A Cold Winter's Night

It finally happened...an overnight winter camp at the Hollow! Taking full advantage of the shed we began last summer and the road being plowed to the Timberlane turnoff, we snowshoed into the Hollow on Friday evening and set up camp inside the shed. There was about 30 inches of dry powder snow and the temperature got down into the teens, but inside we were relatively warm...even if we could still see our breath.








With a fresh dusting of snow in the morning, we were ready to go explore on our snowshoes. The countryside was incredibly quiet, with the new snow dampening most sounds. It made our walk a little eerie. As we hiked through the trees, our labored breathing and the snow collapsing beneath us were the only sounds (except for the occasional report of a pistol in the distance). The clouds were hanging low and grew thicker the higher we climbed. It wasn't until we reached the top of the ridge that we could see the sky...some fifty feet above us, the mist from the clouds drifting by. It is always amazing to me the way the snow and fog softens and smooths the landscape. I especially like the new snow on the trees, combined with the hoar frost covering every needle and branch.
All too soon, it was time to clean up and head for home as the activities, schedules, and events that made up the remainder of our weekend still needed attention. The well-built klondike derby sled of the past, made trips back and forth with our supplies much easier.


I am ever grateful for these peaceful, relaxing moments that help restore my spirit and peace of mind. The cold can never dampen my love of the outdoors and so we leave until next time...hopefully not too far in the future.

...Big Al

Snow Farmers

After 15 years working in the Ski Industry, I've become what we refer to as a snow farmer; one who's livelyhood depends on a good crop of skiable snow. It's always been a matter of income for me, not a matter of life and death. The last few years, since purchasing the property with Dad, Mom, Katie & Steve, I've been watching the snowpack for different reasons. Our property has seen a good number of insect infestations that have decimated a large population of our evergreen species native to the area. The region is heavily forested, and at 9,000 feet, water is at a premium. The more trees there are, the less water they each get and thus the cycle goes as nature thins out the drought stricken trees.

For some time I figured this year to be a loss. For the ski business, its been our worst December and January in 32 years. Until the last 3 days the property hasn't done too well either. As of today, the snow water equivalent has reached what is considered average for this time of year. Though we still have months to go, it gives me hope that the remaining trees, as well as the ones we've planted might just survive another year.

-Kev

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Groups that have been fighting each other for years in one of Utah's most bitter energy battles may be ready to kiss and make up.

The battle is over natural gas drilling in and around eastern Utah's Nine Mile Canyon. The canyon is famous for its ancient Native American archaeology and has been labeled "The World's Longest Art Gallery."

On Tuesday, the state division of history announced what it calls a "historic" agreement, hammered out in many hours of monthly meetings over the last year. Those meetings included the energy company, government officials, environmentalists, as well as history and archaeology buffs.

The division said the deal will "allow energy development to go forward while protecting archaeology."

A signing ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 5.

Those of us have driven down and enjoyed this canyon, just a few miles from our property, are glad to see an agreement that seems to protect both parties interests. We hope to visit these historic landmarks for years to come.

Kevin

What the Hail?

It was a WET weekend at the Hollow over Memorial Day this year. In all, we probably enjoyed about 5 hours of dry weather in the three days that we were there. But of course, those 5 hours of dry weather were put to good use distributing a new load of gravel, building a trail, and planting 85 Austrian Pines and Blue Spruce. The wet hours were spent reading, playing games, watching movies, and enjoying the spectacular thunderstorms that preceded Sunday's hail. We were under the bowry next to the propane firebowl...no campfires this weekend.

On Monday Kevin and Nate discovered that there's a four mile stretch of the Price River that is perfect for our kayaks this time of year. It's just tame enough for our boats, but exciting enough to keep you on your toes. Nate went in, but only once and he had never been on our boats before. Kevin had so much fun, he is ready to do it again next weekend.

Those that were there this weekend: Alan & Chris, Kevin, Meg & Henry, Nate & Ellie, Steve, Katie, Spencer & Morgan, and Maisie (she came up and stayed with Kev & Meg to play with Henry).

