A little bit of snow!

The anticipated foot of snow did not materialize...a bit over 2" greeted first light this morning, and it's been flurrying all day since. This storm adds 3" to the season's snowfall, bringing the total to only 6". It's lovely outside anyway - the little bit of snow, the grey sky, the cold air - I love it all. Here are a couple of photos of this afternoon's chilly landscape - looking towards the park from my home, and a few of this summer's sunspots (yellow daisies) in the snow.

Waiting for Snow!

I've been watching the news clips of all the snow and winter weather that so many are experiencing. Then I look outside at the dry landscape of this little part of the world. Beulah is in the grasp of a months-long drought -- we've had only 3" of snow so far this snow season and around 1" of total moisture since the latter part of August. We've also had many days of 50s and 60s -- easy weather to enjoy, but too warm and dry for the season. So, yesterday's forecast of up to a foot of snow between last night and tonight was very welcome news. We woke to just an inch on the ground this morning, but the grey skies are holding back so far today. The little bit of white and temps in the 20s do make it look and feel more like December, but come on snow!

"April, come she will...

...when streams are ripe and swelled with rain" (or, snowmelt). The pond is now about 85% ice- free. The photos show the pond at around 11am today. A morning walk along the park's upper road revealed plenty of blooming spring beauties. I searched for but did not find any pasqueflowers (pasque means Easter in Latin, but the snowy March has many wildflowers, including pasqueflowers, moving slow). Mountain bladderpods are leafed out and are probably not too far from showing their little 4-petaled yellow flowers, and several others shouldn't be too long now either.

The wind continues...

...as the ice diminishes. The large section of ice remaining in the pond used to be up against the left or far shore, but has taken to being somewhat mobile in its final stage. It is now lying across the shorter width of the pond as the sun and wind continue to do their slow but relentless work on it. Another day or two and I believe the pond will have fully shed its winter garb.

The melting continues...

... as fickle April weather arrives - a cold day of sun, clouds, snow flurries, and lots of wind. These photos were taken this morning - some of the open water had a thin layer of ice after a chilly night. The remaining large sections of ice are moving around as they continue to melt.

April 1 at the pond!

My granddaughter Scarlett helped me survey the melting of the pond ice this morning on a warm and breezy first day of April. I'd say the pond is about 60% ice free as of around 10am today.

An Afternoon Hike to a Favorite Place in the Park!

After a morning of tasks, I borrowed a camera from Helene (since mine died) and hit the sloppy wet Tower Trail to witness for myself the emerging spring. A tug of war between the sun and clouds saw the clouds losing their hold on the sky as I sat and journaled at a cluster of exposed granite along the trail. I took this photo of my hiking companions under a fair sky amidst quickly melting snow at a place I call Lower Tranquility Rock, a place I have sat countless times -- to contemplate life, work out problems, watch the world go by, sing to hikers on full moon hikes, journal with students, watch birds...a favorite and special place in the park.

The meteorologist-wannabe in me is enjoying the weather lately. We are certainly in a storm pattern...the last 3 weeks have brought just over 46" of new snow, containing over 4" of moisture. Along with the warmer temps, it is no wonder that the park roads, which have received band aids at best for a long time and are in need of significant improvements, are a mess. Several sections need some re-engineering, most need to be re-shaped, and then lots and lots of road-base, and all of this is much more expensive than our current revenues can handle - although we are scheming on what our next step should be for a real solution. To reduce additional damage (and folks getting their vehicles stuck), we have temporarily closed them until they dry out a bit. You can still get to the main parking area by the Horseshoe Lodge to access the park for hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and to experience the emerging spring which is picking up speed each day. The birds have been especially vocal these days - ravens are pairing up, flickers are making a racket with their drumming and loud calls, and chickadees are singing. And all of this snow (we are right at 115" for the season so far, which is an average winter snowfall, and we still have several more weeks of potential snow) should make for a terrific wildflower show this year.