The last major snow event around here was a multi-day storm from January 19–25 that put down about 36″ of snow in town. The Kachina Peaks received anywhere from 5 to 7 FEET of snow. Since then, the weather has been pretty quiet with no storms. The snow in town had melted away and the snowpack in the mountains had melted/sublimated substantially.
Finally, however, another snow storm moved across the area earlier this week bringing about 16″ in two days to Flagstaff and about 18–24″ across the peaks. Time to hit the slopes.
New snow on a toppled aspen tree.
Our original destination was the area known as Allison Clay but that idea was abandoned because of the amount of trail breaking required to get there. Instead, we went for the nearer destination known as Flying Dutchman. A few skiers had already broken a trail to the top of the area so we had an easy climb. Thanks, guys!
Here are a few images from the downhill runs.
At the top of Flying Dutchman.Lower glades before hitting the Humphreys Trail.
Will this be the last chance for good skiing? Or will we see another big event in March?
We had a nice snow storm earlier this week that brought a bit less than a foot of new snow to Flagstaff—but more than two feet in the mountains. Time to get out and ski some deep powder!
Snow covered trees in the Kachina Peaks.
So off we went to ski the backcountry. Our destination was the area known as “Allison Clay” on the west face of Humphreys Peak. Getting there is not straightforward as there is no trail. One has to bushwack their way from the lower sections of the Humphreys Peak trail around a portion of the mountain before reaching the open slopes. Nonetheless, the trek can be quite beautiful when there is a lot of fresh snow on the trees.
While bushwhacking through the forest we spotted this yin-yang symbol on a tree.
Along the way we stopped at “Flying Dutchman” to survey the conditions. The old snow had settled so much in the past few weeks that the new snow was insufficient to completely cover the rocks and many were poking through the powder. After a quick stop, it was time to continue to our main destination.
First, we must climb this…
Normally setting a trail through the forest and finding Allison Clay is not that difficult—but on this outing I aimed too low and we ended up below the normal ski zone. Not a problem! As it turned out, we found another nice gully with deep, untracked powder. Up we climbed—determined that we would return through this gully on our way back. Higher up, we broke out into the open and began the moderately steep climb up the west face of the mountain. Then it was time to convert all that potential energy into kinetic energy—in other words, let gravity do its thing.
…so that we can do this!Tree skiing in a wide gully.
And, oh, it was GOOD—especially the powder-filled gully! By this time, however, we were getting tired since we had to break a lot of trail through deep snow just to get here.
Look at that happy smile!
Next morning—same thing. We did all the work yesterday breaking trail so today would be easier. Unfortunately, winds had increased overnight and the avalanche danger began to increase so we chose to ski through the trees and away from the open slope. That turned out to be even better because the powder in the trees was simply marvelous.
Clouds swirl around the snow covered Kendrick Peak.Sunset colors illuminate the Kachina Peaks.
After five days of snow the skies finally cleared showing several feet of new snow on the peaks of northern Arizona. Late afternoon shadows race across the meadows of Brannigan Park while sunlight continues to illuminate the high peaks.
An early season storm brought plenty of rain at the lower elevations along with several inches of snow across the higher elevations of the San Francisco Peaks. A few days spent in Lockett Meadow, Inner Basin, and Waterline Road resulted in some colorful images.
The Inner Basin Trail above Lockett Meadows.Along the Waterline Road.A wall of color.Groves of aspen blanket Lockett Meadows and the Inner Basin.
The aspen are showing great colors already and it will get better over the next few days. The snow across the high peaks really sets off the color—but that snow has already begun to fade away…
Rain has become a daily occurrence across northern Arizona as the North American Monsoon is now in full swing. The most visual result of this, of course, is the abundance of wildflowers.
We were pleased with the wildflowers that we encountered on a recent mountain bike ride that started from Lockett Meadows and followed both the Inner Basin Trail and the Waterline Road. At the upper end of the Waterline Road is Abineau Canyon and we saw these flowers and many others.
Storm clouds began to gather and we made haste getting back to the car. Enduring a thunderstorm on a bike at these elevations is undesirable. We made it back to out starting point before the rain started — but not by much.
Lockett Meadow
As we drove out of Lockett Meadows I could not resist a photo of this view. This tank has been photographed by many but usually on clear days with aspen in fall colors. There are fewer images of a light rain shower with clouds over the peaks and tiny splashes in the tank from the rain drops.
