Digging out at Bear Valley

Camp Connell, CA -- The big March storms have passed, and daffodils are actually appearing at the lower elevations.
The temperatures are up into the 50s and 60s, and the snow is melting fast -- except at the highest elevations.
Bear Valley is at 7,030 feet, and they have had a winter to remember. Longtime residents compare it to the big storm years of the early 1980s.
Our son Zack works at the ski resort, another thousand feet up the mountain, and he spent six days straight shoveling snow so the lifts could carry the skiers.
Today we went with friends Gary and Jeri to check out their cabin at the village at Bear Valley.
The pictures tell the story, even when I bounced the camera around a bit.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Camp Connell, Ca -- Mar. 25, 2011 -- As of yesterday a neighbor had measured approximately 27 feet of snowfall this winter. And it is still snowing.

Our average, we think, is around 15 feet, so this has been an unusual year.

Long-time locals recall a similar winter in the 1970s, or maybe early 1980s.

Several neighbors have found they have urgent business down the hill, usually in the Bay Area with family or friends. After a certain point snow just becomes, well, snow.

The snow plow operators are worn out, and deserve a break.

I admit I am ready for a real Spring, not one on the calendar only.

But it is still pretty.

The video is very amateurish, shot with my little Flip Video camera. The editing -- such as it is -- is all my fault.

I do hope you notice the music. It was as appropriate as I could find.

Come see us.

Bring a shovel.

Ski Day

Bear Valley, CA -- One of the great advantages of living in the mountains is proximity to a ski resort.
Bear Valley Ski Resort is 20 miles up the road from our house, and the pole that measures snow depth is ten feet tall -- and it disappeared more than a week ago under a blanket of new snow.

So this week when neighbor Bill Minkel called to see if I was interested, the answer was yes.

For a season pass holder I have not gotten in as many days skiing as I expected, only about ten days so far, but you get spoiled when you live this close. If the snow is not perfect, and the crowds minimal, I tend to stay away.

But this was about as perfect a day as you'll ever see.

Nothing fancy on this video clip because I am a determined intermediate skier, preferring groomed runs to powder and moderate slopes to terrifying steeps. And my video skills, even with Bill's help, are minimal. I was going to attach music, an Irish tune "Catch Me If You Can," but could not figure out how to do it.

The first portion is from the top of the mountain, around 8,000 feet, down to the lodge on a blue diamond run called Mokulume. Then a brief break at the lodge (we actually ate inside at the bar) and back to the top of Porridge Bowl, one of the few black diamond runs I am comfortable with.

All in all, a great day.

Spring is trying real hard....

Camp Connell, Ca -- That's a Black-capped Oregon Junco pecking away at out bird feeder outside the kitchen window,
The bird, and his flock of friends, have begun swarming around the house in the last week or so as the weather is trying to decide what season we are in. We are at 5,000 feet elevation so Winter is still toying with us.
We have had a wave of Spring storms, mostly cold and wet, move in from the North Pacific.
So we have rain, then it gets colder, and we get a new layer of snow, then the sun comes out and it starts melting. Then the cycle starts again.
The icicles on the bird feeder are a result of those cycles, but the birds don't seem to mind.
The Grey Squirrels are moving around a lot too, as are the Stellar's Jays. The deer have not yet returned, waiting on the ground-covering snow to melt any day now.

Just down the mountain, the grass is a brilliant green and other critters are on the move. This beautiful skunk was getting a drink of cool water from a ditch near the Ironstone Vineyard near Murphys. I kept a respectful distance and he waddled away, only slightly irritated. but not spinning around and aiming his artillery in my direction as he will do when really threatened.



At Murphys' elevation, somewhere around 2,000 feet, the oak trees are not yet ready but the grasses are.

When you hear about the beautiful rolling hills of California, this is the place. It is spectacular in Spring as the plants awaken and the animals return to warm-weather patterns. The grass looks like the scenes we saw in Ireland last Fall. Almost hurts your eyes.

