A Winter Adventure in Salt Lake City
Over spring break I went to Salt Lake City to visit my brother, Evan, and go skiing for the first time. We went birding at Antelope Island State Park, skied three days at Brighton, and also went to Cloyden in search of a rare brambling.
Sketches of the puffy clouds on the way to Salt Lake City
We spent the first day together birding on Antelope Island. I loved revisiting places I hadn’t seen since 2013, like Fielding Garr Ranch. We saw a great horned owl, several species of waterfowl, gulls, and a Say’s phoebe. Evan showed me how to lean into the wind like I was flying. What joy!
“Flying” at Buffalo Point on Antelope Island State Park
On Saturday night, a winter snowstorm coated everything in fresh powder. The next morning we took the bus to Brighton.
View from the coffeeshop at Brighton
I had a ski lesson for the first two hours and learned how to walk uphill in skis, fall properly, snowplow, and turn. It was terrifying, but everyone has to start somewhere. We stayed mostly on the bunny slopes, but I did try some greens at the end of the day. At one point it started snowing so hard that we could only see five feet!
Smiling underneath my mask!
The next morning I had another lesson and got more confident making turns. Meanwhile, Evan was doing double black diamonds way up on Milly. In the afternoon we did several trails together, including Majestic and “The Snake.” I (accidentally) went down a few blues thanks to Evan, ha!
Riding the lift up Majestic. Look at all the fresh powder!
Hot chocolate made with a Coleman stove
For lunch we sat on the tailgate of Evan’s Tacoma and ate tempered salmon. Evan boiled water with a Coleman stove and made hot chocolate and tea for us. I never knew hot chocolate could taste so good!
Riding Crest Express lift with Evan
On the final day, I tried some more blues on Crest Express. I felt a little like a child learning to ride a bike, but Evan was the most supportive big brother. On our way out of Big Cottonwood Canyon, I stopped to get pictures of the creek.
I loved seeing all the pretty snow!
Look at how deep the snowdrifts are!
After returning my ski gear at REI, we went looking for the brambling in Cloydon. Although we had no luck finding it, I did get to see my lifer Lewis’s woodpecker and several bald eagles as we drove along Highway 80. Here’s a short video Evan took as we were coming down from Crest.
I was a little sore the next day on the flight back to Nashville, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
The mountains surrounding Salt Lake City.
