Sunday, July 17, 2011

Desperately Seeking Summer

INSTALLING SUMMER.....
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Installation failed. 404 error: Season not found. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again...
The rule of thumb here in the Pacific Northwest is that the weather turns to Summer after July 4th.  Apparently Ma Nature has forgotten this little factoid.  While folks in the southern half of the country appear to be getting baked, we seem to be trapped in a never ending Spring.  Or, Fall has started early.  While it isn't cold, it isn't particularly warm either.  And it's raining, with more in the forecast this week.  Bah...
Crystal Mountain Ski Resort record 612 inches of snow (that's 51 feet!), and had their longest ski season on record, running from Nov. 18, 2010 to July 14th this year.  Great for the skiers, not so much for those who ride stock or backpack in the wildnerness.  Let me illustrate.
That's Crystal Mountain on the left.  To the right is Scout Pass, on the Pacific Crest Trail, one of the entries into the Norse Peak Wilderness, which the astute reader will recall is one of my favorite summer riding areas. Unless, of course, it's covered in snow.  Initial reports indicate there is a quite a bit of the white stuff on the ground still, and that trails took a beating from a rougher than normal winter.  My brother-in-law and I are going to take a drive up to Government Meadows Horse Camp sometime in the next couple weeks, and hike in to assess trail conditions before attempting to go in on horse back.  I'm trying to be optimistic about this, but I think packing season will be abbreviated this year.
Al Gore, call your office.

9 comments:

innominatus said...

Down here in Corvallis reading your post while wearing a jacket. I don't like wearing a jacket in July.

I wish I'd kept my receipt for this weather so I could go get a refund.

Mary said...

I hear ya! I start to almost get rid of my wintry pasty white skin, then this happens! The Al gore reference is classic, love it. I'm hoping we get one of those real late indian summers, one can ony hope right?

I really like the new look, refreshing!

I noodled around a bit to change mine, but I just ended up messing with something and I can't seem to get it the way I want it.

sweetpea said...

Buck, here in the U.P. of MI we are stuck in a heatwave wishing for cooler weather. Today's heat index got up to 104! Too hot for this northern gal!
Hope you get some relief soon too.

Bag Blog said...

We've had temps above 100 for over 30 days - no rain to speak of. Do you have a guest room?

SallymetHarryHorse said...

i hear ya too, hasn't got warm enough to ditch the jacket yet as so far grey and wet every day. but then i'm in ireland, so mostly to be expected. still horrid though.

lovely blog btw :-)

Buck said...

Al Gore, call your office.

Heh.

Andy said...

Heh, indeed!

I feel your pain...well at least I have in the past. Had one Summer in Colorado that didn't happen.

No chance of such a thing in Louisiana. Everybody's bitching about the heat (yours truly, included), but I remember MUCH hotter Summers (notably 1980), and my Daddy was born in July,1935 (the year most record setters were set that remain to this day).

I hate cold weather. Maybe y'all will get at least a taste of the good stuff.

Michael said...

Crystal Mountain Ski Resort record 612 inches of snow (that's 51 feet!) - nice :)
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Anonymous said...

Really, that's a lovely sight. Can you please tell us the name?