March and Snowshoes

March: Easily the worst month of them all... this year I have loved it. For sooo many reasons!

The weather is more than beautiful right now, Spring is here... and I think I only had to scrape snow off my windshield 3 times all Winter. I don't think I wore an actual coat (except to go snowboarding) all season. The worst week of winter was earlier this month - where in the space of a week I had to drive through a blizzard every night home from Salt Lake (once with out a cell phone and zero visibility). But the snow never stuck around, it was just weird! I've gotten into the habit of stopping at the Indian Road Trail-head every day after work and just soaking in the evening sunshine.. or before the time changed, the cool mountain air. Then at night I always sit on my porch bench (the one I inherited from my grandparents) to talk on the phone or just relax. It's nice that this winter hasn't hampered that habit at all... 40 degree nights aren't bad at all.

The downside is that I haven't done any "winter hobbies" at all... I've been snowboarding a handful of times, and snowshoeing only once. But my indoor winter hobbies suffered greatly, I haven't knitted, crocheted, cross-stitched, quilted, or drawn anything! The only thing remotely crafty has been making earrings with my Aunt Dez, and (while talking on the phone at night w/ boys) binding three corners of my quilt.

Life is pretty awesome.

Andie up at South Fork snowshoeing with me... after we met the Dewey's in Heber for Don Pedro's, good March day.

One morning, after traffic counts, I drove up to the Edgemont Cemetery to take in the beautiful morning view and look what I found in a bush:

Is it a wild hen? A grouse? Whatever it was it wasn't scared of me at all... I finally got back in my bug because I thought it was going to attack me.

Then I got to work and someone told me it was just a normal chicken that was lost in the foothills. Disappointing.

Another Winter Post

So my friend Pat's family has a condo above Beaver at an old ski resort that hasn't been in business for a few years, Elk Meadows. Last year we got to hang out there a bit and were blown away at how much snow there was! The whole time we were there it just snowed and snowed, it was heavenly to see all that snow. Seemed like a tragedy that the lifts weren't up and running...

(me and mckay on one of the lifts - look at all that snow!)

Well, lo and behold, the resort is back in business this year, and it may be one of my favorite places to board now. Elk Meadows is now Eagle Point - and while I think I like the name Elk Meadows better, who wouldn't want to soar like an eagle?

 

 (same lift, different sibling - look at that underwear tree!)

(that's max, if you can't tell, and pat right behind him doing a double arm salute)

Max and I had a blast riding all over that resort. One of the best parts is that one of the lifts that takes you to a ton of runs is broken down - so to get to them you take a different lift up to a different peak and then snowboard down a little ways where you wait for this big treaded artic cat to pick you up and shuttle you to the other peak. The only word that comes to mind when I think about riding on the back of that thing, hauling through the snow covered pines and sunshine, headed up to the peak with friends and strangers all excited to ride down - is 'fun!'. It was so fun!

Hope Pat invites us down again - plus I can't get enough of that Beaver water.

South Fork Snow Fork

There may be gross salty roads - leaving salt marks on your pants and car. There may be a plague of pot holes on the freeway. There may be grey skies and 13 degree weather. There may be a clump of ice with your back right tire enclosed in it.

But don't forget there is John Denver on your ipod, and all this behind that mountain peak:

Deer Creek Dry Creek, Pt. 3

deer creek dry creek, winter time.

I went snow shoeing up the canyon today, and loved every second of it. I parked at tibble fork, hoping to just hike the little loop there at the granite flats camp ground. I snowshoed up past the point where snow mobiles are no longer allowed and came upon this familiar trail head. Couldn't believe my luck, not a soul had been on it.

Usually you have to wake up pretty early in the morning to find a trail that hasn't been trampled on these days by avid snowshoers. And I didn't wake up early this morning.

So, change of plans, I decided to take on the deep snow. It was tiring, but so much fun. I love being out alone in the snow, in the woods. It's like being in a different world. I always hope that I'll run into a lamp post out there in the middle of nowhere, and a talking chipmunk.

all alone.

this first picture is what it looked like ahead of me, the second is of the little trail I was making behind me. I've always wanted to be the first to stomp down a trail. So cool.

I decided I had gone far enough when I realized I wanted either my snowboard to get me back down the trail or some fin attachments for my snow shoes. Deep snow is hard work. So I rested under a tree, ate a carrot cake clif bar, heard the call of a golden-crowned kinglet (or winter wren - can never be sure), fired off the magazine in my gun, and hiked back down.

overall, such a good weekend. got back home, and then immediately put my gators back on to meet Nate out at Utah lake to slush around on the ice, playing fetch w/ uinta and hos. Grabbed a bite to eat at the macaroni grill. Saw the fantastic mr fox at Movies 8 (which I also saw the night before at movies 8, that movie rocks). And to top all that off... I'm beating Pat in scrabble online. Fantastic.