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Best Places to Live
- Thread starter djd66
- Start date
thebigo
Well-known member
Could not disagree with you more, November is spectacular, the bugs are dead, the hiking trails are empty, minimal rain most years plus early season skiing during a good year. Excluding this year, April has also been good most years of late, T shirt skiing with local option still open.
May 1, with the mayfly swarm, is the worst day of the year. The misery gradually wanes until the deer flies start dying off in August. If the calendar went from April 30 to September 1st, NH weather would be prefect.
In a perfect world, I would spend Dec - April in Franconia NH, May - Jul in Government Camp OR, Aug - Nov on the NH seacoast.
You can disagree, but the data is not in your favor regarding rain in April. It's absolutely one of, if not the rainiest months of the year. This year is typical and probably a pretty good indicator why most people hang up skis and resorts close up shop in early April. It rained basically every weekend this past April. Everybody loves good spring skiing days, but they are incredibly rare. More rare than most diehards will admit.
As for November, I guess I could see your point, but I'm not much of a hiker. Ski season starts have also been much later in recent years. You used to be able to bank on Nov 1st if not October for K and SR. That's becoming a rarity now even with improved snowmaking tech.
New Hampshire has 4 seasons for me.
Ski season
Waiting for boating season (now)
Boating season
Waiting for ski season
In retirement, I plan on staying here, but traveling somewhere else during those shoulder seasons. Maybe out West to ski in the spring. Down south to boat in the fall.
jimk
Well-known member
Salt Lake Valley is pretty exceptional for a fine climate for spring outdoor activities. I could have done the golf/ski thing on the same day for the last two months. In fact, I see them playing golf here all winter, plenty of sunny, 55 degree days for it in mid-winter. And sunny & 55 here feels like 70 back East.
Today, 7 May 2025, at Snowbird:
Yesterday it snowed 9 inches at Snowbird while this was going on in Salt Lake Valley;
thebigo
Well-known member
my guess would have been that april is one of the wetter months but a quick scan of a few websites shows that april precip is around average. the uncanny tendency for rain on the weekend likely skewed perception this year. some of my best ski days over the last several years have been in april but you do need to be flexible with schedule.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Holy crap, you're more adventurous than I am. I aint going in until it's at least 70 degrees. But our lakes in Utah definitely get that warm, especially on the Front. Even on the Back at higher elevation, Deer Creek will hit 74-77 in the summer, and Jordanelle will hit 70-75. Utah Lake is one of the largest lakes in America and it hits 75 or more in the summer. Echo and Rockport lakes will hit mid'ish 70s too.
I'll take the crystal clear 72-74 degree waters of Madison's Silver Lake.
Great Rainbow and Lake Trout fishing, small mouth bass too....
Have been known to camp out on the island once or twice.
Great when it's Hot & Humid. No Bugs and a nice breeze all night.
Great Rainbow and Lake Trout fishing, small mouth bass too....
Have been known to camp out on the island once or twice.
Great when it's Hot & Humid. No Bugs and a nice breeze all night.
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BenedictGomez
Well-known member
You know that Utah Lake is not a great swimming destination because it changes color due to the pollution, right?
jimk
Well-known member
Utah Lake is pretty nasty. Looks quite pretty at times from a distance though.
There is salt water in Utah, obviously. I swam in the Great Salt Lake a couple times in June and July 2020. It's actually quite clear once you go out about 50 yards and reach waist deep water.
Sailboat on the lake
March 2024, view of the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island State Park. Gorgeous in it's own unique way.
There is salt water in Utah, obviously. I swam in the Great Salt Lake a couple times in June and July 2020. It's actually quite clear once you go out about 50 yards and reach waist deep water.
Sailboat on the lake
March 2024, view of the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island State Park. Gorgeous in it's own unique way.
He's from Jersey, so maybe that's normal?
J/k BG.
Good to know about water temps. Warmer than I expected to read about.
Winni has spoiled me. I live on a river and it's fairly murky. Plenty of people swim in it and I used to. But Winnipesaukee is immaculate. So clear you can see down twenty feet. Now I don't bother swimming in the river we live on.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
I did not, never swam in it. I know it's great for fishing though.
Yeah, between the runoff from farms, shallow depths, and pollution from the former Geneva Steel Mill, it’s pretty bad. The latter was a federal WW II project that is credited with helping win the war IIRC. But it left quite a mess right close to the lake. The lake is slowly getting better.
Geneva Steel - Wikipedia
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Antelope Island is an absolute hidden gem. Only been there 3 times since I moved here as it's a good hour & 15 minute drive, but it's great for hiking & wildlife viewing & scenic views. Typically pretty empty too in my limited experience.
They do stargazing & planet viewing nights there in the summer that I definitely want to check out due to the Dark Sky. A bunch of Utah-based astronomy types gather and bring their telescopes and let novices take peeks at different things they train on. Sounds educational & cool.
Do you live on the Lamprey? So do I if you do, just upstream. We call it Cedar Water, tannin from the evergreen trees.He's from Jersey, so maybe that's normal?
J/k BG.
Good to know about water temps. Warmer than I expected to read about.
Winni has spoiled me. I live on a river and it's fairly murky. Plenty of people swim in it and I used to. But Winnipesaukee is immaculate. So clear you can see down twenty feet. Now I don't bother swimming in the river we live on.
Yes
And then you have Epping's water treatment issues....
I'm sure it's fine. Just not crystal clear like so many other NH rivers and streams.
jimk
Well-known member
Personal trivia that I believe I've mentioned on AZ before. My folks were from MA and though I never lived there, we returned every summer to visit relatives. Every summer for about a dozen years in my youth I spent a week at Hampton Beach, NH and have great memories of the area. Cold, but very clear water. I can blame my current problems with skin cancer on two things: my Irish ancestry and Hampton Beach sunburns
I was a serious distance runner in HS and college and used to run up the coast along a seawall from Hampton to Rye and back for training runs on some of the visits. Beautiful.
I was a serious distance runner in HS and college and used to run up the coast along a seawall from Hampton to Rye and back for training runs on some of the visits. Beautiful.
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