enjoying the last of the quiet season

 The Moab off season is getting shorter and shorter.  It's really just December, January and the first part of February now; we were there for the long President's Day weekend and have already noticed a slight uptick in tourists.  It didn't hurt that the weather was really nice: chilly in the mornings but reaching into the 50s with good sunshine.  It was still cool in the shade and the wind was cold when it picked up, but generally very pleasant.  We did have a small system move through Saturday night, leaving Sunday a little more overcast to start, but no complaints from us.

Oh hey it's this photo of Arches NP from

MOAB Braind Trails that I've certainly

never taken before /s/

We had driven down Thursday afternoon and so were ready to go Friday morning.  As soon as it warmed up.  But the sun was out so that didn't take too long and we three went out to the Moab Brand trails so H could MTB and Milton and I could hike.  There were a handful of vehicles in the parking lot but the trails themselves were pretty empty.  While H did his Rusty Spur/Arches overlook/Bar M/Lazy-EZ loop, the dog and I walked out Bar M (from the parking lot cutoff) to Circle O.  We encountered four MTBers out there and that was it.  The potholes were quite full from the recent storms - Milton even got to go "swimming" in the biggest one.  H rode out a little ways from the northern trailhead and as soon as Milton saw him (from about a quarter mile away), he took off like a rocket, running back to the truck with H and leaving me to finish the walk by myself.

The color of that sky!

Saturday was again clear and gorgeous, but with a light and cold wind.  H wanted to do a longer trail run so this time we went to Amasa Back.  Since it was the weekend, there were a fair number of vehicles in this parking lot and while we did see more folks out on the trail - five side-by-sides and a number of MTBers - it was still peaceful for most of our time out there.  H and Milton did the loop clockwise (out on the MTB trail and back on the jeep trail) while I did it reversed (out on the jeep trail and back on the MTB trail), with the thought that we would probably cross paths near the Cliffhanger junction/river overlook.  That was exactly what happened and Milton sprinted up to say hi to me before continuing down with H.  Since I now had the longer portion to do, H ended up waiting about a half hour for me back at the truck; he brought a camp chair and his book, and he and Milton were making friends with all the other dogs in the parking lot by the time I rolled in.

They found me

Sunday was slightly more overcast so we just did the quick Slickrock practice loop (H and M running; me walking) to get our exercise in.  By the time we finished, the clouds were breaking up and the afternoon was lovely.  And then Monday we just did an hour and a half town walk: along the bike path, out to and up 500 West, back down Main Street to make a loop.  Things are definitely picking up in town: restaurants and shops are starting to reopen and there were lots more folks walking around.  Local businesses will be thrilled for an increase in tourists - we'll just have to pick our trails more carefully if we want to find quiet.

that's the way (uh huh uh huh) i like it

This isn't a real post but just popping in to say that this winter is shaping up to be quite good snow/water-wise.  Meteorological winter is over and the weather folks are trying to get a handle on the spring - but as of this posting, Alta has had 437" of snowfall with around two months to go in the 2023/2024 season.  It's looking to be one of the snowiest winters since we moved here in 2009!  Nothing on last winter, of course, but what I especially like about this winter is that nearly all the snow is up in the mountains!  That's the best place for it for snowmelt/run-off capture ... but it's also really really good as far as the shoveling and driving!  (I may have just jinxed us as there's supposed to be valley snow on Tuesday.)

a tale of two weathers

 Northern Utah got a nice series of storms throughout the week that brought mostly rain to the Salt Lake Valley (and lemme tell ya, by Thursday we were desparate to see the sun) and over 50" of new snow to Alta.  Last I checked, their snow total was 362" on the season which is definitely respectable.  As that system moved out, however, cold weather moved in.  With cloudy skies and a forecasted high of 9F for Alta, there was no way I was going skiing on Saturday.

H went, of course, grabbing the 6:30 a.m. bus - and being thankful for it later when he read that the 7 a.m. bus was full after leaving the very first stop (the one before ours).  It was cold and cloudy, spitting snow off and on, but the conditions were really quite good.  While he did that, Milton and I did a four mile walk, dealt with two loads of laundry, changed bed sheets and vacuumed and made chocolate chip cookies and chili.  (Then H and I went and socialized, as previously discussed.  It was a busy day.)

Sunday was to be still cold but warmer, plus sunny, so I charged up my battery-powered socks and was with H on the 6:30 bus.  We both wore our warmest parkas as it was 20F at the base when the lifts opened, colder at the summit and frigid-feeling in the shade.  We immediately went to the Sugarloaf lift because that one is almost 100% in the sun, even first thing in the morning.  Lots of other people had that idea too and there was a noticable lift line before 10 (as opposed to the line not showing up until 10:30 on Saturday).  That was okay, though, because the sun was strong and the snow was pretty good - all skied out, of course, but a nice combination of soft and/or chalky.  As we did laps there, we could see ski patrol hiking out into Devil's Castle; soon enough lots and lots of explosions shook the mountains from the avalanche control work.

