorite.

sunny sunday

According to the weather report, Sunday was to be a little warmer, a little windier, with high thin clouds.  The meteorologists got it right this time: it was already 30F at the summit when we got on the first chair at Collins.  My feet scarcely got cold all day - so it was clearly warmer than it has been!  Again, it wasn't all that busy but it sure seemed like there were a LOT of kids and beginner skiers out there.  (Since when did Alta turn into a beginners' mountain?) 

Ski patrol opened Devil's Castle for the first time this season - H had thought they would wait until Christmas so we were surprised to see the line of folks traversing in there.  Well, there were a lot of people lined up to get in there initially but then, throughout the day, we really didn't see all that many people heading in there for repeat runs.  We didn't go in ourselves as we thought it still looked bony.  There were a fair number of folks hiking up the Apron; that's probably where the best snow was since it never gets sun this time of year and relatively few people are willing to do the work to ski it.

PBR time downstairs at the Goldminer's Daughter

Again, we split our time evenly between Collins, Supreme and Sugarloaf.  The conditions were not quite as frozen as on Saturday but the high traffic areas still skied off quickly.  I thought 3 Bears was in some of the best conditions it ever is; Razorback was skiing pretty well too but by the afternoon some rocks were starting to surface (a/k/a "sharks").  When we quit at 2 p.pm, it was nearly 40F at Wildcat base - it almost felt like spring skiing!  Snowpack-wise, northern Utah is still just barely above average but that will change quickly since no decent storms are in the near forecast.  It's a waiting game now.

a few days after the storm

A nice mid-week storm (not so nice for driving into work in the valley) brought 12" of snow to the mountains of northern Utah.  The systems didn't stick around, however, so it was sunny with light winds on Saturday.  That much snow doesn't last long out here any more; it was all already tracked  out, although Alta's ski patrol was shooting off bombs in Devil's Castle, hoping to get that open.
The snow was pretty firm first thing in the morning but it got softer as the day wore on and the sun shone down. 

Top of Supreme chair, Heber Valley behind me

It really wasn't too busy and we managed to get chairs to ourselves at least every other time up the lifts as we split our time evenly between Collins, Sugarloaf and Supreme.  We did notice that any high traffic and/or steep pitch areas did get skied off quickly (i.e. Corkscrew, Devil's Elbow, bottom of Rock N' Roll).  There wasn't anything super-exciting going on: we just did laps on groomers with a couple side ventures onto small bumps a la Razorback.  Off-piste still seems thin to us this early in the season because 12" just doesn't go very far over terrain as rocky as Alta's.

blue skies abound

I must have jinxed myself with the correct layers on Saturday.  Sunday was clear and sunny and was supposed to be warmer.  It really didn't seem that much warmer and, since I went down a layer, I had a total outfit fail and was cold pretty much all day.  Note to self:  it's better to be too warm than too cold.

Sunny day

The parking lot filled up at Alta's Wildcat base but the trails never seemed crowded.  This turned out to be a good thing since Sunday's conditions were much firmer and got skied off quickly.  Collins was okay for the first couple of runs but then any groomer with a decent pitch got scraped off shortly thereafter.  Sugarloaf was really not that good: we were skiing "dust on crust" pretty much top to bottom.  The best conditions were on Supreme but it really was pretty firm - Eastern-style skiing, I guess you'd call it.  After lunch, the little bumps on Razorback softened up just a tiny bit, making that short little run decent.  Plus no one was on it which was a treat.

Mt. Superior looks nice in white

Since we figured we'd mostly be cruising groomers, H got back on his telemark gear for the first time of the season.  It didn't take him long to get back into the groove:  I could keep up with him for the first two runs but after that, he left me in the dust each run.

Twenty years - wow!

After we finished up for the day, we went up to the second floor saloon at the Goldminer's Daughter lodge.  We had an anniversary to recognize:  twenty years ago, on December 9th, we had our first date.  We went to $3 Dewey's in Portland Maine for beers that day - it only seemed right to celebrate with beers on this day too.

cloudy, with a chance of skiing

After the storm rolled out at the end of last weekend, we entered into a period of calm weather-wise.  When we headed up to Alta on Saturday (our passes worked on the bus - yay ski bus!), the forecast was for high 20s/low 30s and mostly cloudy.  For once, I got my layers right - partial down jacket - and was comfortable for the whole day.  Woohoo!

