Monday Mountain Photos

I promised mountain photos, and here they are. This is view of the Sierra Buttes midafternoon on Friday. Still winter, with its fleeting light. I had this ready for yesterday, but the ferocious storm conspired against me, thrashing both the power and the phone line at my house... just part of good ol' mountain living!


This is a closer view... I was captured by the light on the one sunlit ridge, wishing in that moment to be up there, whether snowshoeing uphill or snowboarding down, in order to experience the warmth of the sun in the high mountains in winter.

In contrast, by yesterday, a storm was brewing off the Pacific coast, and our decision to go snowboarding proved to be more challenging than we thought... there were high winds at the top of the mountain, and strapping in for our first run was a fight to reach our straps while sheltering our faces from stinging snow crystals being kicked up. We took mid-mountain runs after that, and cut the day short when the clouds began piling in.


A storm descending upon Lake Tahoe yesterday in the early afternoon - note how choppy the water is.


This view is looking across towards the Nevada side of the lake from Tahoe Vista, but most of it obscured by the low clouds. Our drive home over Donner Summit was slow going, as light snow had begun to fall.... however, heavy rains up to fairly high elevations are what is expected until Tuesday, with the chance of flooding once again in the valley. Our mountains are nothing if not unpredictable.