Snow Fun Part II

This week has been odd.  Heather has been at work, Cailan at his normal schedule at Little Mavs, and I have been theoretically preparing for my classes which start the 18th.  The trouble is that there is not much to do for me to prepare.  Fortunately, we had a bit of a break in the unrelenting cold, so I dusted off the Chumba and took Utah out for a snow ride!  It sounds like great fun (and it is!) but snow riding is really pretty hard work.  Out here you have to ride early while everything is still very cold and frozen.  If you wait until the afternoon things get really wet and sloppy.

  The trail is packed snow and is very rough and bumpy, but if you go off the 18" wide packed trail, you find yourself in soft, energy-sucking snow.  None of this bothers Utah, who loves to run and thrash through any of it.

I managed to do about 10 miles before it started getting wet and sticky.  The trail is one that Heather and I do after work sometimes: Rustlers Loop.  It was quite different in the snow, the sharp contrast between the red rocks and white snow was amazing.  Even though it was slow it felt great to get out on a bike!

Snow Fun Part I

So as a holiday recovery strategy, Heather and I decided to get out in the snow.  Last weekend we loaded up the truck with dog and snowshoes, somewhat guiltily dropped Cailan off at grandma's, and headed up to the Mesa.  The weather was forecast for some clouds and a chance of snow in the afternoon, so we tried to get going a bit early.  We need not have worried: once we left the low altitude thermal inversion that frequently turns GJ into a cold, hazy hole, we entered a magical land of brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures.  The Mesa was in perfect condition and there were NO other people when we started (we eventually found a few folks).  Our last two snowshoe attempts were not particularly successful, due mostly to Cailan not having fun.  This had something to do with his grandma visit today...

One of the most unusual features was the enormous ice crystals that had formed in some areas.  They looked like full sized feathers made of ice.

As I mentioned, we had the place to ourselves for most of the day.

After I finished marveling at the crystals on the ground, I looked up to find some nice ones on the branches.

It's probably due to the running, but Heather is much more fit for snowshoeing than I am.  As a result, I frequently "hang back" to take pictures (read as: "rest").  At least it lets me try artsy shots...

It was easily our best snowshoeing day in years.  That said, the little man will go with us next time...