 Low clouds creeping up the canyon

It was not nearly as crowded as it had been the weekend before, and we suspected that the flat light and dearth of new snow kept people down in the valley with their Christmas shopping.  Those of us who were up there, however, very much appreciated the lack of lift lines and I thought the conditions were quite good, all things considered.  Although off-piste was a little thin (a fact that H confirmed on a run down Extrovert later in the day), the groomers were creamy.

View from Razorback

We did five runs on Collins, then moved over to Supreme, which was now open. There were people flooding into Catherine's Area but we opted not to go quite yet, hoping to protect what's left of our ski bases.  It was quite different from last year at this time, when Supreme wasn't open and they were loading the Sugarloaf lift every other chair, trying to keep the few trails from becoming too crowded.
On this day, Sugarloaf was in decent shape.  We found some nice small and soft-ish bumps on Razorback, which definitely let my early season legs know that there's still work to be done before I can be considered to be in any sort of shape.

We skied until after 2 p.m., then had a beer downstairs at the Goldminer's Daughter lodge before catching the 3:04 bus that was both late and SUPER busy for some reason.  But our passes worked and we got seats, and Milton did fine home alone all day, so you'll hear no real complaints from us on that front.

one hundred inches

It started snowing again Saturday night for the final push of this very nice storm that ultimately brought 30+ inches to area mountains and bringing Alta to over 100" of snowfall already.  By Sunday morning, we were even getting accumulation at our house in the valley.  Since I have early season legs (and since I'm so slow skiing deep conditions even when my legs are in shape), I sent H up to Alta by himself while Milton and I kept things shoveled out at home. 


H's pass still wasn't working on the ski bus (what up with that, UTA?) but he got up there just fine - better than fine, really, because there was all sorts of new snow and only half the number of people from the day before.  He never once waited in a lift line, each time skiing right onto the chair.

Baldy looming grey and cold

Patrol got a little more terrain open too so he had a great day, skiing Racecourse and Sunspot and generally playing around in West Rustler.  He also did a couple of runs down the steep little pitch under Cecret Lake, then out via a Cabin Run - where he did have to be careful not to get stuck in the creek.

Not Monty, Fitz or Lucy - maybe Tula? 

Enjoying the day regardless

Racecourse

H skied himself tired, with only a quick break for lunchtime fries at Alf's.  He caught the 3 p.m. bus (pass didn't work - driver confirmed that a lot of Alta passes weren't working) and got home just fine, extremely happy to have had such a good early season day on the hill.

off to a good start

I don't want to jinx it but so far the 2018/2019 ski season is looking to be MUCH better than the 2017/2018 season.  Northern Utah had a system move in for the weekend and by Saturday morning, Alta said they'd gotten 90+ inches (of snowfall, not base) which is a good five feet more than we had at this time last year.  There was a little break in the snowstorm action during the day on Saturday and up we went, telling Milton to be a good boy and watch the house.  By "watch the house," we meant "sleep on the bed all day and shed on H's pillow."

The UTA was originally scheduled to start ski bus service on Sunday (12/2) but got their ducks in a row in time to run buses up the canyons on Saturday instead.  They didn't have everything in order - neither H's nor my season Alta passes registered on the scanner and the driver told us to check in at Skier Services when we got to the resort - but it was so nice to climb aboard and let someone else do the driving.  Much less stressful.  We did check in at Skier Services (very busy with people picking up their ski passes) and the girl told us that it was a UTA issue, not an Alta issue.  Sigh.  Whatever - let's go skiing!

Ski patrol was setting bombs off like crazy all over the mountain to shake loose the new snow so Collins had a ten minute delay in opening.  Both Sugarloaf and Sunnyside were open as well, which helped spread people out a little bit, but it was definitely busy and for the first five runs we did on Collins, we went through the singles line each time because of the crowds.  The snow was really quite good, creamy almost, and my skis floated through it even though I still don't have any new wax on them.

