Day 40: Flagstaff/AZ Snowbowl

I am pretty sure this is the longest I have been away from home at a time. Also, this is how many days and nights Noah was supposedly on his ark with the animals. That is a long time to be floating aimlessly on a boat. Random thought for you there!

I wake up nice and early today. I need to get to Flagstaff by noon since that is when afternoon skiing starts. It is a 3 hour drive. I am making noise in the kitchen when Hanna runs downstairs. Uh oh, weren't you supposed to be at school at 8? Apparently not today. She says something about running late anyway and is happy when I tell her I already made coffee. Yay for being helpful in the morning! Until today, I have still been asleep or upstairs by the time she leaves and therefore not helpful. She leaves a few minutes later and I continue cooking breakfast and getting my shit together.

I leave at about 9. I have barely gotten to the highway when I see some construction. There is an auger spewing dirt everywhere. It looks like it is drilling the foundation of a noise wall. I find it quite exciting. I manage not to run into anything in my distraction.

I have a nice uneventful drive for about 150 miles. Slowly, the landscape changes from desert and cacti to a forest of evergreen trees. As more and more evergreens appear, so does snow. Shit. I forgot to lock my hubs before I left. Now I need to stop to lock them so I can use my 4wd if the roads get slick. I had just passed a rest stop and several exits right before I came to this realization. Unfortunately, I am now in no man's land and there is not a stop for miles. I am trying not to use my 4wd unless I have to since it is making odd sounds and I will need it driving 2400 miles through Canada and Alaska in March... However, I prefer burning up my 4wd to completely wreaking my truck.

Anyway, as I drive, I can see that the moisture on the road is still in the liquid state so I don't need to make an emergency stop to flip my hubs. Also, I see multiple crazy people riding motorcycles on the roads. If they are able to stay in control, the roads can't be that bad. Personally, I am mildly concerned about the coefficient of friction between my tires and the road when I ride on a dry day. I am highly concerned with it on a wet day. There is almost no way in hell I would ride my motorcycle anywhere if there was snow on the ground. Anyway, I make it 25 miles to the next exit, pull off, and get my hubs taken care of. I put it in 4wd just to be safe and get back on the highway. Shortly thereafter, I arrive in Flagstaff.

As I drive through Flagstaff on my way to the ski hill, I am reminded more of Washington and Oregon than the Southwest. There is snow everywhere (I think there is more snow here than there was in Seattle). Also, there is not a cactus to be found. Most of the trees are evergreens. There are a few birch trees scattered about. The houses are all very northern looking too. None of the "adobe" style houses like I have seen around Phoenix. I am really kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing a cactus covered in snow.

I find the road up to the ski area pretty easily. I get stuck behind someone going about 15 mph. It is rather aggravating. At least this is not the road to Mt Baker. It is only 6 miles long and does not consist of pin tight switchbacks. Despite my frustration, I arrive at the ski hill on schedule.

I had worn my jeans for the drive so I am now faced with the task of changing into my snow pants. I could try to be decent and change in the truck. However, there is not exactly a lot of room for the changing of pants in the truck. I go with option 2: check the parking lot for people and change really fast outside. Well, that was a little cold but now I am dressed for skiing. I go to the bed and unlock the cover. I lift it up and everything in covered in dust. Great. The cover is supposed to protect from the elements. And dust. How did that get in there?  I brush off my ski boots and pull out the rest of my equipment.

The parking lot is below the ski lodge. I think that most people walk around the parking lot, up the road, and then to the lodge. I look at the hill and see where a few people have just gone straight up the hill. Looks like a good route to me. I get about half way up and realize that ski boots have no traction and I am extremely unbalanced due to the fact that I am carrying skis. At least I also have my pole to help stabilize myself. I end up throwing my skis up the hill and hoping they don't roll down and using my poles/hands to get up the hill. note to self: Do not hike up steep, rocky, slippery surfaces in ski boots.

I make it to the lodge and purchase a ticket. I checked ticket prices online and had found that students can get a $20 half day ticket. Which is ridiculous. This place is 3 times the size of hilltop where the student half days are $26. The guy checks my student ID which I still carry with me for this reason and gives me my ticket.

