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Snow upon Mt Bache.. Santa Cruz California(Cal-If-Or-Nye-Ay)

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:47 am
by Bearlover
I live at 1500 feet in the Santa Cruz mtns.. we got 2 inches of snow/hail and it stuck!.. I just got home after a journey in the 1953 Willys jeep up to Bache and Mt Chula(3000) feet.. The snow was at least 4 inches there. I know this sounds pitiful but remeber we are only talking 12 miles to the Pacific ocean! Along the way I rescued a fifty thousand dollar suv and (the same) toyota pickup twice. :lol:
My god I just wanted to share with you that we have a ton of snow up here and we ain't all that far up!!.. or very far from the ocean as well! Though I am dead tired I just have to say... WOO HOOO! :D I bet when this front crosses the Sierra the snow will pile up tenfold from what we are getting! Yeee Haaa! Happy snow time Y'all! Who sayes old jeeps are junk... well okay it kinda is but any how... Yeehaaaa!
A flash of lightening just overhead and the thunderous echo not a half second behind as hail pounded the 14 gauge sheetmetal hood as it grinds inevitably uphill. The big American star upon it shone brightly in the night.
At one point I got stuck and just sat in the snow.. the moon came out as flakes fell from the sky... I dreamed I was back in Paradise Meadow in May.. the clouds drifted past the moon and everywhere was white snow.. The familiar ground became alien under a blanket of frozen crystals. The hood of my parka froze stiff and no company except a cloud of mist as I exhaled into the dark, In silent admiration of the complete beauty of ice, rock ,and sky. Jesus! I can't wait till May... I want to hike now!
Happy White trails to you all! :p

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:34 am
by Rosabella
Bearlover, you make me smile. For someone who can really get worked up on his posts (especially when it concerns bears ;) ), you have a very poetic side to you. That last paragraph describing the snow in the moonlight was beautiful.

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:48 pm
by copeg
Very cool. I went up to the preserves this weekend to check out the snow. I think I got there a little too late. Lots of patches of snow but I think a lot of it melted when I got there. All the cars coming down the mtn had snow all over them though. I was up there sat and sun, and it snowed on me both days...enjoy it while it lasts bearloveer! ;)

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:59 pm
by SSSdave
I recall a cold storm that left about 6 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains a couple decades ago. Lots of broken tree limbs closing the roads for days. Cold storms like this don't happen but once in a decade or two. Friend and I planned on doing some photography in Yosemite Valley in order to capture snow in the valley. I'd just been there a week ago for the previous storm that dropped about 15 inches in the valley turning it into a winter wonderland. Then when this even colder storm was forecast, I decided to have another go at it. The beginning of the storm Friday afternoon wimped out with just a dusting showing on the remote CDEC snow sensors for YV that the Half Dome webcam seemed to agree with. But I could see bands of cold precip moving in thus woke at 3:30am, brought up the CDEC website and noted several inches had fallen. So off we went about 4am from the Bay Area. Was only 35 degrees crossing 1k Altamonth pass on I580. I decided to take SR132 to SR49 to SR140. As we reached about 700 feet elevation east of the old mining town of La Grange, a vast landscape of white oak grasslands loomed ahead. It was about sunrise as we reached Don Pedro Reservoir at about 800 feet where several inches of fresh snow was on the ground and it was snowing heavily. Where we drove along Merced Falls Road about 1300 feet the snow was about 6 inches deep with travel on the road dangerous. I crept along slowly in the old Subu. However as we drove southeast towards SR49 at a higher elevation temps rose and it turned to rain. So not all areas got snow but rather just where some big cold cells were dumping. We reached Yosemite an hour later where snow covered all the trees and boulders down to El Portal at 2k.

...David

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:29 pm
by mountaineer
Sunday morning about 6AM, nasty crashes of thunder woke me up and then vcious hail soon thereafter. About 0620 snow(big fat wet flakes) started falling. I grabbed the video camera and started up Highway 46 towards Hearst Castle/Cambria. I live at about 900'. By the time I hit 1100', the stuff was accumulating rapidly. People were stopping and turning around there was so much snow on the road. By 1500' I was thinking chains but still made it to the summit in near blizzard conditions. The summit is about 1900'. Crazy! Snow down to 900'...unheard of on the central coast where I live. Video is pretty cool...my wipers couldn't hardly keep up with the snow.

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:57 pm
by Snow Nymph
Very cool! I was asleep on the way home from Mammoth, and SnowDude woke me up to see the snow off of the 14, by Lancaster! :D

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:12 am
by Trekker
I used to live in Stockton (went to the University of the Pacific) and the first time I ever visited Yosemite Valley, I was with my girlfriend and we drove on SR120 past Don Pedro Reservoir on the north side. The second time, I went on my motorcycle the same route. After experiencing the twists and turns twice, I decided to start taking SR140. David, you've reminded me of those years in the Central Valley and the excitement of driving up the foothills to Yosemite, and how long it's been since I've been there! :crybaby: I love the Eastern Sierra, but...Yosemite is where it all began for me. I HAVE to make it back this year; It's like my Sierra home!

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:04 am
by ERIC
What years were you at Pacific?

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:11 pm
by Trekker
Already replied in pm to Eric; Let's just say pre-90's! :)

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:54 pm
by BSquared
Heheheheh..... I went to "music camp" at UOP (then COP) when I was in Jr. High in San Francisco. I'll never tell what year that was (mostly because I can't remember).