odyssey

 Sunday morning everything was closed, pretty much.  We'd gotten four-ish inches at the house but the mountains had gotten two FEET.  Solitude delayed their opening so they could dig out; the town of Alta was on "maximum interlodge," which means that not only can you not go outside, you should stay away from windows and doors; and State Route 210 (Little Cottonwood Canyon road) was closed until 8:30 a.m. for avalanche mitigation.  H got up, shoveled the driveway and was at the bus stop by 6:45.  After watching one bus head up towards the canyon without even stopping at his stop, a second bus showed up at 7 a.m. with no one on board.  Everyone (20+) waiting got on and got seats.  Then they waited. And the estimated time of opening for SR210 got pushed back to 9:30.

Around 7:40, H's bus (which never filled up) and three private shuttles got police-escorted up to the front of the waiting line of traffic.  Then they waited.  At 8:30, the estimated time of opening for SR210 was pushed back to 10:30 and Alta delayed their opening.  H started thinking things through: if the road opened at 10:30, he'd be at the front of the line and would get two feet of fresh.  But if the road didn't open then, would it be possible that Alta wouldn't open at all?

At 9:50, the estimated time of opening for SR210 was pushed back to noon.  H, who had already been on this odyssey for four hours, decided to cut his losses.  There was nowhere for the bus to turn around so he had to shoulder his bootbag and skis and walk.  Meanwhile, Milton and I had shoveled the sidewalks and done our four mile walk.  When we got home, we jumped in my car and drove to meet H, who had made it about halfway down 9400 South.

As soon as he got home, he immediately started second-guessing his decision.  SR210 did indeed open at noon; and Alta opened shortly thereafter, with the Collins, Wildcat and Sunnyside lifts spinning.  At the time of this writing (a week before posting, with full disclosure), he was still kind of annoyed with himself for having gotten off that bus.  Two feet of new snow!  To which I would counter, over FIVE hours on a bus.  It's all about priorities, I guess.

PS - Milton and I also did laundry, changed the sheets, made dog cookies and chocolate chip cookies and tried a brand new chili recipe.  And were thankful that we didn't spend any time on a bus.