Snow in the Sierra

Sure wish I was there right now. Sitting inside where it's nice and warm, of course...

Yosemite snow

Sure enough, the storm that came through NorCal yesterday dropped snow on the Sierra. Yosemite Valley is around 4,000 feet, and it looks like the valley got a decent amount of snow. We sure got a lot of rain.

Yosemite snow

Just beautiful...

Snowy Yosemite.

Yep. A storm came through. That means I must post new pics from the webcams up in Yosemite. Enjoy.

This is where I'd like to be today...

Snowy update.

Um, yea. More snow pics.

More snow pics.

Snow in Yosemite.

Cool. This storm system is dropping rain on us in Sacramento right now, but the mountains are getting snow. This pic is from a webcam in Yosemite Valley, where the elevation is around 4,000 feet. Awesome...

Snow vs. Snow

Hmm, I was checking out some online "live" cams of Yosemite today, and I realized there really is a difference between a fresh snowfall and snow that fell a day or two earlier. Check out these differences:



The top photo was from today; I think it snowed in the mountains earlier this week. And the second photo was from earlier in the month, on the day of a snowfall. Remarkably difference.

I'm in Iowa this week. It hasn't snowed, but it might this weekend. We'll see...

More pics of snow.

Here's my latest installment of my obsession with Yosemite National Park. Sure wish I was enjoying some of this snow... from the safety of a cabin with heating, fireplace and lots of food, of course!

Mountain snow.

I realize some of you are convinced I'm obsessed with Yosemite. That's not entirely true. No, I lie. It's true. Here are two pics of fresh snow up there from yesterday's storm -- and more snow on its way today!

It's snowing in Yosemite.

I have just one word: woo-hoo!

Yosemite snow.

Yep, it snowed.

Here's how Tioga Pass looks today, after the storm that came through on Thursday and Friday. Didn't bring huge amounts and didn't drop much on lower elevations, but it appears winter has begun a little bit early for parts of the Sierra. And we can all say yes and amen to a good snow year in the mountains!

Will snow arrive?

Apparently, we have a storm system moving our way that could drop some measurable snow over the Sierra. That would be awesome, considering how dry last season was. So, I've posted this image from this afternoon up at Tioga Pass in Yosemite NP, elevation around 9,000 feet (I think). By tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning, I hope I can post a snow-filled image from their webcam. Oh, and it might rain here, too. That's a good thing.

Have a happy day.

Enjoy.

Yosemite Tales: #3 story from my trip.

Here is the third-funniest story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite National Park.

Apparently, the forces that control weather in Yosemite like to play with my mind.

A year ago, I visited at the end of March, beginning of April. It snowed on me -- on April Fool's Day.

Two months ago, I visited, expecting wintry weather. It was spring-like.

This week, I returned, unsure of what I'd get. It rained. It was cold. Oh, and it snowed. Again. Two straight years. Trips near the end of March. And snow.

It'd been years since I had slept in a tent while it was raining. Oh yes, did I fail to mention that I was REALLY camping? Wild. Rain turned into snow, as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning. I got up around 6:30AM and went walking around, taking a few dozen photos of the beauty.

The snow melted as the day went along, but fresh snow kept falling. Later in the afternoon, lots of snow fell but very little stuck. By the end of the day, there was almost no evidence of the snow. But it was still a pretty sight.

Hmm. March 2008...Yosemite, anyone?

Yosemite Tales: #2 story from my trip.

Here's the second best story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite National Park:

On Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting at my campsite preparing a healthy lunch of peanut butter and jelly. I even had some bread. As I'm completing this work of culinary genius, some forestry folks walk through and say they're going to be cutting down a couple of dead trees they had missed the week before.

Awesome. Cheap entertainment for my lunch.

This forestry person -- ranger? official? chainsaw handler? -- takes her chainsaw and begins to cut away at this huge tree. Only when I look closely do I agree with their assessment that yes, this tree is dead. Kinda like the ones right outside our youth warehouse.

She's working away, doing her thing, and after a number of minutes, she turns off the chainsaw and grabs an old-fashioned axe. She takes the backside of the axe and begins whacking away at the wedge she placed in the tree. One. Two. Three. She checks her angle. Four. Five. Six. The tree starts to sway. Seven. Crack. I watch as this huge tree begins to fall.

Have you ever heard the sound of a tree falling in the forest? Well, since I was there, I can tell you that it DOES make a noise when people are around. First was the crack of the actual tree. Then came the collision with the branches of the nearby trees as it fell. And finally came dual thuds, as the middle of the tree hit a large boulder, and the rest of the tree hit the open ground.

Awesome. Wish I had videotaped it. But then they might have suspected me of being some kind of ecoterrorist. I look the part, of course. Especially after going nearly three weeks without shavin' the beard.

Yosemite Tales: #1 story from my trip.

Here's the best story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite:

I've been driving for more than 17 years. In that time, I've had just one accident; it happened three months after I got my license.

I've had two silly tickets: one, in Berkeley, for parking along a street on the street-sweeping day; and two, also in Berkeley, for parking in a tow-away zone, and getting my car towed. Ooops.

I've never been caught speeding. I've never gotten a speeding ticket.

Things changed Tuesday: I got pulled over for speeding. In Yosemite. Yes, Yosemite.

They're doing some road work in Yosemite right now, so a stretch of road that's normally one-way now handles two-way traffic. That change has brought the speed limit DOWN from 35MPH to an astonishingly slow 25MPH.

Tuesday afternoon, I was driving this stretch of road. I came around a corner. There sat a park ranger vehicle staring straight at me. As I passed him, I saw in my rear-view mirror that he had turned around and was following me. A minute later, the lights went on.

He checked out my license, proof of insurance and registration -- though that one took a while to find in my glove compartment -- and walked back to his vehicle. I sat there, waiting. I was chuckling to myself, because he told me I was driving 36 in a 25 zone...even though the zone NORMALLY is a 35 zone.

Mr Park Ranger returned to my vehicle, handed me my documents, and told me he was letting me go with just a verbal warning. I thanked him, and then he let me go on my merry way -- but not without asking why I had completely different addresses on my driver license, my proof of insurance and my registration. Easy, I explained. License: old, old address. Insurance: current home. Reg: old apartment where I was living when I renewed my reg last year.

He chuckled and let me drive away.

But not without putting the fear of God in me. Since Tuesday, I don't think I've driven more than 5MPH above any speed limit I've seen. Hey, I like having a nearly perfect driving record -- and the insurance rates that come with it!