So Snowy! Part 1

 

It's been an amazingly snowy winter in the Great Basin. I thought I'd take a look at my snow photos for the winter and showcase some of this frigid wonder. Here's a photo of the west side of Wheeler Peak taken in November 2022. It already sports a nice cape of white.

At times the kids think they are too old for sledding. But once they're doing it, they love it!

In December, the Upper Lehman Campground in Great Basin National Park had enough snow that someone built a snowman!

On January 1st, we got a big snowstorm, coating the trees and electrical wires. 

Everything was white, including this old cart.

Desert Boy, Finn and I went for a walk. The sky and ground matched.

We had no idea that this was just the beginning of much, much more snow. 

I couldn't resist a couple artistic photos.

The abundant snow made the netting over the chicken pen collapse. The chickens still came out where they could keep their feet dry.

We went up to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center and found even more snow, although the handicapped walk has heaters in it so it was free of snow.

If you looked through the telescopes, you could see more snow!

I couldn't resist skiing up the Scenic Drive, where I saw white carpeting everything.

The pinyon pines looked very different than in summer!

Untracked snow!

We could even go sledding at a lower elevation site. 

This two-track road has been transformed.

I took Desert Boy skiing another day up the Scenic Drive. It might not be his favorite activity, but he's good at it. And the views are always amazing.

The Winter Raptor Route up Spring Valley involved very snowy roads.

From far in the north we could look at the distance Wheeler Peak under a cloudy sky.

In January of every year is the Ely Birkebiener cross-country ski race. The trail was nicely groomed.

I did the long (4.2 mile) race and Desert Girl did the short (1.5 mile) race. I was happy to finish faster than last year. 

Desert Girl finished first overall for her race!

She won a cool award.

We had wonderful snow for the race--but much more was to come!

To be continued