We woke at 9:00AM! That’s a record for us. Usually 6:30 or 7:00AM my aches say it’s time to get up. I guess the mountain air and our cold weather trail hike were good for sleep. It’s 17º this morning and the wind is blowing the snow around. Oh yea, it’s still snowing too. It continued to snow all day and into the night. The temperature never got above 20º.

After lunch we suited up to go for a short hike on the Ekalaka trail and when we got outside the wind and snow were just too much, We needed goggles which are at home. And, if it’s gotten to goggle and face covering conditions it’s no fun. So, we hopped into the Outback and cleaned it off with our gloves. The snow was so fluffy a leaf blower would have cleaned the car quickly. So, add the leaf blower to my snow preparedness next year.

We drove to the other side of the canyon to the gift shop to pick up a few stickers and Susan wanted another jigsaw puzzle. We then took a drive through the town of Thomas just to see if anything had changed and what shops were open. The mainstay Purple Fiddle wasn’t even open. It was maybe early for the fiddle and late for the small craft shops.
So, we stopped by the Billy Motel bar for some conversation and then back to the lodge for dinner and a little TV.

My goal for coming up to the mountains was to get away from the normal daily routine and clear my mind. Tried to keep the TV off. No news is good for the soul. We did watch the local weather forecast but that was it.
We head back home Wednesday morning all refreshed. I guess the next thing pressing is doing our taxes. Yep taxes.

Today’s picture is the park road. Packed snow is good to drive on.