No Thoroughfare Canyon

Sunday morning we went for a hike in the Monument at No Thoroughfare Canyon.

About 2 miles in you come to this 100' waterfall.

Prickly Pear

Heading back.

The clouds came rolling in on our way out.

More Snowshoeing the Mesa

Our skiing plans for the weekend were thwarted by "warm" temperatures and low snowfall delayed the opening of our local slopes so we loaded up the snowshoes and hit the Mesa. We stopped about 5 miles past said resort and got out on our way.

Low snowfall is a relative term. There was about 2 feet of soft powder on the ground and some coming down as well. This week we got an add-on to our snowshoes to add some surface area and making it easier to walk on powder

Lunch! Does this picture look familiar?

The last picture we got before the camera died. This is actually a campground but is closed and not maintained in the winter. The best thing about shoeing is you can really go just about anywhere and just walk. Big fans.

Snowshoe Sunday - Wicked Pro

Sunday we went snowshoeing again up on the Mesa, and it was rad! We packed a lunch and a bottle of champagne and headed on up where it was 30 and extremely sunny.

Kelly making fresh tracks in the snow.
Hiking along. It was much easier going since the snow had melted just a little and so our snowshoes actually did what they were supposed to do and stayed on the snow, not in it.

Thats me! Its not really as far as it looks. Scale and depth are really hard to judge when everything is coated in snow. So 'we're gonna hike over there' turns into 'oh thats not very far at all' or 'Lets just stop here'.

Lunch. Ramen mixed with beef and veggy soup and washed down with cheap champagne. Delicious!!!

We set up the MSR Hubba Hubba with just the footprint and the rainfly, and it was more wonderful than a unicorn under a rainbow, or close anyway.

Im a reindeer!! Merry almost Christmas.

The sun started going down so we started to head on back.

I make this picture...

Heading back down to town. (That totally looks like the CRV but isnt, thanks random person driving down at the same time we were)

Snowshoe Saturday - Amateur

Saturday we rented some snowshoes from Mesa State's Outdoor Program and headed up onto the mesa. The sunny 50 degree temps in GJ didnt really prepare us for the snowy 15 degrees up there, fortunately we packed warm. Since this was our first time snowshoeing, ever, we decided to take it easy... nope. It turns out its really hard to snowshoe at 10k+ feet in 2 feet of fresh powder. Despite sinking in with about every step we managed to hike around for a couple hours. For future reference, tray and make someone else make the fresh tracks and follow them, its way easier.

Along the way we saw these guys out ice fishing, seemed like a pretty good party. And you dont need to bring a cooler.

Big snowflake.

Heading back to the car on some packed snow where you can walk like a normal person.

Snowshoeing=awesome

Sunday Road Trip

This morning we packed up and headed out to the mesa to go hike Crags Crest. It turns out we should have brought snowshoes because there was about 2 feet of snow on the ground.

So we got out and wandered around for a little bit.

Waaaay off in the distance to the East you can see the Rocky Mountains.

We ended up driving all the way over the mesa and ended up in Delta and had lunch a Hoolies, a nice little townie sports bar. We watched the Bronco's lose again and headed back to GJ.

Before we went home, we swung by the monument to do squeeze in a hike since it was warm out. It turns out you may get creeped on if you use the bathroom outside the Serpent's Trailhead.

Pointing out the geology of the area ( REDLANDS FAULT!!!! GET EXCITED!!!)

Schweet frozen waterfall and icicle. It was 54 degrees out but I guess this thing hid from the sun in its little crevice. Super Awesome.

Getting festive

Last night I decided it was finally acceptable to set up Christmas decorations! Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the weather (snow and all) the holiday music, and skiing season!

I put up the tree and hung the stockings and even Ridley is enjoying it all as she has been sleeping under the tree all evening.

Unfortunately I woke up feeling about 95 years older this morning with aches, pains and a gross cold. I got a substitute for the first time and spent my day being a bum. I was craving chicken noodle soup but didn't have any in the can, only fixings, so I made my own chicken noodle soup! I made the veggie broth in the picture below and then took out the random veggies and added chicken, noodles and odd and ends. Something else I love during this season; soup on a cold, snowy day!

Turkey Day or Burrrrrrkey day!

On Thanksgiving Day I went for a hike down it Rough Canyon up on the Monument. It was a balmy 20something degrees, in the sun.

Snow in the desert

An old kiln on the Old Kiln trail.

And finishing up the day with some woodcutting, thats alot more work than it looks like, I swear!

Turkey Sunday

Today Will and I celebrated our own Thanksgiving together! Just like the real Turkey day, football and laziness were abundant.

My first time cooking a Thanksgiving meal... turned out pretty good. Which is good since I made way too much and we'll be eating it all week.

Ridley loves her turkey.

And now there's a snow storm moving into the western slope and I am very thankful we have all that new firewood to stay warm inside and a short week ahead of us!!

Wood you light my fire

We finally broke down and ordered a chord of wood to be delivered for the low low price of $50. It turns out it's cheap for a reason...

Time to start chopping! Good news is, we will have plenty of wood to keep a fire all winter long and fulfill my pyro tendencies. And Will has a new workout regimen.