One of my favorite things about being out in the middle of nowhere is that the landscape becomes a canvas, full of color at sunrise and sunset. What some may see as “nothing” becomes streaked with a constantly evolving masterpiece of changing light.
Ibex is one of the favorite spots, far faaaar away from any sign of civilization. Rumors of UFO’s abound in this place, and the rock climbing isn’t bad either! Next to the cliff bands are miles of dry, salty lakebed, stretching out like a waterless sea.
This particular trip, we were really hurting for snow at the resorts, so I decided to try and tap into the magic of this very special place. It was fun, and silly, and there may or may not be video of this. It also worked surprisingly well… more on that later.
The next day, we decided to go to Sawtooth canyon to go check out a climb called the Anti crack. We hiked into the otherworldly scenery, marveling at the geology porn surrounded us, and finally found ourselves right under an absolutely impossible looking rock climb! It was a crack alright! Except….it was filled in with more rock that protruded from the crack only slightly. People climb this thing?! (Yes they do!)
As we explored the climbing area up by Anticrack, we looked out at the vista and saw this crazy cloud approaching. We didn’t think much of it until it became clear that it was approaching rapidly and…is it snowing in there?! We got down off the steep stuff just in time to be enveloped in a cloud of cold misty air. We hiked closer to Notch Peak, which was so impressive and intimidating with it’s 3000 ft face. And just as we hiked back, it started full on snowing with high winds….in the desert!!! Never thought I’d see that!
I guess my snow dance worked its magic, after all!
