Late winter at Moab

We opened the cabin up in March after closing it down and winterizing it in December of last year. Snow was still on the ground in the shady spots but for the most part the days were sunny and warm the second week of March. Unfortunately that did not last. With the arrival of our first guests, a snow storm moved in and lingered for most of their week. The wind picked up and that was cause for some unmet expectations. First, the propane heater at the base of the stairs has a vent directly outside (with the best wind resistant cap made) and is susceptible to having the pilot light blow out. It did, repeatedly and it is unreasonable for guests to have to go through the procedure of relighting the pilot light. 

Second, with snow falling during the night then melting during the day the half mile lane into the cabin was pretty messy and really required a four wheel drive. While I tell guests that the weather is unpredictable in March I am now going to plainly state that during the month of March and most of April a high clearance 4 Wheel drive vehicle is recommended. I pro-rated money back to the two sets of guests that stayed at the cabin during the bad weather and apologized for not recommending 4 wheel drives. At 7300 feet in elevation the weather is likely to be cold at night and warm in the day but with snow melt that makes the road muddy. This is a picture of the cabin at sunset from the West looking East.