There is still snow!

 

Yesterday, after days of warm, hard rain and high winds, it cleared off. So I took my dogs up the mountain to see if there was any snow left.  It has been so warm and the rain so hard that I did not expect to find any snow up there.  But I was wrong - there is still snow on the mountain.  And best of all, there is enough snow to ski. It was a sheet of ice but the dogs and I did not care.

Basically, the snow cover is now about what it normally is in mid June.  It is bare on the areas exposed to the wind, and the the ravines are filled with snow.  You can ski down to about 1600 feet.  But below 1600 feet there is no snow and the ground has thawed out.

Up near the top the dogs and I noticed bear tracks that had frozen into the new snow.  It was a small bear.  I wonder if he/she is up and about because the hard rain flooded his den and disturbed his hibernation?  Imagine waking up from a deep sleep to find your den flooded and melting?

Patrick

Bode checks out the fresh bear tracks