nature
Cool
It’s Trying
We went on a hike for the first time in a long time and the lowest possible trailhead is clear of snow and almost, maybe-just-barely starting to get green:
Of course, we went up to the next trailhead as we waited for a space to park at the lowest trailhead, and the snowbanks there were still higher than my car. But spring is doing its best, and that’s about all we can ask for.
Softening
Sure, there’s easily six feet of snow in the lower canyons (and something like 30 feet at the highest elevations) but the sun was shining yesterday and some of that snow was melting. AND the afternoon seemed like a proper afternoon, not just a sudden jump from lunchtime to twilight. I think…I think winter might be losing its grip.
(Winter isn’t giving up willingly, though; there’s another snowstorm in the works for tomorrow.)
Frosty
Narnia! (And A New Trail)
Doc and I both had a clear Tuesday so we went to a different canyon that’s usually just too busy to be nice on the weekends. It was like a storybook illustration of “winter” and we discovered a new-ish feeder trail that was extra magical.
For locals, this is the Donut Falls hike in Big Cottonwood. Usually you have to walk up the access road to the trailhead, but at some point a new path through the forest to the east got put in. There’s also construction going on for a boardwalk through the meadow there and it looks like everything will connect:
It was cold–the car said 25 degrees in the parking lot, and we gained elevation/lost the sun–but my Polartec base layers and my parka did great. (This did solidify my planning for some heavy quilted pants that will use up the last of the Thinsulate and Polartec Alpha, though.)
And! The one spot of the trail that’s a scramble down in the summer had a ROPE for the winter and I got to pretend I was rappelling on the Alps. Thrilling!
Winter Is Great (For Now)
Another Freelance Hike
We went on another weekday afternoon hike on Tuesday, even though it was wet out and it was tempting to stay in. But we have good gear and getting out got us into some very Zen misty forests–plus we saw a bunch of jays! (This is Neffs Canyon for a change; Millcreek was closed for weekday road construction.)
Leaves Off The Trees
Weekday Hike!
This week’s Freelance Fun Day was a quick afternoon hike with Doc (he has Tuesdays off) and it was glorious. There was snow earlier in the week (the winter gate in upper Millcreek is already closed!) but the trees still had their leaves, so we got an excellent blend of fall and winter:
Freelance is still new enough for me that I feel like I’m getting away with something when I close my laptop at 1:00 and just…go on a hike on a Tuesday. Truly living the dream over here.