The snow is melting quick at the local hill, but for now it's skiing great. Took a couple laps before getting back to business this afternoon – the corn snow delight continues. We're moving into mid-June, yet the local snowfield is holding up amazingly well. There will be quality turns available way up high into early August I suspect. Great to go ski in shorts and t-shirt and casually stroll along, watching summer take hold. The angry mountain, which in December and January feels like the arctic, is treating us to beach-like conditions these days. A nice four days of very local skiing before a work cycle and the changing of the guard back to bikes and the sea of green.
Yesterday evening, after the heat abided for the day, we hiked up to the overlook and watched a flock of swallows dancing in the wind, chasing bugs, darting every which way in a controlled chaos. It looked like they would crash any second, slamming into the ground or the ever-present telephone poles, but they always managed to turn directions at the last moment. It was sort of poignant watching the natural spectacle around the creations of humans – wires, homes and roads – and I'm not sure why. You get the feeling that nature would do just fine without us in the mix.
Life abounds all around – dandelions, grasses, sedges, wasps, mosquitoes, flies, ants, raven, hawk, doves, rabbits, moose, deer and fox all seen in the last 24 hours. Nature's busy right now – she has to pack in all her work during a short time frame here in the high mountains. Earliest sunrise of the year takes place in two days, June 14th, at 5:31 am.
Alta Backcountry 