Yes, Summer is Over
Well Golly, if one thing is for certain up in these hills it is that, at some point, the weather is going to turn chilly. At least the snow doesn't burn. And every thing looks different with snow around... It gives one the opportunity to take pictures of all of the same things and have them look fresh.
Of course, before the snow struck there were a few days of beautiful, calm, sunny weather. While they might be rather cold, I believe the proper term is "Brisk and Refreshing"... good excuse for a walk.
Yes, it is just a dead pine tree. But that pattern on the outside makes me wonder... If it was sawn into boards, would they have a pronounced quilted pattern? But this dead tree is in a national protected area... just admire and wonder.
And then the weather arrived. The clouds dropped down and scraped the mountain tops leaving behind a nice layer of fluffy white stuff.
Everything becomes new and fresh Walking trails that were becoming tired & redundant display a charming new side.
And neighbors you were hardly aware of before make their presence known.
Poking out here and there are reminders of the warm times... a few days earlier.
Placed 10 feet or more above the ground, I suppose that when this sign pointing to the "Spring Trail" is at eye-level Is about the time that you need reminding that Spring is just around the corner.
Then you have a warmer, sunny day followed by a brutally cold night. On this hillside, The bits of clinging, fluffy snow grew ice crystals
The crystals growing out of the snow made it look furry... So I needed to take a picture of it on a fir tree.
Walking over the hills, the forests are different. The tree trunks contrasting with the ground...
One morning I went out I saw that the hood of my car had become this. An amazing feathered ice pattern. It only lasted a few minutes after the sun came up. It had to be a sign! Clearly it was cold the night before.
Later the same day I came across these bear prints in the snow... I like the classic Pigeon-toed walk... I decided not to go in that direction.
The first footprints on this snowy path will be mine. But first I want to admire it before I go stomping all over it and ruin it.
Did you know I have a thing for Ponderosa Pine trees? They are one of my faves... top five, at least — Sorry, I can't rank any tree higher than top five, because my favorite tree is always the one I am in front of.... But for Ponderosas, its not only the massive grandeur of the big ones, gnarled, "all-elbows" branches, their red-amber color ... The bark... when you look closely... is made of all of these abstractly-shaped flakes and the older and lager the tree is, the more I am amazed by them... Oh yeah, and they smell really nice too!
Up near the top of Mount Elwell, I'm standing in the middle of a dried out pond... well dry except for about a foot of snow. See those red Ponderosa pines? Way up here there is a whole lot of wind so they don't have an abundance of wide spreading branches. But I still like how they look
Yes, another Ponderosa Pine tree trunk... This one is not as close and it is a much older tree. I like how the tree defines the panels of color. It seems the older the tree, the larger the panels. And while I can find myself at times spending way too long admiring these trees, I won't subject you to any more of these kind of pictures (today).
Way off in the distance, you can see the volcano Mount Lassen. it's about 70 miles (112km) away, as the crow flies.
This is a view along the Feather River Valley looking down stream to the North West. Just beyond the left edge you would barely see Mount Lassen. The thing that caused me to take this shot on that day was seeing how the clouds were forming just on the leading edge of the eastern mountain range. I am guessing that if the winds were blowing faster that day the air currents would have been more laminar and the clouds would have been lenticular in form.
Yes, Summer is Over