"Spring Break"

So, it is spring break in Jackson right now. The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is now closed for the season, even though the slopes are still fully covered by the 600+ inches of snow they received this winter. The town is becoming a ghost town as the "Shoulder Season" and "Mud Season" arrives. For those of you noticing cheaper flights and assorted bargains in the area, it is because this is NOT the high season. The weather is volatile and unpredictable and there is still snow everywhere- soon to be replaced by gushing rivers and lots and lots of mud.

To celebrate the end of Phil's job at the resort and his imminent start with NOLS in their Driggs branch, we took a week to go climbing. Unfortunately, weather has shut us down repeatedly. We left Victor after a quick hike up Mary's at Grand Targhee as a final hurrah of the season, we headed to City of Rocks, ID to meet our friends Steve and Steph, visiting from Charlotte. They called when we were an hour from home to say the weather was taking a nasty turn and they were coming back. Determined to climb, we diverted to Salt Lake City, to check out Big & Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range.

After a circuitous trip to REI to get a rather fat guidebook for the area, we arrived at the campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon at 9:30PM to find out that dogs are strictly forbidden in the Wasatch Range Watershed Area, which was effectively EVERYWHERE we wanted to go. Good to have such an enormous guidebook of an entirely un-dog friendly place! Helpless and unable to even let the dogs go to the bathroom, we pitifully called an acquaintance from the Charlotte gym going to school in Salt Lake City, and convinced her to let us sleep on her floor and leave the dogs in the car.

With Moab as an option, but another 4+ hour drive south, we decided to head to City of Rocks and brave a sketchy weather forecast. We arrived Saturday amidst ominous clouds and bits of snow, but Castle Rocks tended to frequently be the only area around receiving sun. We managed to get two days of climbing in at Castle Rocks. City of Rocks is 1000 ft higher in elevation, and nightly snows and snowed in roads prevented us from climbing in that area. Finally, we headed home, ready for a warm bed. This morning, we were going to head to Lander/ Sinks Canyon to get 2 more days of climbing in, but the forecast is terrible. I'm not sure spring is actually here!

Next spring, I vote to head MUCH further south! Still, it is sunny and beautiful here today, so we are headed on a good hike with the dogs. Hard to complain, as there is plenty to explore here!