NOAA’s puppet

The man has got me bouncing around like pinochio.  The weekend weather is gonna be catastrophic, oh wait no it’s ok, oh wait it’s is going to be the end of the world.  I woke up to this:

A POTENT PACIFIC SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE REGION THIS

WEEKEND. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AS THE SYSTEM MOVES

ACROSS THE REGION THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. THE ASSOCIATED COLD

FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH LATE

SATURDAY…REACHING SOUTHERN UTAH BY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW LEVELS

WILL FALL QUICKLY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT TO NEAR 7000 FEET. SNOW

LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO FALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY

SUNDAY…REACHING NEAR 6500 FEET BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH. THIS STRONG SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO

BRING THE FIRST SNOW STORM TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF

NORTHERN…CENTRAL AND EVEN PARTS OF SOUTHERN UTAH SUNDAY.

PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST TO SLOWLY COME TO AN END LATE SUNDAY

INTO MONDAY.

The Trans Utah route will be impassable in those sort of conditions.  A Friday start means there would be zero finishers.  Weather is the one thing I can’t fix.

So what are ya gonna do?  Ma nature forces my hand.  I simply must give this thing a shot.  The time is now, my window is now…so sometime in the dark tonight I’ll peddle off to see if this thing can be done in 2ish days.  Probably not, it’s a bear and it’s mostly alpine, and I’m a desert dweller, and I did a 24 not long ago.  Am I recovered enough?  Will the weather scuttle my yearlong plans? 

Or will lady luck smile on us with a big sunshine grin?

Time to find out.  The final reroute somewhat simplifies the kit as we’ll hit towns at 150 and 300 miles, ideal restock points.  I’ll carry less than anticipated.  More batteries cause just to finish ahead of the storm means go fast or bail – lots of night riding to be done.  I’ve seen all the views already anyway, now it’s time to feel it at speed.

Enough with the dreaming, it’s time for action.

Marshal is out there getting it done right now:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0m5zlJgTzeG64oNDTXBHIch633P8ivf9A.  Looks like he’s at Coyote spring enjoying some cool water on a warm day as I write this.  We spoke last night and he’s got a great plan and attitude for this big ride…and really wants to attain Powel Point.  Good luck amigo!

Dave Nice and I will be heading out in the wee hours.  Wish us luck.  We’ll need it!  And to anyone else willing to try their hand at this event…good luck and be safe out there.