Here are some pictures...

Henry - The Snowshoe Kid

Every time it dumps more snow up at the property, I get nervous. Lately it's been puking the white stuff with dispatch. Knowing the roof was engineered to 150lbs per square foot is apparently not comforting enough to stay home and relax.

This time I brought along Henry and Meg, neither of whom had been up there in the winter. We outfitted ourselves with snowshoes and poles and a sled we could pull Henry on if he couldn't manage the snowshoes. The drive up was pleasant as usual and considerably less nerve-racking than the last trip up with Dad and Nate. That trip was tainted by a blizzard that left mine and Nate's backside slightly more puckered than before as a result of dads winter driving skills.

When we arrived at the turnout, I hit the dirt road with some speed only to find out that for the first time since we purchased the property, the road had not been plowed. What I thought was a plowed road was just a bunch of snowmobile tracks. Mighty Whitey struggled for a second and then found his pace up the hill making it to the upper parking lot with little trouble. I questioned the wisdom of heading down anything that I would have to drive back up later so we parked at the top and decided to snowshoe the remaining 1/2 mile in.

We pulled Henry in a sled down the semi-packed road until we saw the gate. I strained to see our previous tracks in as following these would be the easiest way in. They were generously buried under 24" of new snow with only a slight depression to give their whereabouts away. Meg broke trail and I followed behind with Henry in tow. We came up over the hill past the doo doo shanty and in plain sight was the bowery, still standing, under a lot of snow, approximately 50-55" on the ground and 30-36" on the bowery roof. I was relieved.

Once the burning question had been answered we strapped Henry's snowshoes on and began to explore. My skepticism of his snowshoeing prowess was entirely unfounded. After adjusting his stride width to match his new appendages he took off wherever we would allow him to go. We even took the time to pack down a path on a hill for him to sled down. He dug the whole thing. You never know how a 3 year old is going to react to these types of situations but he handled it with flying colors.

After playing in the snow a bit we snapped a few pictures for the blog, packed up our stuff and made our way back out. Henry broke trail (well, followed our tracks back to the road) and then jumped in the sled for a tow up the hill.

We made it to the truck without incident and although Henry was a bit cold toward the end, he was a champ for 99% of the trip. What a pretty place. Every time I go up there I am more and more pleased with our decision to purchase and develop this land. I look forward to spring, Memorial Day, and another enjoyable summer in our little neck of the woods.

Craving New Snow & A Place To Go

A couple of the guys decided to take advantage of some new snowfall and check out the "Hollow" as an impromptu snowboard run. The snow was deeper (22-28" avg) than our last trip to the Hollow with just a skiff of new snow on top. All still looks good with the new construction. Settling, even with the additional snow load has been minimal. The road was plowed into Timberlane, cleared full width, with pull-outs in a few spots. It had between 1-2" of fresh snow on top. We did notice that all of the heavy road equipment was gone from the entrance to the canyon.

The hike to the top was challenging even with snowshoes, but it provided a great cardio workout for all of us. After one run some of the crew thought a little bit of towed snow surfing might be fun. This was filmed using professionals ??? don't try this stunt at home.

Checkin' It Out

On New Year's Eve, we made a little side trip up to the "Hollow" to see how the new construction was holding up. It was very peaceful with about 14-15" of snow throughout. Interestingly enough, the top of the bowery had only about 6" of snow on it, so we are assuming that it either blows off with the wind or might even slide off of the surface (but I doubt it).

We hiked up through the hollow to the cabin site to see the impact of drifting in the valley. The deepest we saw was perhaps 18" deep. The temperature while driving there ranged from 15 degrees to about -11 degrees in a couple of places . It made the 22 degrees at 9:30 AM seem like a heat wave.

The road was plowed by a logging company, one vehicle-wide, as far as the Timberlane turnoff. However, turning around was problematic since we had to drive all the way into Timberlane to find a space wide enough to safely turn around without getting stuck. We were grateful we didn't meet up with any one on the way in or out. We look forward to our next adventure at the "Hollow!"