Or makes you sing for joy.
The old hymn "How Great Thou Art"expresses it perfectly:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

I did not try to sing to the birds and skunks and squirrels. Didn't want to scare them off.




Earlier in the week I was driving on the highway near Calaveras Big Trees State Park and a coyote started to cross the road in front of me. He saw me coming, stopped, and backed up to the edge of the road and sat down to wait for me to pass, completely adapted to passing cars even here on the edge of the wilderness. Smart critters. No wonder they are the source of many legends among native people.



I missed a lot of good animal pictures because I was too busy looking, my mouth hanging open.

As I was standing beside a dirt road admiring the green grasses, a Red-Tailed Hawk soared overhead, intently watching the grass for a sign of a careless mouse.

One of the Scottish folk songs I love has a line in it about a hawk. He captures and eats only what he needs, the songwriter says, "not one mouse more."

Would that we were that conscious of what we do to the earth.



Back at our house, the snow plow came this morning around 7 a.m., scraping and blowing away the snow and ice from the drive so we could get out to work in the park's warming hut.

By late afternoon the icicles were gone from the bird feeder. The forecast for the next few days is warmer and sunny.

But you never know.

The Snow Dance worked

Tioga Pass in Yosemite via webcam

Camp Connell, CA -- A training class for people who lead snow shoe walks ended early this week with this encouragement from the leader: "Now let's go home and do the snow dance!"
We did, and it worked.
The snow started falling about 2 p.m. today while we were having lunch at the Just Delicious Cafe in Arnold, almost 1,000 feet down the mountain from where we live.
When we got home it became a steady drop, quietly hiding and healing all the scars of a long summer and Fall. This is one of the loveliest times of year here in the mountains. Come to think of it, there are no bad times.
But this is really nice.
The video was taken from our porch, and the still photograph borrowed from a web camera at Tioga Pass, in Yosemite National Park, a few miles south of us and at 9,900 feet.
Eventually snow gets old, particularly if I have to shovel a lot or the plow shows up late.
But for now, we love it.
Earlier in the week we attended the training session for snow shoe walks in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, bought brand new snow tires for Pat's Subaru. And then today I bought a new pair of downhill skis.
All I have to do now is get in some shape other than portly.

Bring it on!

And now, for a look at the weather

Camp Connell, Ca. -- We needed some snow.
Well, we got it. The photo shows the scene out our living room window at noon today, with the "more snow" weather forecast on TV. They say it may quit tonight for two days, then start again.
In the last eight days or so we have five to six feet of new snow.
It is enough to satisfy me, actually, but the TV folks say we are still behind the snowpack needed to avoid another drought year this summer and fall.
Don't get me wrong, we really like snow to admire and play in. But there are certain issues: Pat had to spend the night down the mountain to make a scheduled 7:30 a.m. meeting at our granddaughter's school; the meeting was canceled because of snowy roads; we missed church Sunday, and two board meetings were canceled due to icy roads; I can't go skiing either because the roads are too bad, or I am too timid to ski in deep powder, or as we call it here, Sierra Cement.

I could not get out the dirt road to the highway this morning even in my truck because of 18 inches of new, very wet, snow.

It was so wet Mr.Miller, the plow fellow, had to use a giant front-end loader to clear the road enough for his snow blowers to get to our driveway.
The top photo shows him clearing the road at the top of my driveway, and the bottom photo shows the blower clearing the drive by our doorway. My semi-buried truck is barely visible.




They did get it cleared enough for us to get in and out.
For now I am using this blogging break as an excuse not to go outside and shovel the garage entrance clear of the snow now piled up against it.

No problem.

Tonight, I will just throw a burger on the barbie and kick back and, probably, watch the snow. That's the barbie in the picture. It took about an hour to get the deck cleaned off, less than normal thanks to son Zack repairing the deck blower.




I think I'll have some fun and stay in and work on my taxes.