Snow in the Desert

The morning after the desert snowstorm, the world looked alien. Here was a view of K's Rock from a distance. It was a red rock desert with fresh snow!

As I rode around the area that morning, I was awed by the juxtaposition of snow and red rock. Although it was a chilly day, the desert looked beautiful, and I immensely enjoyed exploring.

By that afternoon, a slickrock area where we hiked was totally clear of snow. The rock retains heat from the sun so well that it melts away the snow very fast! The areas surrounding the slickrock were still white but the rock itself was amazingly clear. At the center of the slickrock, there was the most amazing rock structure.

That cone was a little too steep for hiking but there were wide open areas where we could play.

We even saw some sunshine around sunset, which warmed us all.

We thought that our desert winter interlude was over. The evening began with perfectly clear skies and zillions of stars twinkling. Then, just as rapidly as the day before, a storm engulfed us. The stars disappeared. The world was silent and inky black when I went to sleep.

I slept so well that night that I didn't know that it was snowing. We awakened to another few inches of the white stuff. My bike and tripod were encased in white fluffy snow, as were all the plants in the desert.

Shyla loved desert snow just like she loves snow at home.

As we packed up camp to head home because our desert time was over, she seemed to want to stay!

Alas, we had no choice but for our desert sojourn to end - it was time to head back to the mountains. This was our last view during a short hike before we left that afternoon. You can see that a lot of the snow had melted in just a few hours.

I've grown to love the desert more than I ever expected. It puts life in perspective as we are such tiny specks compared to the looming rock structures shaped by eons of wind and water. The desert's landscape seems utterly alien compared to home, which is another reason why I love it so much. I hope that we can visit again this winter... but I know that we will definitely be back there in the springtime!