It was definitely chilly, though, and high, thin clouds started to diminish the sun's effectiveness.  We switched over to Sugarloaf where it was much less crowded.  Part of this may have had to do with the fact that we had to ski under several snow guns but the new technology makes this much less unpleasant than the old days.  The snow was a little more bumped up on this side - if I had to guess, they groomed here early and then got additional snowfall on top - which meant we had to work harder than just cruising groomers, but conditions were soft so I wasn't bouncing off the little bumps.

I went in for a 20-minute warm-up around noon, while H continued to do laps, then we did a few more runs together on the Sugarloaf side before my early season legs cried uncle.  I went down to Wildcat base and snagged a table at Goldminer's Daughter; H did two or three more runs, enough to get himself thoroughly chilled by the time he met me at the lodge.  Not too chilled for our first apres-ski PBRs tho as we had just enough time for quick beers before catching the bus back down the canyon.

year of hiking

Before we get too deep into ski season, I wanted to recap all the hiking we did this past year.  The idea took hold back in September 2017 when, on our trip to Bryce Canyon National Park with H's parents, we first learned about the Under the Rim trail.  As we read more about it, we decided that we should do it all in one day.  Once that plan was made, we knew we'd need to train for it because walking 23 miles in a day isn't anything we do on a regular basis.

H came up with a training plan with hikes scheduled each weekend, increasing the miles as we moved through the early summer.  We didn't worry too much about elevation, even with the UtR's uphill finish; we just needed to get the miles on our feet.  Some of the trails were ones we'd done before (anything in Big or Little Cottonwood Canyons) and others were new to us (Naturalist Basin, Mid Mountain Trail).  We got rained out one weekend in May and were traveling one weekend in June but other than that we did the work, even when we had weekends away for the Crusher in the Tushar and Great Basin National Park.

The Big Hike was the first weekend in August and after that, we didn't want to slow our roll.  We kept hiking every weekend, and while we weren't quite as obsessive about high mileage, we did try to work in longer hikes because we were eyeing a new goal:  to reach 300 miles before the hiking season ended.  We didn't hit that goal - we got rained out one weekend, plus we needed/wanted to spend time with Milton - but we came close, logging 280.70 miles from the end of April through the mid November.  It doesn't sound like that much said like that but we were weekend-warrioring only for a total of 32 hikes, and we ended up with an average hike length of 8.77 miles / average climbing 2,066'.

I thought it was a fantastic hiking season.  Hiking is probably my favorite activity out of all we do - it's certainly what I'm best at (because it's just walking) - and I really loved getting out there so much, doing the longer trails.  And, with a couple months' distance and lessons learned, H and I think that we wouldn't mind taking another all-in-one-day shot at the Under the Rim trail - but this time in the fall when it's cooler (and with better/saltier foods). 

But that's in the future.  For now, I'm going to bask in our accomplishment from this year, our year of hiking.

and so it begins

Alta's opening day was Friday, November 23rd, and with perfect timing, a lovely storm came in, bringing 15-30" around the mountains of northern Utah, from Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon.  Opening Day is often (during normal snow years) on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and H likes to take that day off to ski.  This year, with Opening Day being on a holiday - the day after Thanksgiving - we opted not to go, figuring that it would be much, much more crowded.  Plus, the ski bus isn't running yet and we don't have snow tires on either vehicle, so we didn't really have a way to get up the canyon.

In line at Collins

So we waited until Sunday, when the storm had moved off, leaving mostly clear skies and chilly temperatures.  Alta's new signs failed to display the current temperatures but we figure it was between 13 - 20 F, enough to make my toes really cold.  At first there wasn't much open - and all of it in the shade - just a couple runs down from the Collins and Wildcat lifts.  Ski patrol was working like crazy to get more open, though, and by noon Sugarloaf was up and running and Ballroom was open as well.  Sunnyside was not running, however, meaning that all the little kids and beginners were fighting for space on the trails with the hotdoggers, bombing down from the top.  Around 1 p.m. we'd had enough of dodging other people and gave up our parking spot to head back home.

