Top Of The World, Ma!

This won't be a terribly long, detailed blog post...it's mostly a bunch of pictures from our sledding trip on January 2nd. Yes, a sledding trip! I realize in many parts of the country this would be a commonplace activity this time of year. However, we live in southern Arizona, so an opportunity to go sledding in the snow is a rare, delightful treat.

Last winter (2013-14) was almost depressingly warm. It hovered around 80 degrees for much of January and February. While I mostly enjoy the mild Arizona winters, there are times when I crave cold days too. Days requiring jackets and/or sweaters. Days with hot cocoa, warm socks, and blankets. Days with rain or (if we're lucky) snow. And this winter, our luck held out! Throughout the Christmas/New Year week, it was cloudy, cold, and rainy.

And winter rains in Tucson usually translate to snowfall atop Mount Lemmon, the peak just north of town. I'm always excited when snow falls on Mount Lemmon during the holiday break; it means the girls and I can pile up in the car and go check out the snow! We've done this a couple of times over the last few years; it's great when the snow pays us a visit during the school break. I love seeing the snow because a part of me still misses the cold, snowy winters of my youth. My girls love the snow because it's a novelty rarely seen in their lives. Either way, we were all willing to brave the long drive up the mountain for the chance to experience a little winter.

Except Nathan, that is, who apparently doesn't miss the snow as much as I do. Plus, he had a golf lesson and home improvement project to do, and those things were better completed without the rest of the family around. No matter...everyone had a good time wherever they were!

The clouds hung very low on Mount Lemmon the day we drove up. No snow was falling, but the visibility halfway up the mountain was pretty poor. Luckily, the roads were dry, so I was able to drive carefully and take my time. When we got past 5,000 feet, some incredible views awaited us...

It felt like we had emerged from the fog into a fantasy land. I was almost able to convince myself that we were no longer in Arizona!

The view was rugged and amazing, and ignited all our imaginations. Plus, it reminded me of a few scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies, which we had coincidentally just finished showing our girls for the first time (the fun starts about 1:00 into the video):

I almost fancied I could see some of those beacons of Gondor way off in the distance!

We got out and wandered around a bit at Windy Point Vista. Many of the walkways were completely covered by ice, which the girls have virtually no experience with. There were many slips and stumbles as we made our way up to the overlook. Everybody was clinging pretty desperately to the railing, too.

We also saw some tiny icicles on a nearby tree, which the girls were fascinated by.

After a good look around, we drove all the rest of the way up the mountain. We have made the drive up snowy Mount Lemmon three times now, and this was the first time the roads were clear enough to make it all the way to Summerhaven, the small town at the top of the mountain. I even got to drive up to the ski resort outside Summerhaven, and it was actually open!

Of course, the parking at this resort is woefully inadequate; there were cars parked alongside the road for a half-mile or more.

 

Lots of transplanted ski bums were swarming the slopes on this day, so the best we could do was take a peek out the window at the ski slopes and the moving chairlift. Then we headed a little ways back down the mountain, to find a good sledding hill.

There was a fair amount of snow on the mountain, so we didn't have to look too hard for a good sledding hill. A lot of other people had the same idea we did, but we managed to get in a few good runs down the hill before being overrun.

 

It was a pretty nice hill, all things considered! Our friends the Nielsens had let us borrow their sled again for this trip. This year, the girls were all big enough to take it on solo rides (except Aurora, who flat-out refused). Celeste wiped out pretty hard the first trip down, but she shook it off fairly quickly and managed another trip or two. Lorelai had the most fun, and she was a good sport about lugging the sled up and down the hill.

Unfortunately (for me, anyway), my kids are still a little wimpy when it comes to snow. After a half-hour or so of sledding, Aurora began to cry and beg to get into the car, where she could dry off and warm up. Celeste followed soon after, and even Lorelai caved in shortly after that. I took one more good run down the hill, then resignedly loaded up the car and headed down the mountain.

Celeste was more interested in eating the snow than in sledding on it

I'd made the girls wear layers of clothes this time, and I think that helped them stay warm for much longer than our previous trips. However, their hands all got very cold very fast; if we are going to be doing much more playing in the snow, the girls definitely need better gloves to protect their hands!

Goodbye, awesome sledding hill...until next time!

We made it down through the foggy lowlands back into Tucson (barely...our "low fuel" light flashed as we descended, so we coasted on fumes for much of the trip). Before heading home, we refilled the car, had some late lunch at Carl's Jr., and warmed ourselves back up. We spent the rest of the night relaxing at home and eating junk food. It's a lot of driving to see the sights atop Mount Lemmon, but we always enjoy it! Maybe if I do this for enough years in a row, my girls will actually be able to tolerate the snow for longer periods of time. Then again, they are desert-born, so I may be fighting a losing battle here.