Bring it!

(more) Snow

All day saturday, into the night, and still falling on sunday. There is a solid six inches on the ground here and I'm sure much more as the elevation climbs. Its no surprise, this happens every spring. But that doesn't stop everyone I know from being incredulous. I page through copies of Surfer Magazine staring at beautiful photos of trunk clad surfers in bathtub warm water as flakes of snow tumble out of the sky. People around town either scowl in agony at the latest burst of winter, or laugh at how gnarly and relentless the weather is.

While dreams of tropical waves are on my mind frequently, I have found a little solice in being able to drive 30 miles south to Gunnison where there seems to be a bubble of atmosphere that pushes the storms away and keeps things much more springlike. Yesterday Katie and I were able to leave a snow squall at our home in Riverbend and have a really nice mountain bike ride at Hartman Rocks under mostly sunny skies. Just a little reprieve is great for attitude adjustments.

Horse Thief Bench, Fruita, CO

Snow

It is so hard to be teased with sunshine and warm spring days, only to have it all taken back and replaced with snow, wind, and more snow. The grass continues to get greener, but the snow won't quit coming. Katie told me that she heard it is supposed to keep snowing for the next week. D'oh!

One advantage, that I have not taken advantage of is the backcountry snowboarding. Since this winter was so full of amazing snow on the resort and I was on the mountain well over 100 days, I am ready for a new sport. My friends have been riding their snowmobiles up on the resort over the weekend. This is an annual pilgimage I have not taken this year. No backcountry at all, for that matter. Usually I feel guilty if I don't take the split board out for a few missions. Maybe I'll get some more slashes in before it is all over. This coming weekend there is a slopestyle contest at Arapahoe Basin in Summit County - I may be heading over for that. Christian is going to take the Black brothers to Mammoth Mountain, CA for a contest in mid May. Does the rest of the country have this kind of dilema? I saw that the mid west got hit by a big winter storm, but I am willing to guess that the snow is all gone by now. Crying about not wanting to snowboard sounds really bad. Maybe I should quit while I am ahead.

My lady turned 30 this weekend. We packed my 1990 Honda Civic wagon after work on Fiday afternoon - ready for mountain biking, camping, and hot spring soaking. We made it to the Box Canyon Lodge on Friday night and soaked under the stars in a magnificant box canyon in Ouray. Ah, to soak away the soreness. On saturday we drove a mad loop through the scenic southwestern corner of CO. We tried to access hwy 90 from Naturita back to Montrose, but were stymied by muddy roads. I had left Katie and the Civic to do some climbing on my bike while she went for a hike. When Katie finished her hike she was planning to follow my route and meet me at Iron Springs. I had a nice long climb but encountered slick, rutted roads when I got way up in elevation. I climbed as far as I thought the Civic would make it then turned back to see where Katie was. She was at the start of the mud, wondering how so much could be stuck to her shoes in so short a time. As soon as I reached her the clay-filled mud on her side of the road immediately clogged my bike so completely the wheels wouldn't even spin. Sweet. We tried to clean off the shoes and bike as best we could, loaded back up, and tried to charge on. After a couple swipes, we made it as high as I had been on my bike (after grinding through the ruts and rallying like Ivan Stewart). A Jeep Cherokee and Chevy Suburban, both souped up for off-roading, came down the hill towards us. The first driver greeted us with laughter and told us the road only gets worse. Katie was already nervous and it didn't help that I was hooting "FUCKIN' HONDA CIVIC!!" the whole way up the slick road - I get a little carried away sometimes. So we decided it would be best to move on to plan B.

Of course there was no plan B. So we got out of the mud, looked over our map, and made our way south, over the Delores River, through Slickrock and Egnar across the high mountain plains occupied by the agricultural communities that now dominate the topography. The Anasazi lived in their cliff dwellings all around this area until they dissappeared so long ago. We drove through rain and snow squalls, as well as elevation changes that brought us from winter to early spring to full blown spring and back. We turned east to Dolores and north past Stoner and Rico before settling into the lovely town of Telluride where the snow was falling and Bridal Veil Falls was frozen solid. We ate dinner and discussed our plans. Our enthusiasm for camping was plummeting with the cold and wet conditions. Sissies, I know.

So we wussed out and got a hotel room before returning to the Gunnison valley today. We were hoping to get a ride in Hartman's, but the rain and snow forced us to wuss out, yet again. Either way, getting out of the valley and spending time with my wife-to-be was a nice escape. Small car, man and woman, music, drama, magestic scenery, and no plan make for a good weekend.

So we are home and the snow has let up for the time being. I have been able to step away from the school and let myself worry about something else for a change. It was prom weekend for them, so I am glad I was not here. Nice to create some of my own drama with Katie instead of being caught up in the kids'. Time to eat at home and put the feet up. Mentally prepare for another week of spring snow showers and find someone to give me a sled ride up on the resort.