Knitting Retreat

I had a beautiful weekend at the annual Knitters’ Retreat at Alta Lodge this past weekend. I think this is the sixth year for the retreat, but the first time I’ve attended. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Some people just came up for a few hours on Saturday or Sunday, while others stayed for the whole weekend. For dinner Saturday night, we had 24 women and one man. Good thing his wife doesn’t object, eh? It was really nice to spend time with current friends, get to know slight acquaintances better, and meet new people. There was eating, knitting, drinking, knitting, eating, eating, and knitting. Did I mention there was a lot of eating, drinking, and knitting? Alta Lodge did a fantastic job of feeding us delicious food until we were ready to burst.

Fall is a fantastic time to be at Alta Ski Resort in any year, but even more so this year, since it’s been  around 10 degrees warmer than normal. Temperatures change quickly in the mountains, so while at times we were sunbathing knitting on the deck in shorts and tank tops, slathered with sunscreen, we always had our sweaters close at hand for when it got cool.

Alta and Snowbird ski resorts are both located in Little Cottonwood Canyon, at the southeast edge of the Salt Lake valley. The canyon is just south of Big Cottonwood Canyon, which is home to Brighton and Solitude ski resorts, as well as our beloved Silver Fork Lodge and Silver Lake. The mountains in Little Cottonwood Canyon are a bit rockier and craggier than in Big Cottonwood. Even though I live in the downtown area of Salt Lake City, it’s only about a 40 minute drive for me to get to any of these ski resorts – one of the reasons I love living here. Even though I haven’t skied for years, I still love being in the canyons at any time of the year.

The star this weekend was the beautiful fall foliage at its peak. Normally in Utah, most of our fall color is yellow. But there are a few oranges and reds to be seen, especially the dark red sumacs. And just above Alta Lodge was a huge stand of Aspen trees that were a red, instead of their typical golden yellow. I did take some time out from knitting to enjoy a couple of walks through the beautiful scenery. Just take a look at some of the gorgeous fall color I was able to view: