Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Farmington Canyon, May 12, 2017

Full moon setting to the west over Bountiful Peak


Glorious sunrise in the mountains, the Aspens are leafing and the snow is frozen . .  not the best ski conditions but much better than sleeping-in and watching Sponge Bob until noon (yes, I have done that).

Brett contemplating the meaning of frozen, dirty, snowmobile-tracked snow.

Sky funeral. Porky didn't survive our big winter. 

In my 30+ years of skiing Farmington Canyon I have never seen these warm-ish springs ever freeze or cover with snow. They are cool enough that they never emit a cloud of steam, yet they never freeze.

The small dead tree was once short enough that we would straddle it on our approach and we used it's height to kind of gauge the snow depth. I'll admit our method was totally unscientific due to its continual growth, but when it disappeared under the snow we new we had good coverage.  It's now 10-feet high and, sadly, dead. RIP beacon tree tree.

Cornice falls off the northern flanks of Bountiful Peak

Gobblin Valley . . .


Bountiful Peak (which is directly above Centerville and Southern Farmington, so who knows why it's named Bountiful Peak which is at least four miles south.

Francis Peak and its FAA facility.

Bountiful Peak, view from the north from the top of Mud Peak (our name given the drainage to the NE below).

Francis Peak from Mud Peak (view looking north).


Brett looking down Rice Bowl (view NW).

Same view, zoomed out.

Ready to ski Rice Bowl.

Brett looking west toward Antelope Island.

Me, looking gassed per usual. I need a flux capacitor to go back to 1980 to get my 18-year-old body back, but still retain any wisdom that 55 years might have brought. On second thought, I'll take my 18-year old mind too. (B. Fuller pic.)

Me, skiing Rice Bowl (B. Fuller pic).

Me, dropping into Rice (B. Fuller pic).

Bountiful Peak coming out of winter.

Turns in upper Rice Bowl.

My wet-slide debris from last week.

Here comes the sun . . . and Brett. 

Brett, 20 feet on the wrong side of the fracture lines (right side), but who am I talk, Mr. Smart-ass photographer is on the wrong side too. That said, we were safe (presumably) given the long, sustained freeze-thaw cycles of the last month. Everything is welded into place this time of day. 

Cornice collapse crevice on the Mud/Rice Bowl ridge. 

Ski track in upper Mudd (l) Rice (r) Bowls.

Rice Bowl still in snow with the aspens leafing out. View from the Farmington Canyon road by the Sheriff's cabin (view SW).

Zoomed view of upper Rice Bow, as seen from the Sheriff's Cabin. Too bright to see our ski tracks, barely seen if you try. 


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