The snow was much, much better than either of us expected.  While certain high traffic areas got skied off quickly, the snow was general soft under our skis, without the harsh scratching that you hear when you ski man-made snow.  Sugarloaf in particular was in really good shape.  With another storm moving in later this week, hopefully the good conditions will only get better.

this turkey needs to trot a little faster

In most respects, the 2018 City Creek Cold Turkey was just like the 2017 iteration.  It was mild, overcast and dry, although storms were coming up soon.  With a 35% chance of rain, H and I left Milton at home; in hindsight, we should have brought him since it didn't rain and he would have had fun meeting dogs and people.  

 Obligatory purple fleece pre-race shot

(I have had this fleece since about 1992)

Since this year's event was so similar to last year's, I should have read last year's post for a cue at to what to wear - I was overdressed and awfully warm for the uphill portion.  That, coupled with my under-training, meant bad things for my time.  With two long weekends in Moab in October, I definitely missed out on some hill climbing runs, plus Thanksgiving surprised me by being early this year.  

Oh my heck - go faster!

My legs felt heavy at the beginning and I was absolutely slow on the uphill.  When we reached the turnaround, I could feel a side stitch coming on.  I know this kept my pace down a bit as well.  Once the finish line was in sight, I gave it all I had and managed to pass another young woman right at the end - for what it's worth.  But this year was my worst time BY FAR.  Even though I am not competitive and only do this race for fun/exercise, it was still a little disappointing.

Done for another year

But I cracked my first Thanksgiving beer of the day at 10:30 a.m. when we got home, and that's what really matters!

Race results (and history)
2018: 37:30, 6 out of 16 in age group, 236/642 overall  
2017: 35:59.78, 7 out of 20 in age group, 225/654 overall 
2016:  53:23.51, 4 out of 14 in age group, 159/544 overall, +/-10k 8.4k* distance 
2015:  35:17.18, 6 out of 19 in age group, 186/593 overall 
2014:  34:14:58, 10 out of 26 in age group, 174/656 overall 
2013:  35:44.40, 7 out of 24 in age group, 243/682 overall 
2012:  n/a (Thanksgiving in California) 
2011:  35:41.33, 249/656 overall 
2010:  37:22.76 (course changed due to ice/uphill finish), top half of finishers 
2009:  35:53.32, top half of finishers

solbright

As has become tradition, we did our Solbright (i.e. Solitude + Brighton) hike this past Sunday, after enough snow had fallen to make this our last hike of the calendar year.  Brighton - which had already opened for the season - said it was 11 F in the morning, so we waited a bit for it to warm up; when we got up there, it was much warmer than we expected and we were both over-dressed.

 Signage

Like last year, we started counter-clockwise around Silver Lake, then peeled off onto the Twin Lakes trail.  Although the Silver Lake parking lot was full (as was the Brighton resort lot - packed!), there really weren't many people out there: we passed two groups of four as we climbed up to the dam, and then saw another two at the dam, and then no one else. 

Summit ahead

It had been a few days since the last snowfall so the path was well-trodden up to the dam.  When we continued up past the dam, into Solitude proper, foot traffic had been less heavy but the footing was still okay.  Even as we slogged up the access road on the steep last bit to the top of the Summit chair, it wasn't icy and we could walk in some snow-cat tracks.

That's me, holding hands with H's shadow

As always, it is pretty up at the top of Solitude, with views into Honeycomb Canyon and across Big Cottonwood Canyon to the now-closed Guardsman Pass road.  Any hillsides that were south- or west-facing were pretty much clear of natural snow but the shady spots were holding onto theirs.  We backtracked a little ways and then took the access road down to Lake Solitude.  There were a fair number of squirrel and deer tracks but other than one squirrel who scolded us, this hike was critter-free. 

H with Honeycomb Canyon behind him

We finished by completing the loop around Silver Lake and then (of course) toasted the end of hiking season with parking lot beers.  As we did, some Brighton skiers were showing up after their time on the hill.  We talked with them and everyone seemed pretty stoked to get the ski season started.  That's the best out here: you can finish one season's activity and then head right into the next with no downtime.

