four miles, full of flowers

In the year with no winter, spring flowers are emerging in the desert.  We were in Moab a couple of weekends ago and while H held down the fort (by which I mean, was home when the plumbers arrived to remove old/install new hot water heater), Milton and I went to Millcreek.  After a "winter" of Pipe Dream hiking, it was nice to have a change of scenery.  We didn't get a particularly early start, so there were already four or so car in the lot when we drove up.

M stops to smell the flowers

Blanket flower

We did our preferred route: out along the Rim trail, then dropping down into the canyon and returning along the creek trail.  There were a handful of other folks with their dogs up on the rim but it really was pretty quiet.

Love this guy so much

I was gonna look this one up.  But didn't.

Also quiet: the creek.  There is very little snow in the La Sal mountains and the creek is very low.  Like, June/July low.  This time of year the water should have been up above my knees on the creek crossings but instead I was able to keep my feet dry for the whole hike.  Wish it had been otherwise.

Globe mallow

Primrose

There were definitely people heading in towards the waterfall (such as it is) as we finished up, which on a Friday heralds the busy season.  

Claret cup (a favorite)

Prince's plume (which miners

thought indicated uranium)

EDITED TO ADD: After the hike, H and A did A's first road ride of the season.  The temperatures were nice but it was a little windy, and A got saddle-sore with it being her first ride.  We were on the bike path from our house, out and back along the river and then up to the Arches National Park entrance.  From there, A headed home, while H did the river road out and back again first.  It was windy - and a headwind always psychs A out - so A got home mere minutes before H did, despite his markedly longer ride.

eester

Sunday was pretty much a carbon copy of Saturday.  Up at Alta, H never once waited in line after the initial waiting-for-the-lifts-to-open line.  No new snow, of course, and it never got crowded - when he left midday, the Wildcat base parking lot was about half full.  Folks have moved on, is the general consensus.  This was also the last weekend for the ski bus: H will have to drive himself for the remaining ski days (except for closing day, since parking reservations have long been all spoken for).

Not a cloud in sight

Down in the valley, A and M did their Dimple Dell walk where the biggest moment of excitement came from spotting a CAT chasing a SQUIRREL.  That silly dog didn't know which to freak out over.  It was another quiet day on the homefront (no weeding yet again, which I will likely regret in the future but was happy about in the moment).  Housecleaning, meal prepping, hummingbird nectar making and feeder hanging, laundry.  Dinner was a vegan Greek avgolemono soup, which seemed suitably Easter-y, and a foccaccia.

No foccaccia photo but it was a pretty good one

And we also did the first garage tailgate of the season, much to our neighbors' chagrin.

inching upwards to 289

We got snow!  I mean, it was just a little two day storm that brought rain and a couple of inches of very wet snow in the valley, but about 30" in the upper Cottonwood Canyons.  It's too little too late but every single inch counts at this point.  And when H went skiing on Saturday, he reported that it was MUCH better than it had been last week.  (And apparently Friday was really quite good storm-skiing.)

Another bluebird day at Alta

It wasn't that busy, though.  Which surprised me a little, since so many other resorts are closed, notably Deer Valley, PCMR, PowMow and Snowbasin, with Canyons closing 4/5/26 - I figured Alta would be very busy.  But I guess folks have written off the season and moved on to other things, like golf and kids' sports.  H reported that all the regulars were there, and the patio was getting full as he left midday.  It was a gorgeous day, clear and sunny, the storm having moved on, but it was still a little chilly - around 30F at the summit - which had a negative effect on the number of girls in bikinis (none, at last count).

This is a good, not-too-sweet snack bread/cake

Down in the valley it was a gorgeous day too, clear and sunny.  A took a stand against the weeds, refusing to acknowledge them (or pull any) for one day.  Instead, Milton and I did our usual Dimple Dell walk, observing lots of raptors circling overhead, looking for small and delicious critters.  Then Milt took up his post in the driveway, keeping an eye on the neighbors, while A made a coconut-turmeric loaf and chocolate chip cookies.  It was kind of a lazier day than they often are, but there were library books to read and afternoon walks around the neighborhood to take. 

pie in the sky

 Up at Alta, Sunday was pretty much a carbon copy of Saturday: just barely firmed up overnight and then softening very, very quickly.  Word is that Snowbird (a) has been closing down at 2:00 p.m. in an attempt to preserve the snow; and (b) is considering closing down M-TH, again in an attempt to preserve the snow.  Beaver, Eagle Point, Snowbasin and Sundance are closed; Deer Valley and PCMR are closing 3/29/26, with Canyons somehow holding on.  The unseasonably warm weather is supposed to change this coming week, however, with the possibility of some mountain snow.  At this [dry, warm] point, we'll take whatever we can get.

Empty sky, empty slopes

It was pretty similar in the Salt Lake valley too, although perhaps a little warmer-feeling since there weren't any clouds early in the day.  A and M did their Dimple Dell walk; then M basked in the sunny driveway, hoping for handouts from the neighbors, while A did more weeding.  Only an hour's worth this time as my hamstrings and lower back were hollerin' something fierce from the abuse the day before.  

So easy when you don't make the pastry yourself

- the apricots collapsed into jam, tho'

On the homecooking front, whole meal muffins (with raisins, carrots and apple) and an apricot puff-pastry galette were baked.  And since it's spring, we busted out a favorite - lemon orzo pasta with asparagus and peas.  (And saved the pasta water to pour on our trees because drought.)