Wasatch Weather Weenies

I spent the weekend in Seattle and got to spy my first fresh snow of the season while hiking south of Snoqualmie Pass on Saturday.  The higher elevations of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, including Chikamin Peak had a fresh coat of white above 6500 feet.   To the northeast, the Stuart Range was also freshly coated.   Winter is coming....

The area around Innsbruck is a hikers paradise for anyone of any age and fitness.  You can do enormous vertical if you are so inclined, hiking right from town, or cable car assisted hikes focused on alpine meadows or peak hopping.  The public transit and cable cars make access easy.  Forget the driving.  Even the buses have amazing views.   Over the past four days I did four cable-car assisted hikes illustrating the great diversity of the region. None of these hikes were arduous or long, but they provided great views and experiences.  Below I've circled the cable cars I used to access the higher elevations.   On day 1 I did a hike on the Nordkette immediately above Innsbruck.  I summarized this hike in the previous post (see Hike to Brandjochboden ), but will add here that the Nordkette is the most accessible Alpine hiking you can do from Innsbruck.  The Nordkettenbahn consists of a funicular and two cable cars that take you from ol...

It's a beautiful long weekend here in Innsbruck (we get Monday off too).  I took the opportunity today to hike from the top of the Seegrubenbahn cable car to small, 2000 meter plateau known as the Brandjochboden.  The route traversed below the crest of the Nordkette, the main ridge that rises above the Inn Valley near Innsbruck, offering non-stop views.  Below I've highlighted the first mile or so of the route from Seebrube, which is hidden in this photo but near the start of the arrow. The morning began with just a bit of haze and pollution in the Inn Valley.  This is not all that unusual as it either sneaks in from Germany or Italy or is produced by the enormous amount of traffic that flows through the Inn Valley between Germany and Italy.   Such pollution is usually most apparent when looking toward the morning sun.  This is a result of what is known as forward scattering of sunlight, perhaps a topic for a future post.  The views in other direc...

 I see that a return of colder weather and mountain snow is in the forecast for northern Utah. Downloaded from NWS Salt Lake City web site at 0840 MDT Sunday 17 May 2026 We just had a round of cold weather and snow here in Innsbruck too.  We could have used it in March, but it does create some nice scenery. It almost looked like winter at the top of the Patscherkofel gondola today.  Pretty good coverage on the upper slopes thanks to a few inches of high-density fresh.   Snow is confined to the upper third of the mountain, but I did see someone booting up at the top of the gondola.  I can only assume they were going to skin up the access road that goes to the top of the mountain as going down would take you to the snow line in no time.  There are several mountain huts on the Patscherkofel.  Along with gondola access, you can opt to do anything from short to long hikes to these huts.  All ages are on the mountain for this reason.  Near the...

I woke up this morning with a nip in the air and noticed that Alta Base, Alta-Collins, and Hidden Peak all had temps in the 30s.  It seemed like a good day to go for a hike and check out the end of season snowpack. I finished my hike at the top of the Snowbird Tram.  From that vantage point, no snow appears to remain on the American Fork Twin.  All I could see was a very small patch of dirty snow in upper Hogum that can't be discerned in the photo below.   I couldn't see into upper White Pine and a few other spots that might hold snow.  I suspect that with only a couple of very localized patches, it's pretty much a do over in the central Wasatch.   Earlier I bagged Sugarloaf Peak and Mt. Baldy.  From the latter I could see some lingering snow in the Timpanogos Glacier cirque.  You'll have to squint to see it! Today would have been my Dad's 83rd birthday.  I was glad to get out and enjoy some of the scenery that he loved to see when ...

I've heard there have been a few storms in northern Utah, but we escaped on the 1st of the month to the blissfully cool and moist air of Ketchikan, Alaska.  I haven't seen a temperature above 64°F since arriving and the sky has mostly been cloud covered.  You know, proper hiking weather.   Few things top the 4th of July in Ketchikan.  You haven't really lived until you've experienced the parade here. And the flying of the flag by heli to open the festivities remains one of my favorite traditions. I'm not a good fisherman, but fortunately my wife's cousin is.  He led us to victory this morning.    It's raining now.  No complaints.

After a one month hiatus, I returned to Utah over the weekend and am back in the office this morning. The past month I was in Europe for a trip that was about 1/3 work and 2/3 vacation, although even the former was enjoyable and involved spending a week in St. Gallen, Switzerland for the International Conference on Alpine Meteorology and a couple of days at the University of Innsbruck.   Our trip began in Normandy, France, which was much prettier than expected, especially along the English Channel. A popular spot to visit is Mont Saint Michel, which you may recognize from the picture below.  Places like this are overwhelmed with tourists, so we tend to visit early or late in the day.  This summer marks 1,000 years since construction at this site began.  1,000 years!  Despite the crowds, I always find touring through places like this very interesting.   We also spent an afternoon in Saint Malo just a bit down the road.  The so-called "walled c...

It's prime season for biking and hiking in the Avenues foothills.  This year it seems especially lush and the vegetation is filling in nicely around the recently constructed trails. There could be more trails available to hike and ride, but trail construction was halted in May of last year .  This was allegedly a "pause" that would last until that fall.  Then it was extended to this summer.  In April, the city council further extended the pause until at least spring 2023 .   My views align with those of Ashley Patterson's in her op/ed in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune .  The Foothills Trail System Plan included three years of public input.  Those surprised by the construction successfully pushed the city to pause completion of the project.  Some legitimate concerns were raised and the trails community supports addressing these.   On the other hand, we do not want to see trails construction stopped permanently or delayed significantly...

I have lived in Salt Lake City for over 25 years.  During that time, I have been a trail runner, mountain biker, and hiker, although I can no longer do the former.  I recreate in the Avenues foothills probably 3 or 4 days a week, sometimes more.  I've even ski toured in them.   I'm old enough to remember when the segment of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Pipeline Pass to Dry Creek was constructed, as well as the segments from Morris Meadow to City Creek Canyon and from City Creek Canyon to North Salt Lake.  All of these trail additions improved the quality of life and access to outdoor recreation for Salt Lake City area residents.   So when I saw plans a couple of years ago to expand the foothills trail network, I was excited.  The Bonneville Shoreline Trail was becoming increasingly crowded.  Lots of bikers and hikers.  The plan included hiking only trails, downhill biking trails, hiking and uphill biking trails, and multiuse ...

I've been in Salt Lake City for nearly 25 years and in that time I've never been to the top of the American Fork Twin Peaks.  That changed today as my son and I bagged it via Gad Valley from the base of Snowbird.  It's a really great hike, with some ridge scrambling that is fun and offers some great views.  The photos above were taken in fairly meadowy areas.  In others, there's some rock hoping and scrambling to be had, but not difficult.  Perhaps class 3 in a few places.  In places there's a faint trail, but not much.   Views from the Red Stack were really spectacular.  Ditto for the views from the American Fork Twin. Timpanogos still has plenty of snow up high and the USFS was recommending ice axes/traction devices for ascending the Timp "Glacier".   I didn't feel bad about leaving my skis at home, however, when looking down Pipeline. I don't know where the Snowbird expansion plans are t...