Let's Try a Little Winter
Now that April is here, I guess it is safe to talk about Winter. it was a mild winter up here in the hills & I have discovered the joys of getting lost in the woods on snowshoes. In January I walked up to Long Lake. More snow than a month earlier.
A few weeks later, the snow has all dried up in the lower elevations. The view is toward Mt Lassen which is engulfed in the cloud cover,
![Ice Indeed](/media/img/8rmrdmkh/Ice-Indeed-mi.jpg)
While wandering around in the woods in the lower elevations.... I was intrigued by how the ice freezes around the layers of pine needles.
I got up really early one morning to grab this shot of the sunrise just hitting Mount Lassen. Ooh, the smudge in the air... It looks like quite a few people heat with wood fires.
![Icicles](/media/img/kt98eppt/Icicles-mi.jpg)
What would a post about Winter be without a picture of icicles? Breaking trail up to a lake I found a big rock with big icicles.
Tromp, tromp, tromp. O'er the lovin' hills.
'Til 'last ye find the meadows kind
an' stop to rest your fill.
The Edge of a snow drift where it meets the front of a small dam. The dam channels the wind along to the edge and helps to form these interesting patterns.
![Snow Plaster](/media/img/ynlrroct/Snow-Plaster-mi.jpg)
The night before had snow with pretty good winds. So all of the windward sides of the trees were encrusted with snow for a few hours.
![Otter Playland](/media/img/puffue5g/Otter-Playland-mi.jpg)
One long slide and then another. One morning I was up in the hills just about 6000 feet (1800m) and came across this playful track. "What... Otters? Up here?" I thought. The lakes are all frozen and there are no rivers up here just a couple of small creeks. I wonder what it had for breakfast.
This is taken from the ridge to the Northwest of Gold Lake looking NNW. At the base of Mount Elwell you can catch a glimpse of Long Lake. Big Bear Lake is just below right of center this entire area drains down Graeagle Creek to the Feather River