I set off to the closest ski lift. The place has a few lifts but most of them service the bunny hill. There are only two that go to anywhere exciting in my book. The closer one serves only blue runs. Exactly what I need for my first run. I get off and navigate through glorious, fluffy, powdery snow to the other lift. This snow is awesome. There is no more fresh powder at this point in the day, but I find plenty of tracked powder which is almost as fun. I make it to the other lift and hop on. It is the longest lift rid of my life. Literally. I check my watch on one ride and it close to 20 minutes long. They could really benefit from installing an express lift. It takes about half an hour to do a run. It is also cold. I was not expecting cold so I did not properly layer. It is about 15 degrees at the top. With the exception of possibly Mt Baker, this is the coldest skiing I have done on my trip. I had erroneously assumed all of Arizona was going to be warm. I was expecting 30s/40s weather for skiing.

Really long slow ski lift

Usually, if I am going to be cold, it is on the lift ride up. On the way down, I usually warm up some. Oddly, on the way down, I just get more cold. That is not fun. While the snow is AWESOME, needless to say the long lift ride and cold ends up being rather uninspiring for skiing. At one point, I go tearing down this nice steep run and decided to stop and rest for a bit and admire the scenery (there was no view but the mountain itself was gorgeous). I somehow plant my pole in front of my ski as I am stopping, effectively tripping myself like a total noob. Ugh. I also encounter the issue of my leg falling asleep while sitting on the ski lift. I have never had this problem before. Getting off the lift with a leg (or two) asleep is interesting. No actual mishaps but the dismount is much more difficult than it needs to be.  There is some ice on a few of the runs. However, it is surprisingly manageable, unlike the treacherous snow I encountered in Tahoe. I play in the snow for a while and then decide it is too cold to do any more.

Nice view!

The snow!

I reach T Rex and start pulling off my gear. My hands are almost dysfunctional from the cold. The snow on my ski boots has turned to ice around some of the latches. Seriously?!?! I am in frikin Arizona. Where it is supposed to be warm. I have to work harder than usual with my frozen hands and iced over boots to pack up. I start up T Rex and turn the heat on for the first time in weeks. I put in my hotel address and start back down the road. I turn a corner and see someone pulling a car out of the ditch. They are blocking the road so I stop and watch. Alright, it is icy. I need to be careful. I am going to be really embarrassed if I have to ask someone to pull me out of a ditch.

I make it to the hotel and check in. It is 4:30 so I decide to get an early dinner. On the way, I see a Home Depot. I decide to stop. I need to make a new engine shield for T Rex. The old one has been wearing out for a while but it finally fell to shreds in Lake Tahoe. It is not a super critical thing to have but I will feel better knowing there is something to stop or at least slow down whatever shit my tires might happen to send flying toward my engine at high velocities. Long story short, I am looking for an easy to cut, sturdy, vinyl/plastic/rubber something. I go wandering about. I have heard I can find such a thing in the flooring department. Flooring stuff should hold up well, right? The flooring aisles are temporarily closed. I wander aimlessly waiting for them to open.

An employee asks me if I need help. No, I do not. He asks if I am sure. Yes, I am sure. He still does not believe me. He says he just saw me turn down three different aisles and turn around. Well, yes, I did. But I don't need help. I finally tell him what I am looking for and seem to confuse him. This is why I did not need help. I don't know exactly what I am looking for. I know its purpose which is kind of hard to explain without a visual and I will know when I find it. He suggests I try the plumbing or gardening section. I have already checked out plumbing and am confused as to how gardening is going to help me. I check anyway. Nothing. At this point, the flooring aisle is now open. I find what I am looking for. It is cheap. I get a square yard size piece for $6. And Toyota charges $70 for a part of a brand new shroud when I can make new ones for $6 total. Anyway, I buy my vinyl flooring piece and head off to dinner.

I end up getting some Mexican take out. I am in the Southwest so the Mexican food is supposed to be more authentic, right?  I take my food back to the hotel and eat it on my bed while watching TV. It isn't like any Mexican food I have had before. It's good, but I am not sure if I would say it is better than the not so authentic Mexican food I have had.

I am still cold despite being in a warm room. I really should have dressed warmer. I decide to shower. This is a great idea as I am now no longer cold. However, the shower drains extremely slowly. I think it took 45 minutes to drain completely. Other than that, I have no complaints about my room.  Anyway, I have now spent the last two hours writing this blog post.