Brian Head (elevation higher than 10,000 feet!) is a tiny town of about 100 people, and we got there before the crowds arrived for the weekend. That meant, thanks to our ambassador Jammy, that we were able to make friends with what seemed like everyone in town. There was Ken and Charlie, the shuttle guys; Georg, Tatiana and their adorable kids at the ski shop; Evan the cute-but-way-too-young-for-us guy who rented us our snowshoes. And I'll stop there. Let's just say there was at least one guy who was warned about us ahead of time.
Stayed in a huge condo that, once we got the heat below sauna level, was a comfy home base. Learned a couple of games that were right up my alley: a speedy group solitare and a speedy form of Scrabble. It was a foul-mouthed frenzy, I tell ya!
So we flew into Las Vegas, then rented a car for the three-hour drive to Brian Head. My first time in Vegas! Parked at New York New York and walked down the strip to the Bellagio. Check out the winter wonderland display they had in the conservatory! Made our way to the buffet there for lunch. My stomach still hurts a little from all that I ate: seafood plate, meat plate, dessert plates, mmm ...
Here's the path we took for snowshoeing, under clear blue skies with not another soul as far as the eye could see. Then we trampled all over it!
Fun with camera timers! If you don't look at our feet, it almost looks like we're out skiing!
Playing with the powder in another group photo, otherwise known as an excuse to stop hiking and catch our breath. (Man, it wore me out -- I blame the altitude!)
Giants among women. Can you guess who's who?
Up the road from snowshoeing: Cedar Breaks National Monument. Crazy beautiful.
Look how cute Nicole is on the snowmobile! She was a badass driver, though. I played the role of her bitch in the rear seat.
Insane mountain views in the distance while snowmobiling. You're looking at the few pics that actually came out straight and in focus. All taken with one hand while holding on for dear life with the other. Oh yeah, and it was ass cold.
One of the funnest parts was this wide flat stretch. Just a swath of snow surrounded by mountains. Nicole gunned it, and we totally flew!
Are these all starting to look the same? See, we're headed downhill this time! Vroom!
Our stop at the midpoint of the 90-minute ride gave us this view of Brian Head. Our condo's on that mountain! Damn, it was cold up there. I don't mean to be gross, but Nicole and I had serious cases of ice thighs when we got home. Brrr!
Warming up by the town bonfire. Hot chocolate, mmm.
New hat for me!
Four gals. Five coats. Yep, my coat-buying mania struck again on the trip. But this one has like 8 zillion pockets, an iPod slot and pit vents! I couldn't resist. Also, it was on sale. Pit vents!
