Skiing the Frost

 

Before the weather turned bad again Nora and I managed to get in a ski with the dogs.  Just before Christmas we did get some new snow, but it fell as slush and turned into a hard crust. So the skiing should have been icy.  But what's funny is that we had so much hoar frost stick to everything that it was like an inch or two of snow had fallen on top of the crust.  The day before we went skiing we looked up the mountain and it was all foggy - ice fog.  That fog covered everything in hoar frost.

So when Nora and I went up to go skiing the visuals were pretty spectacular. Everything was glinting in the sunshine.  It was like everything was covered with diamonds.  And then high on the mountain - where there was enough of a base below the frost - the skiing was actually pretty good.  It was dust on crust!

So good to be back on the snow with Nora!

Patrick

Boxing Day Surf and Turf

 Sunshine, Bright Sunshine.  That's what we got for Boxing Day and we made the most of it. In the morning we took the dogs to Buskin Beach and enjoyed the high tide surf.  And then in the afternoon I took the dogs up Pyramid.

At Buskin the recent storms had left behind a decent swell.  There was some fog on the water too but it quickly burned off.  I think the air is saturated from all the rain, and everything was golden with a 'thick' haze.

On Pyramid I expected ice, but it had actually frosted so heavily that it was like there was a 1/2 inch of new snow on the hard crust.  And there was not a breath of wind.

A beautiful day.

Patrick

White Christmas at 1500 feet

 

Christmas morning I left the house in the dark and caught the sunrise on the mountain.  It was mostly cloudy but I could see blue sky and as the sun came up the sky turned a light shade of purple and pink.  It was subtle and beautiful, and I am not quite sure that my pictures caught it very well.

At the start of the hike up it was pretty dark and I could see the dogs shock collars blinking. They blink red to indicate that they are on, and I could see the red blinks but not the dogs.  Then it slowly got lighter and lighter as we went up the mountain.  Then it all turned purply-pink and it was a white Christmas!

Down at sea level it is all brown.  But as we drove home to Christmas celebrations the sun came out.  The sun is so bright after so many days of clouds and rain!

Patrick

first thing the doggies always like to roll in the snow

Some sun and snow

 

The sun finally came out and we got some new snow!  These pictures are from earlier this week.  On Monday I went up Pyramid after it stopped raining and it cleared off as I climbed up.  The sun even came out on top.  Then on Tuesday I went up in a snowstorm.

So we have some snow, and today it is sunny and relatively cold.  Maybe we are near the end of the endless cycle of warm rain events?  I certainly hope so!

Patrick