No snow across the way

Hike stats:  5:26 miles; 1:49 moving time / 2.9 m.p.h; 2:14 overall time / 2.3 m.p.h.; 1,400' climbing

break in the action

Whoa, there - there's a big hole in this blog!  I have totally dropped the ball on posting: H and I did what is probably our last hike of the season on Sunday, so I will be sharing that; and we're going to do a recap of ALL the hiking we did this year.  We did a lot and I really enjoyed it.  Plus ski season is about to begin.  Woohoo!

Otherwise, we really have taken a bit of a break here in shoulder season, mostly to hang out with Milton.  He is still [camera-shy] doing well, and beginning to relax into his new life a little.  He still hasn't barked and he doesn't know how to play with toys and he's been a very good boy so far - although he has managed to accidentally lock himself into both the t.v. room and the guest bedroom just this week alone.  No harm, no foul.

Stay tuned for a real post coming very soon!

homebodies

I must admit, we haven't been doing much recently.  Oh, we've been doing stuff - like laundry, raking leaves, making homemade soups, baking, taking Milton for walks, hanging out with him and helping him get his bearings - but we haven't been doing stuff.  And since Milton is so very camera-shy, we don't even have new dog photos to share!

The Utah ski areas are getting ready for their opening days, despite there being very little natural snow thus far.  Brighton opened last week (!!) and Snowbasin is planning to open 11/20 (!); Alta is sticking with a day after Thanksgiving opening as yet.  So we are slowing moving in that direction.  I did get new ski boots (finally) and now need to see if they fit my skis or if I need to take them all in to the shop to get adjusted.  We tried a couple of times to pick up our Alta season passes but due to print malfunctions, we're going to have to make the drive up to Alta to pick them up.  That's okay: it'll be good to see how much snow they actually have.  H will no doubt ski Opening Day but I am not making any such commitment until I know more about the conditions.

Until then, it's hanging out at home with the dog.

so we did this

You may have noticed that the Monday and Tuesday of our last trip to Moab seemed a little light on activities.  That's because we spent Monday late afternoon/early evening and Tuesday with our new dog.  His name is Milton, he's a rescue and here's his story - as far as we know it.

Barry is the one in the upper right corner

When we were in Moab the first time in October, we checked in to the motel and found a whole bunch of office dogs.  There was Jasper and Lumen, both owned by young women who work for the Kokopelli organization, Ladybug, a bite-y puppy up for adoption, and Barry, a quiet young dog, rescued from a local reservation, also up for adoption.  When H sat down on the floor to give Barry some pats, he [Barry] just leaned in close and stared straight into H's eyes, intently and intensely.  We saw Barry again on our last night as he was leaving the motel office with Katy, the motel owner and founder/head of Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab; Barry didn't do well with the ruckus out at the dog ranch, so she was fostering him at her house with her own dogs.  Over the years of staying at the Kokopelli Lodge, we've talked dogs with Katy and she asked us again if we'd gotten one yet.  We said no, not yet, and then H, half-kidding, added that we were coming back to Moab in three weeks and we'd see if Barry was still available then.

His go-to move

Three weeks later, the night before we left SLC for Moab, I got an email from Katy saying that Barry was still looking for a home and, if we wanted, she would connect us with his current foster mom Amy for a meet-and-greet.  Monday evening we walked to Amy's house after our early dinner at the Moab Brewery.  She lives not too far from Milt's Stop N' Eat and as soon as we showed up, she offered us beers as we sat in her garden with her and Barry.  She was calling him "Chester," although he showed no name recognition to either name at that point.  He was sweet and calm, going from person to person looking for belly-rubs, and at one point climbing into H's lap.  Amy told us all she knew about him and, even though she'd only had him a week, it was clear that she was very, very fond of him.  She couldn't keep him due to family commitments and she was sad about that.  She liked and trusted us, however, and after an hour or so, we were walking back to the motel with Barry/Chester on a leash and a big bag of dog food in H's arms.

One of the young women working at the motel, Jules (Lumen's mom), also works for the dog rescue and as soon as she saw us, she recognized Barry.  She got us his paperwork and gave him his last vaccination and lo and behold, we had a dog again.  We sat out front of the motel room until after dark, walking him around the block several times, and then he slept on the bed with us, soundly, all through the night.

