Snow Survey 2014

We woke up yesterday to fresh snow in the mountains, and it reminded me of the snow survey I did the end of March that I never posted.

Snow surveys are conducted throughout the western U.S. to help predict stream flows. The Natural Resource Conservation Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, runs the program. In Great Basin National Park, three snow courses are found along Baker Creek. They were established in 1942 (when the land was managed by the U.S. Forest Service), and almost every year a snow survey is conducted at the end of February and the end of March.

Mark and I started near the Baker Creek campground on a snowy morning on April 1, the last day we could do it to be in time for the April 1 forecast.

By the time we walked/skiied up to the trailhead at 8,000 feet, the precipitation had stopped. But there was barely enough snow to ski on, and soon we were walking again.

Fortunately after the first site at 8250 ft, we found some nice snow. The sun came out, making a beautiful day. When I first started doing the snow survey about three years ago, it seemed so long. Now it just seems like a pleasant outing. (I still am sore at the end of the day, though!)

A smile from Mark, despite the skis picking up too much snow. It was right around freezing, and the snow was sticky.

The second site is usually cold because it's shady and down near the creek. This year it didn't seem too bad. At each snow course we took five measurements.

Here's Mark getting the tube ready to push into the snow. How far down will it go?

We measured the snow depth, how much snow was in the tube, and then weighed the tube to get the snow water equivalent, or how much water is in the snow. That's the most important measurement for forecasting.

I couldn't help but snap a few photos on the way up to the third site. The snow was deep enough to make some interesting patterns right near the creek.

It's a really cool feeling making fresh tracks in fresh snow. It had snowed the night before, and the trees still had lots of snow on them.

This slope had a huge avalanche in 2005 that went all the way down the side of the mountain, across the creek, and part way up the other side. I'm always fascinated to see who the vegetation is growing.

Finally we made it to the third site. This is the prettiest site, a large meadow. I could hang out here for a couple hours.

This site has an extra orange marker, which is an aerial marker. In the old days, a plane would fly by and an observer would get an estimate of snow depth by how much snow covered the marker. Today the NRCS has installed a network of Snotel sites that give them much more accurate information than the fly-by method.

Once we completed all the measurements, we headed back down the trail. The snow was melting faster, and we had some extra rocks to traverse. It was not the easy downhill we were hoping for.

And then the snow ran out. We had to take off our skis and hike. Boo.

We were really hoping that someone would have opened the gate and driven our vehicle for us up to the trailhead, but no such luck. We still had more hiking to do.

The silver lining is that we got to see a couple marmots! They were actually seen in late February this year.

It's cool to have such a long dataset to see how the snow depths and snow water equivalents have fluctuated over the years. Over the whole period, there is a slight downward trend, even though the overall precipitation record shows a slight increase. This indicates that we are getting more snow as rain than snow, which changes the timing for peak stream flow and how much water is stored as snow into later into the summer. Looks like times are a'changing!

Here's what the snow survey looked like in 2013 and 2012.

Climbing Crystal Peak in Millard County, Utah --with Kids!

 We concluded our Volcano Weekend (Sunstone Knoll, Pahvant Butte) with a trip to Crystal Peak. In the late afternoon when the sun is out, the mountain sparkles, looking so impressive rising from western Millard County, south of Highway 6 & 50.

 The peak is remote, but since it was Easter weekend, we were expecting to share it with others. To our surprise, no one was parked at the camping areas near the road that goes by the peak.

Our goal was to climb the peak. Many years ago, my husband and I climbed it via the north face (photo above), and it was a terrifying climb. I tried another time in 2009. We knew the best way was to circle around to the south side and approach up the southwest side. Because Desert Girl had done so much hiking the previous day and my husband wants to get in shape for our Mt. Rainier trip in September, she got a free ride in the backpack.

Crystal Peak is made of Tunnel Springs Tuff, a volcanic rock that has a high quartz content in it. The rock is very white, and our eyes adjusted to the stark scenery. But then we saws burst of color.

Are you ready for it?

The Indian paintbrush was spectacular!

Our dog Henry was with us for the hike, and he followed my husband and Desert Girl on the rock, while Desert Boy and I followed the wash.

Suddenly, as I was walking along, I heard a rattle. I stopped immediately and found a rattlesnake a few feet away. I backed up, got my camera out, and took some photos. Desert Boy, who had a great opportunity to hang out with a friend herpetologist a week or so ago to go find rattlesnakes, sternly told me not to get any closer to it, not even for a photo. Smart boy.

We found our way around it and then started seeing more fossils in the Kanosh shale, a highly fossiliferous layer that is also present at nearby Fossil Mountain. I believe the fossil below is a cephalopod.

Soon we reached the ridge where the Tunnel Springs tuff met the Kanosh shale. This meant it was time for the serious climbing. But first I had to admire some of the openings in the tuff, called tafoni. Sometime when we have time to just play around, we could have a lot of fun photo opportunities!

The views were just lovely, with nary a sign of civilization. Crystal Peak is quite remote! (Oh, did I mention that already!?) We did see two vehicles the whole time we were out there, so it was actually a high traffic day.

