HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

I can't believe how cozy this mobile home is! Central heating is SO nice! I was sick yesterday, stayed in all day. Nice and cozy...

I can't wait to go to Yuma for some cycling with my friends there in the Foothills Bicycle Club. I am ready for some desert...

Man, good thing I didn't do my Canyon Overnight as planned. I woke up to about 2 inches of new snow up here and I didn't want to deal with bad weather and short days on a backpack trip. It was unexpected since we weren't supposed to get anything until later today. Nice to see the snow.

Don't they plow? Sheesh! I have had to drive back and forth and here and there this morning, and it is a bit slippery. It is very pretty, though. And really not that cold. Good day to stay inside and play the guitar or study, which is what my son and I are doing. I wonder if they will have a delayed start at the public schools tomorrow.

azbackpackr wrote:Don't they plow? Sheesh! I have had to drive back and forth and here and there this morning, and it is a bit slippery. It is very pretty, though. And really not that cold. Good day to stay inside and play the guitar or study, which is what my son and I are doing. I wonder if they will have a delayed start at the public schools tomorrow.

No, plowing in Flagstaff is typically less than exemplary. Last year during the first storm of the season in December, the roads were a nightmare and several radio stations went off the air around 1700. It's funny because this town is known for snow and you would think that they could manage it. This really is nothing, so get used to it. Unless it turns to be a true La Nina with low totals and warm days.

I noticed on Craigslist they have job openings for something like 6 snowplow drivers in Flag this year.

You have a CDL, right? You could do it, since it probably won't conflict with Substitute driving. Plus, they make decent money during big storms. Just expect to be tired as they work overnight, a lot.

No, thanks anyway, but not my cup of tea. I don't stay awake very well after dark, tend to get very sleepy.

Snowbowl reported another 8" last night. Got the snowcats out packing it down. One good storm should be enough to open the mountain. Or two more like this last one. Looks like a possible chance again by the start of next week.

Well, 4" to 8" is what they really reported, but I'm not impressed with these totals as it has been a very dry snow. Since I was unable to hike Humphrey on Friday due to the road being locked up, I'm planning to hike it tomorrow. I'll let you know how it looks.

It's 6 degrees out right now in Flagstaff. I think we may make it below zero tonight. We haven't been below zero in Flagstaff since late December of 2009.

Also, below is taken directly from the Snow bowl website:

We did receive 4-8" on November 29. Waiting for more before we announce an opening date.

Why can't they write in past tense? They always write , "We did receive", instead of, "We received". What, do they think the public always believes they are lying and therefore if they write "we did" it seems more forceful and that will make us believe them? Then, when you drive up there and they clearly got nothing even close to what they claimed, some guy points at the website and says, "no, We did receive".

I should write my triplogs like that. "I did hike from Yuma to Tucson in 45 minutes, I did".

At 1030, the NWS is still saying a low of only 6, but we're down to 5 degrees. I think we're going negative! In Fahrenheit temperatures, not political campaign strategy.

I just got in from outside. I forgot my coat and must be developing my seasonal cold tolerance. It didn't really feel all that cold out, but I knew it was because my ears were burning. Also, when I inhaled, my nose hairs froze in my lower nostril, so it is getting down near zero!

And by 11pm we are down to 3. Only 4 more to go to be negative. Wooooooo!

Weatherbug shows on my computer of -2 at Happy Jack.... shows 28 on our thermo by the front door in Payson...

Jim_H wrote:my nose hairs froze in my lower nostril!

TMI, TMI!!!! ;)

I don't have a thermometer up here, so will be interested to know the final low. Amazingly, this 1965 single-wide mobile home is WARM inside. Very cozy.

I don't have to drive the bus this morning, thankfully. I called in but they did not need any subs today. I have a ton of homework, anyway.

It's -3 right now, and had a low of -4. We appear to have been negative since 1am.

wow... that is getting down there. 20 degrees here in Alamo... light snow yesterday. Sierra Blanca be Blanca... doubt if I'll tromp to the top with the snow up there.

Why not? I'm planning on Humphrey today. I plan on the trail since we still haven't got much snow. I think I'll bring my snowshoes just in case, though I probably won't use them due to the rock.

hike in from the west is along an unkept trail... 11-12 miles. 24 miles with 6,000' of climbing and snowshoeing is beyond my current conditioning level. Maybe into March I'd be ready?

Jim_H wrote: Also, when I inhaled, my nose hairs froze in my lower nostril, so it is getting down near zero!

That's been my threshold indicator for over 40 years. The last couple days were pretty cold in Tucson, too, but not nose-freezing cold.

Nose hair just doesn't tingle and freeze above 10 degrees.

I posted some photos from my hike on the Humphrey Summit Trail yesterday. Nowhere near enough snow to hike uphill and off-trail, and going down hill off trail was hard at times in what is up there. The trail was OK, and should be doable without snowshoes in a few days with continued melting. I question how much snow is needed to open Snowbowl. I think we need at least one large storm, and preferably 2 or 3 good ones with a sub-tropical tap and snow fall over several days that totals over 36 inches on the mountain. What has fallen has been a dry powder. Great if a base existed, but no good for base creation. I can't tell 100% since snow covers them on some level, but it looks like some big erosion gullies developed this past year at the edges of some of the runs, and Snowbowl appears to have bulldozed water bars into the runs to prevent large ones from forming in the middle of them. Some of the exposed bars looked new (fresh) but that may just have been a result of the snow cats ripping into them. It could just be that I never walked the runs with this little snow and they have always been there. I do remember seeing vehicle switchbacks on them in summer.

http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=168266
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=168278
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=168276