Here in the high desert, summer is as much about the temperature as it is about the lack of moisture. Even though it was nearly ninety degrees today, it doesn’t really feel like summer because the grass is still green and the mountains haven’t taken on their full brown-ness yet.
Last week, I hiked with my normal hiking crew on one of our usual trails. At 6:30 in the morning, there are never any other people on our trails, and it’s never too warm. It’s why our standing agreement is to be at the trailhead at 6:15. And just last week, with the trails still wet from the night’s rains, it felt like we were living in Seattle. Everything was vibrant green, and my pants were soaked. It was, to be honest, wonderful. But partly wonderful because it felt different. Unusual. And now, five days later, it’s ninety and almost mid-June but still not summer. The forecast for Sunday is a high of 99º. I’m not looking forward to that, but there’s rain forecast for Monday and Tuesday. The temperature will drop back to the 70s, and the mountains will green back up. That’s springtime to me.
Come late July, come August and September and the mountains will be brown. Brown and brown, with some gray mixed in. That’s what real Utah summers look like. It’ll be hot and dry and dusty. Summer. That’s OK. For now, it’s just hot, and that’s OK, too.