A Snowshoeing Adventure

This week is blackout for skiing, so Bevan and I decided to do some ol' fashion, back country snowshoeing instead. By the Jordanelle reservoir is a canyon that leads to the old Mayflower mine. There are lots of cool ruins and shacks. Coincidentally, it's right below the Mayflower ski lift. What a good goal.

Things started out not so great when I got the Civic stuck trying to park off the road. I had no idea the shoulder dropped off so greatly underneath what I thought was a couple inches of snow. We didn't have a shovel, but we did have the snowshoes. 30 minutes later we parked directly on top of the asphalt. I don't know why I was smiling in this picture.

We started up the canyon with a home-drawn map made from Google Earth (next mistake). It turns out that it was the WRONG canyon. Instead of backtracking, we decided to bushwhack over the ridge to the next canyon. That ridge kept going and going and going... We finally made it to the top of a huge hill to get a birdseye view of where we were supposed to be. Problem solved. Another 15 minutes of intense bushwhacking found us at our destination... finally. The 1-hour trip turned into 2 1/2. The way back down the correct canyon was almost too easy compared to what we just came through. We'll upgrade to GPS before attempting this again.

I was dreaming of a VERY white Christmas, really!

Many people have been commenting on how much snow we've been receiving. I'm just going to give you my own personal take:

- 3 feet of snow in 2 days at Deer Valley
- We haven't seen asphalt on the roads in almost a week
- I have nightmares when I sleep about ski lifts being buried in snow and I have to dig them out
- I've gotten the company snowmobile stuck TWICE... on flat terrain
- We drove through 8 inches of powder in Provo Canyon on Christmas morning, and that was the BETTER part of the trip
- We used a push broom to clean off our car yesterday morning
- I'm always finding new bruises on my legs and wondering how they got there

The snow is wonderful for ski resorts and also great for our water table. I don't mind driving in snow or even having to push it around at work. I just wish it wouldn't come all at once.

Our Christmas was very exciting. We drove down to American Fork to spend Christmas Eve with the Hawkins. We had a wonderful dinner, acted out the nativity, and opened our family presents. Bevan and I got to play Joseph and Mary, but we had no "baby" other than a doll. I decided that another family member should play that roll: Simba, that family cat. She was very mild and it seemed that she almost enjoyed being wrapped in swaddling clothes. Huh. I think she was just happy to be inside.


The best part of opening presents was when Bevan received his present from me.
A co-worker was selling off his Guitar Hero gear because he bought a PlayStation 3 and none of his games were compatible. I know a video game is usually not what a 30-year-old wants, but in Bevan's case, he couldn't have been happier. It's not just for kids. Nora wanted to play it more than anybody. I think that the songs are more recognizable with adults. They're all 80's and 90's rock songs. Here's video footage. Bevan was completely surprised and wasn't thinking when he dumped out the packaging peanuts. Ugh.

Images of Winter

I find that having a job that doesn't put you near a computer on your lunch breaks, takes a toll on your blog entries. Here's an update on our lives so far this month. My job at DCM Landscaping has been cut back as usual for the winter months (1-2 days per week), but now I get to go to work with Bevan at Deer Valley the other days. It's so fun to be back there. It's fun to meet people from all over the world and be able to practice Spanish. Skiing is always a blast and will get better when more of the resort is open. It also makes me appreciate my college degree and that this isn't my only option. It's interesting to see the people that work there and what brought them to the ski industry. There are college students from South America (it's their summer break), kids from America who don't want to go to college, retirees who are willing to work a few days a week so they can ski for free, and just regular, middle-age people who do this as seasonal work along with their summer jobs. I'm observing more and more this year the details of the ski industry and if there will be much of a difference in this struggling economy. It should be interesting.

I'm posting three images of significance to winter. Without any one of these, winter would be difficult to get through.

The snow maker is the foundation of the ski industry, literally. Even if you get plenty of snow, its necessary to get a good foundation of dense, solid, man-made snow underneath all that powder.

The chunky, Blizzak snow tire is a must for any vehicle, from driving in a blizzard to just getting up the hill to our house. We found a great deal on these tires this year, which made it possible to get some for the Subaru. If you don't have 4WD, the snow tire is just as good.

Obviously, this isn't what our bedroom looks like, but you get the idea. A down comforter is so nice to come home to in winter, especially in a house with such fluctuating temperatures from the wood-burning stove. It does a great job regulating the temperature when you sleep. We haven't had a cold night. The only bad part is trying to get out of bed in the morning. Burr!