Unfortunately our climb wasn't all peaceful and serene. Desert Girl wasn't feeling her best and complained loudly. It didn't help that the way we thought was the easiest wasn't and we had to do some backtracking down sections when it got too steep for us. This is not an easy mountain to climb.

We eventually reached a section that was too steep for Desert Girl, so she stayed with Dad and took a much-needed nap while Desert Boy and I scampered to the top. Desert Boy was so pleased that he had made it! Behind him, about 40 miles away, we could see the snow-covered peaks of the southern Snake Range, including Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park.


To the northwest we saw various knolls and roads across the Ferguson Desert. It wasn't so long ago (at least geologically speaking) that this was all covered with the waters of the massive Lake Bonneville.

On the way back down we found an easier way to the summit and also an easier way down to the Kanosh shale hillside. Some cairns mark the way, but they aren't always easy to spot. This Google Earth image shows the way we recommend to go up (and how we came down). It was about 1.25 miles one-way.

 We probably won't be making a yearly pilgrimage to Crystal Peak, but we'll be back!

For even more information about Crystal Peak and the surrounding area, check out my book Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area!

Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge--Check In Week One *Updated

*Updated bird identifications--see below

Western Scrub-Jay on feeder

Are you taking Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge? It's easy: How many birds can you find in your backyard this year? Keep a list (we have one in the sidebar now), and add to it each time you find something new.

The kids and I are having a lot of fun with the challenge. I'm impressed with how well they are learning the common birds in the yard. To help encourage birds to come to the yard, we've been putting out birdseed. Both kids love to spread seed.

The most common birds are pinyon jays, which come in a raucous and rowdy group, and the tiny dark-eyed juncos, which don't seem to mind the commotion and go about their business picking up seeds.

Nevertheless, we did get some different birds to our yard:

Cassin's *House Finch (Updated--thank you, kind birder!) The flash of red caught my eye and I couldn't help but do a little happy dance!

Then I saw the tiniest glimpse of yellow:

A pine siskin.  *I thought it was a pine siskin, but really it's a female house finch. Those tricky females! Pine siskins should be around, so we'll keep looking! Pine siskins live higher up the mountain in the summer, where they like to be in pine trees. But in the winter, they come down to the valleys to find food. Pine siskins are also finches, and they like to hang out in mixed flocks, which explains why I saw both these birds on the feeder at the same time.

We got some great close-up views of those pinyon jays. We enjoy watching how the birds move around and interact.

We started our challenge on February 1, and as of February 8, we are up to 14 backyard birds. We should add a couple more winter birds this next week, as we've seen and heard some close to our yard, but not in/from our yard yet. Keeping a list is helping us keep our interest up.

I'd love to hear in the comments or on the Desert Survivor Facebook page how your challenge is going.
Happy birding!

A Winter Trip to the Salt Flat and Sinkhole

The day before Thanksgiving Desert Boy didn't have school, so I took the morning off. Desert Girl had preschool, so I decided that after we dropped her off, we'd head to the nearby sinkhole with a stop at the salt flat on the way. Better yet, we'd take some of Desert Boy's friends.

We have a lot of salt flats, or playas, out here in the desert. The rain falls, runs down to a low spot and pools, and then evaporates. It often leaves behind salt. Sometimes the playas are hard and you can drive on them, and other times they are mushy and will cost you an expensive towing bill.

The temperature was just below freezing, so I was hoping that it would stay that way. I was a little concerned that if the snow melted it could make the playa just mushy enough that I would get stuck. With four kids. Miles from the nearest person. I told myself if that did happen, it would be an adventure they'd remember. 

This playa has a dug out spot that collects water. We went over to look for wildlife and found some deep snow and a little ice. I had to work hard to convince the kids not to step on the weak ice. I didn't want our outing to end in the first five minutes due to a soaked, cold kid!

Fortunately they listened and soon were running free across the playa. That's one of the best things about a playa. It's a wide, open space, and you can go anywhere you want.

While the kids ran, I looked for patterns in the snow and ice. 

These patterns were quite a bit different from the ones I found in the spring when I visited this same playa.

Meanwhile, Henry was busy rolling on the snow. You can see Ava's boots in the photo. She was rolling around too.

Desert Boy tried to make a snow angel, but the snow was a little too hard.

I found it kind of funny that the kids chose to lay down on a cold surface.

We all agreed after awhile that it was time to head to our next destination: the sinkhole. When I had first asked Desert Boy if he wanted to go to the sinkhole, he enthusiastically agreed.

"I want to go. We can look for snakes."

I smiled inside. Yes, the sinkhole is a major snake haven. But it was winter, and our likelihood of finding snakes was very small. In fact, this was the perfect time to take a bunch of kids there.

We parked by the fence and found a place to cross it.

Then I had the kids line up for a "before" photo.

Soon they were charging down. I had told them as we were pulling up that we were going to the bottom, and none of them argued. They were ready for some outdoor time.

The mixture of snow and hard ground made for some interesting falls, but we all made it down unscathed.

Then the real fun began: finding snake skins! The snakes shed their skins as they grow, and we found snake skins all over. The kids soon began a friendly little competition to find the most.

They all left with a pile of snake skins and big grins.

I knew the trip was a success when the next day one of the friends asked me, "Where are we going today?"

Soon, my little friend, we will go out again!