The boys

In the morning, we stopped by the MOAB Brand Trails.  The reason I walked while H got on his MTB was so I could wear the dog out a bit in advance of our four hour drive home.  Amy and Katy had both told us that the only issue with Barry/Chester was that he was nervous in the car.  He didn't pant or cry or whine; he just drooled like crazy, like opening a faucet levels of wet.  He and I walked (and he nearly pulled my arm out of its socket); H rode; we hung out and had parking lot beers; and then we drove home.  Barry/Chester sat in front with us, mostly on my lap, and when he relaxed enough to lie down, the drool wasn't bad.  But when he stood up to see out the windows ... wow, that was a lot of drool.  We soaked two towels and a washcloth but made it home safely.

The boys at Glenwild

We've now had him for two weeks and so far, he's been great.  After much, much, much discussion, we renamed him Milton, as a connection to Moab and tribute to his foster mom.  We're all figuring out the routine; we are able to leave him alone in the house while we are at work.  He is calm and sweet and a bit needy; he'd rather have affection than food, which I've never had in a dog before.  His go-to move is to sit down and put a paw up so you can scratch his chest.  He is friendly and interested in the people and dogs we meet; everyone is amazed that he's so polite.  He's still a good sleeper and, hilariously, stands up around 8 p.m., when we are watching t.v., stares at us for a moment and then walks into the bedroom because it's time for bed.

Ears up!

The first weekend we had him was rainy, so we didn't do much.  This past weekend, we drove to Park City (only one towel drool-drenched) to walk the Glenwild trails [4.40 miles, 660' climbing, 1:37 hours total].  It was sunny, breezy and cool and we saw a number of MTBers, walkers and trail runners, many with dogs.  Afterwards, we stopped by the Park City Brewery taproom.  Their patio is dog-friendly although the inside room is not, but they had the bay door open and we were able to sit at a picnic table with Milton.  He was very well-behaved, neither impatient nor begging, watching the goings-on with wary interest.  We all got a little chilled - it is November, after all - but we were pleased that he did so well.  He's a good boy, little Milton is.  We're awfully glad to have him with us - four years is a long time to be dog-less.

Keeping an eye (and ear) on things at the brewery

seems like we just got here

Ah Tuesday.  Our last day in Moab yet again.  Even the skies had clouded up, as if to make our departure easier.  In no great hurry, we strolled through town to Moab's food truck park, hoping that the Moab Kitchen truck would be there.  It wasn't - I must have misread its Instagram post - and we didn't feel like going in anywhere for a full sit-down, so breakfast was PB&J on pretzel bagels back at the motel.

We packed up and, as has become our tradition, drove out to the MOAB Brand Trails for one more go-round.  I decided to take a walk rather than ride, so H did two circuits of Rusty Spur/Bar M loop while I just did half of the Bar M.  As you can see from the ride stats below, H goes much faster when he doesn't have to wait for me.

And there go the LaSals

Afterwards, we bundled up against the increasing clouds and had our parking lot beers, watching the LaSal mountains slowly become hidden by the weather.  When it started to sprinkle on us, we knew it was time to go.  And go we did, getting back to Salt Lake City before 5 p.m., with reports of snow accumulations in the Wasatch Front pinging on our phones.  Looks like we got to the desert just in time - seems like ski season is raring to go!

Ride stats:  18.67 miles; 1:29 hours; 12.59 m.p.h. (avg.) and 22.0 m.p.h. (max)

much better views than last time

We were up at 7 a.m. Monday morning, but lollygagged around a bit because it was dark and chilly to start.  After gassing up the truck and picking up coffee and more water, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park.  When we were here earlier in the month, it was entirely socked in with clouds (and rain); this time you could see the red cliffs and white rim and river canyons below.  It was partly cloudy, cool and pleasant and seemed like a good morning for a MTB ride.  Cars started coming in as we ate our parking lot breakfast and got ready to ride - one guy got out on the trails ahead of us.

 The Kokopelli Lodge, nee the Atomic Motel

We did the Big Chief loop on the park's Intrepid trail system (older trails, east side of the park road) and didn't see anybody.  The trails were in pretty good shape - very few puddles and only one muddy spot - but you could see where some people had gone off trail in the wet, leaving tire marks in sensitive areas.  It made us sad that people can't respect the trails - we try so hard to leave no trace ourselves.