You can just see that cloud coming up the canyon

After Sugarloaf we switched to Supreme for a while.  It was busy enough that we exclusively rode the singles lines on all the lifts.  The lifties were doing a good job, though, so it never seemed like we waited all that long.  By 11:45 my heated socks - which are very thick - were squeezing my toes too much.  I proposed that we move to Collins: I went to change into different socks and then we just skied the front side until it was time to catch our bus home.

It was an absolutely stunning day, with as much sunshine as you could want (we need to start remembering sunscreen) until about 2 p.m.  As we rode the bus down Little Cottonwood Canyon, this weird cloud was working its way up - it wasn't an inversion-y mess of smog, just a stray cloud - and it looked like the nice warm (30F) sunshine was done for the day.  That was okay.  We were done too.

socializing

 We don't socialize much in SLC.  Down in Moab, it's easy to just walk to one of several bars or to peek over the fence to see if our neighbors are around for a beer.  But in SLC, it's much more of an effort.  During the week, we aren't likely to go out: H will sometimes meet a friend for a post-work beer but since I work downtown, and have a thirty-mile round-trip commute, I am unlikely to want to drive back in town in the evenings (and bars/vegan-friendly restaurants are scarce in our neighborhood).  On the weekends, we tend to get up early to get out and do outdoors stuff before the trails get crowded or it gets hot, and then when we get home, it's difficult to rally to go back out.  

One of my goals for 2024 is to get out more, however.  To support more local small businesses and to get us out of the house.  Occasionally.

We're off to a good start, I think, because we met our friends E and K for dinner on Saturday to celebrate E's birthday and to catch up - they have VERY busy schedules and it had been since November (?) since we'd all connected in person.  They suggested an early dinner at Vertical Diner and we were like yes! because (1) early is good and (2) Vertical Diner is one of the OG vegan restaurants in SLC.  We hadn't been there yet but it has been on my list for a while. 

Vertical Diner (234 West 900 South) is fantastic.  Huge menu, 100% plant-based and while it may not be the healthiest for you, it was DELICIOUS.  It was so much fun looking at a menu and realizing that there were multiple things I wanted to - and would - eat.  H had a reuben, K had a chik'n fried steak with roasted brussels sprouts, E had a cheez steak sandwich and I had a chik'n biscuit and gravy.  There were sides of mac-n-cheez and mashed potatoes and gravy ... it was a table full of seitan and carbs and everyone one of us cleaned our plates.  They have beer on tap and cocktails too.  We were all so happy.

Dinner had been on the early side because E and K - who have an exhausting social calendar - were heading out to watch a friend's band later.  But they were just going to the RoHa Brewing Project (30 E Kensington Ave.) just a few blocks away and since it was early, we went too for a beer.  We'd never been to Roha before - small, super-chill place with lots of taps and even more cans of their own brews, a food truck outside and a large dog-friendly patio for warmer weather.  We hung out until way past H's bedtime, drinking local brews, playing a tabletop hook and ring game, meeting E and K's friends and listening to a fantastic local bluegrass band, Mars Highway.  

We have loved living down in Sandy: we like our house, we like our neighbors, we love the proximity to the Cottonwood Canyons.  But boy, it sure is fun to come up to the "big city" lol and do city stuff.  Here's to a little more of that this year.

if you go down in the woods today

 When the ME-FL road trip was complete, and we got into my folks' Eastpoint VRBO, the owners had very specific instructions regarding the garbage cans, as in keeping food scraps in the freezer until the morning of garbage pickup due to bears.  Like, national park-level rules.  Also, they asked us to keep on the floodlights under the house (stilt house) and at the corners, due to bears.  Okay, we thought, rolling our eyes.

We take it ALL back:

Cutest little bear ever - just wish we'd gotten to see him live and in person.  He showed up around 2 a.m. and the security cams caught him.

Also, the sun was out and the trees were taller.  The Forgotten Coast is not your typical Florida.

And now back to our regularly scheduled western content.

while i was out

 Last week I flew to Maine (and boy were my arms tired hardehar) and drove my folks to Florida so they could snowbird for a few weeks.  While I was doing that, H and Milton hied down to Moab - directly after dropping me at the airport - and stayed there for the week.  I asked H to take photos throughout the week and send them to me so I could follow along.

Nice alpen glow

Somebody decided he was allowed on the couch

Trail days

More couch time

Calm Colorado River

In-town Mill Creek

They kept the mural when they repainted the building

I have spared you the photos of the prodigious amount of upchuck Milton deposited on our brand new rug.  (Why do dogs always throw up on the rugs?)

eat more plants

 Veganuary 2024 is over but there's no reason not to keep your plant-based eating on.  Here's a little list of some vegan / vegan-friendly restaurants in the greater SLC area.  All small businesses, locally owned.  (Not to mention the bar food at places like Grid City Beerworks, Ice Haus, the Handle Bar, Piper Down ...)  And some of the places are dog-friendly too!

Rawtopia

Blatch's Backyard BBQ

Sweet Hazel and Co.

Mark of the Beastro  (Hail seitan!)

Vegan Daddy Meats

Vertical Diner

Zest

Buds

All Chay

And here are some lists with lots more - SLC is pretty vegan-friendly, y'all!