Dreaming of snow

Posted on August 25, 2022 by dinajohnston

It’s now the end of August and it’s been a hot summer. Here in central Florida we still have at least 2 more months of heat (although if we are lucky the humidity won’t be so bad in October). I’ve been reliving our trip to Park City in January, dreaming of when it will be cold again, when I found these pictures I took at Shoe Tree Park on our trip. We kept seeing trees full of shoes as we drove around town and while Brett was skiing one day I took a hike over to the park. It’s just one street over from the main drag in Park City so it was easy to find.

There’s no real reason the trees here are full of shoes but it dates back to the 1970’s. Urban legend is that a group of guys were drinking one night and started throwing their shoes in the trees and it became a thing. It’s now part of Park City’s character. The city thins the shoes out of the trees each fall as new shoes are added.

There is an actual park here with a river and picnic tables. It looked like a small winter wonderland the early morning I was there. I was the only one there but I’m sure it’s busy in the warmer months.

Taking a break with a new friend. Man, I never thought I would miss being bundled up but I’m ready for some cold weather.

Check out Friendship Fridays blog hop over at Create With Joy. Thanks for the feature!

More from my winter vacation.

Posted on March 10, 2022 by dinajohnston

Shots from Deer Valley ski resort in January. The sun had not come up over the mountain when we got there, although it wasn’t that early. I think the slopes had just opened up.

I watched Brett (in the orange jacket) head for the ski lift and then I went off to hike around and look for some things to take pictures of.

I headed up to a nearby hotel that has amazing views of Deer Valley. We stayed here several years before in October when everthing was orange and yellow so it looked very different.

Much later we took a ride around the area before going for an early dinner.

Afternoon walks in the snow.

Posted on March 1, 2022 by dinajohnston

While we were in Utah, I found this great trail behind the condo we had rented. Brett was exhausted from snowboarding so I went out for a walk late in the afternoon. I thought these bright orange trees were pretty cool.

It was a quiet walk with very few other people around. I guess most people that aren’t on the slopes are inside but it’s so different than Florida so I was glad to be outside in the cold for a change.

Of course, everywhere I went I saw magpies.

The area around our condo was covered in snow and icicles. I guess no one will be having a picnic anytime soon.

Two days later, I went for another walk. I was really craving the snow. I found out later that this trail was part of the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail.

Snow in the middle of nowhere.

Posted on February 28, 2022 by dinajohnston

We booked a snowmobiling trip while we were in Park City in January. This was my first time snowmobiling, although Brett was driving and he had been before. We got to the Lodge a little early (it was about 45 minutes outside of Park City) and discovered this beautiful area behind it.

We rode out for a while to flat area where we could ride around. Then we started to head up a mountain.

The view from up high. It was beautiful up on the mountain. We were with a group of about 10 other people and my only regret was that we could not stop more often to take pictures. We had a lot of ground to cover in our 2 hour tour.

Pano with my phone of the area.

The token “vacation” picture of us at the top. Then we zig zagged back down the mountain and back to the lodge. It was a lot of fun and it felt like we were way out in the middle of nowhere.

Jordanelle State Park

Posted on February 17, 2022 by dinajohnston

Late one afternoon Brett and I headed out of Park City to see the outskirts of town. We were originally headed to Cottonwood Canyon to look for a place to hike around in the snow. We passed this beautiful lake and I told Brett we had to turn around and go back and check it out. It was Jordanelle State Park. A very busy park in the summer with campers and swimmers, there were only a few people out in the snow when we stopped.

This was the prettiest spot we saw during the week we were there. Even prettier than the area where we went snowmobiling. We spent about an hour walking around here and taking in the sites. The lake was only frozen in one small corner of the lake.

Sunny in Park City

Posted on February 14, 2022 by dinajohnston

Yes there was snow, but not fresh snow. It was still beautiful to me. A blizzard had come through the area the week before we were here so we missed the worst of the weather while still being able to enjoy the snow. Brett was snowboarding the first day we were in Park City so I went to the slopes with him and watched as he got on the lift and then walked around the village at Park City Mountain for a little while. Then I headed over to Main Street in the old part of Park City to walk around.

The streets and sidewalks were clear so it was easy to get around.

I was watching this guy shovel all of this snow off the side of the restaurant and was thinking “Is anyone going to eat outside? It’s 27 degrees!”

I found some magpies eating out of a garbage can. The beautiful birds are all over the area. They reminded me of the mockingbirds back home, always seeing them around.

After walking around Main Street for a while I headed back to the ski area to meet back up with Brett for a late lunch. We then headed out of Park City to check out some local parks.

Winter vacation sneak peak

Posted on January 20, 2022 by dinajohnston

After 2 years of not going anywhere, we booked a trip to Park City, Utah so Brett could snowboard and ski. I’m not a skier but was planning to do a lot of walking around in the snow and just seeing the sights. Luckily our flights last week were uneventful and on time. We also spent some time doing some tourist things in Salt Lake City. I took a gazilion pictures (okay maybe not that many but almost 1,000) and I’m started to edit them now so I’ll have a lot of vacation posts coming but here’s a sneak peak.

Our first stop was Park City Mountain so Brett could snowboard. After dropping him off here, I headed over to the old historic Park City area to walk around.

The old strip is full of restaurants, shops and artist galleries. It was quiet the morning I was there so I was able to walk around without bumping into too many people. It’s usually packed at night.

We made several road trips outside of Park City including one morning to go snowmobiling.

We spent some time at Antalope Island in Salt Lake City. This buffalo decided to cross the road right in front of us. He was not fazed by cars. Everyone was going slow and stopped to let him cross.

There wasn’t any snow in Salt Lake City but you could still see it on the top of the mountains all around the city. We found a spot to hike around there not to far from the University of Utah. The views are amazing almost anywhere you are in that city.

Needless to say, more to come on our trip.

Hiking Deer Valley

Posted on December 17, 2018 by dinajohnston

The sun was just about to come over the mountain early in the morning. It was very quiet and was weird to see those ski lifts just sitting there.

Hiking the trail behind our hotel in Deer Valley.

I ran into a few birds along the trail. A junco, a few robins and a mountain chickadee. The best was the little chipmunk who was very skittish.

The view from the top of the hill behind our hotel. I zigzagged along the trail on the side of the mountain and ended up at the top of the ski slope.

A trail, a river and some red bugs

Posted on December 13, 2018 by dinajohnston

Across the street from Lisa Falls is one of the entrances to the Little Cottonwood Canyon Trail. We only did a short hike since it was getting close to lunch and we were already hungry.

We came across a river with a little bit of water flowing so we followed it for a while.

We saw these red bugs all along the trail but I couldn’t find any info on them. Does anyone know what they are? They were everywhere.

More from our hike in Little Cottonwood Canyon in October.

Another waterfall with little water

Posted on December 11, 2018 by dinajohnston

During our vacation in Utah, we hiked up Lisa Falls in Cottonwood Canyon knowing that there would be very little water coming down due to the drought. It was a quick hike up and the view was amazing so even though we only saw a trickle of water, it was worth the walk.

Beautiful views along the hike. After the falls, we crossed the street and hiked the Little Cottonwood Canyon trail along the river. More on that later.