I need a less dorky helmet

We crossed the park road and did some of the newer trails: Crossroads to Whiptail to Twisted Tree.  I felt like I was riding these trails as well or better than I ever have, probably because the recent wet weather packed down the sand.  (I still hike-a-biked most of Twisted Tree, however.)  We saw six people on these trails but not until we were heading back out, so we were able to concentrate more on our riding and less on avoiding other riders.  Back at the parking lot, we had beers and snacks and watched the local ravens doing barrel rolls, cackling with glee.  It was also pretty good people-watching: I was surprised at the number of people, although far fewer than in peak season. 

Parking lot snacks

We headed back to the motel to clean up and, with our tummies growling, decided on an early dinner/late lunch at the Moab Brewery.  We've decided that we prefer going there on Mondays as opposed to Fridays, as we used to do, because lots more locals are around then, meaning interesting bar conversations.  We found a couple of the guys we'd talked with last time and were treated to photos of some beautiful handmade tables and benches that one of them has been making, using local stone and tamarisk wood.

Ride stats:  16.57 miles; 2:02 hours; 8.15 m.p.h. average speed; 16.6 m.p.h. max speed

no ponchos required

Sunday morning it was not raining when we got up!  In fact, the sky was wonderfully clear, which boded well for our intended hike, the Murphy Loop.  We stopped for c-store coffee on our way out of town and drove up to Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky District.  We got to the Murphy trailhead before 9 a.m., spent a little time getting our gear together and having PB&Js for breakfast and got onto the trail itself at about 9:15.

 Snow-capped mountains

We'd done this trail once before, in November 2016.  After the trail splits from the shorter overlook hike to Murphy Point, it follows a well-established trail/cairns to the edge of the mesa, then drops over 850 feet via a steep, exposed trail with switchbacks, stone stairs and a solid little bridge.  It's really not that bad, though, and feels less steep and exposed than Gooseberry.  We were in the shade from the cliffs the whole way down but stopped at the start of the loop (left through the wash, right across the hogback) to put on some sunscreen.  We had seen desert bighorn sheep poops on the trail but unfortunately didn't see any actual sheep as we scanned the cliffs behind us.

It's a mini-Goblin Valley!

Like we had done before, we took the hogback as the outbound trail.  It doesn't matter which way you go, but if you go out through the wash, there's a very steep hill to climb up when you get to the White Rim Road.  Out across the hogback was such a gentle slope that it doesn't seem like you're gaining elevation, even though you are.  It was a spectacular morning, clear, sunny and cool, and we didn't have to share it with anyone other than ravens and lizards.

Starting down the cliff face

We turned left at the White Rim Road, following it past the primitive campsites, down that big hill and to the wash.  We followed the wash back up to the bottom of the cliff, then cruised back up (a 33 minute climb).  We saw two hikers on the road and another two in the wash; even though it's really not that difficult a hike, the distance (10+ miles) and the descent/ascent on the cliff tend to ward off the masses.  There were a couple more hikers coming out across the top of the mesa but that was it - not a bad crowd for a national park.

Very sturdy bridge (but no handrails)

After snacks and beers in the parking lot, we went back to the Kokopelli to clean up, then walked to Woody's.  While we were there, we talked with a very nice couple from Chicago who were experiencing Moab for the first time.  They had hiked part of the Lathrop Trail (also from the Island in the Sky mesa, Canyonlands National Park) and after they showed us their photos of a big cat's footprint (mountain lion or bobcat) and actual desert bighorn sheep, we vowed that we would knock that one off one day.

Moon set

We tried a couple of places for dinner but, dissuaded by the people waiting, ended up back at Zax's for veggie pizza again.  This time, we sat with Tom, a New Hampshire transplant whom we'd met on our last trip down to Moab, and we watched the Red Sox game with him.  Fun to hear that northern New England accent out in the Utah desert!

That ain't no bighorn sheep

Heading back up the wash

Hike stats:  10.56 miles; 3:43 moving time / 2.8 m.p.h.; 4:31 overall time / 2.4 m.p.h.; 1,550' climbing.