Journeys›Photograph

Spring Skiing Above Big Bear Lake

·Big Bear City, California·#skiing#spring#mountains#dogs#lake
A snowy mountain slope with frosted pine trees overlooks a lake, distant mountains, and a ski lift under a cloudy sky.

First day of a few days of spring skiing at Big Bear, and the morning made it look like a bad call — clouds sitting right down on the lake, the far ridgeline coming and going, snow flat and gray off the top of the chair at Snow Summit. Kept lapping anyway. By midday it broke open, blue sky over the reservoir and every tree on the hill still caked white from whatever came through before we did. March here means the season runs to April if the weather holds, and today it held.

Gloves off the mountain by early afternoon. The dogs got their turn after — a pool along a wash below town, red rocks and chaparral, and the small one waded straight in up to her chest and drank while standing in it. Back at the house both of them claimed the rug inside the front door and stayed there. One asleep, the other standing guard over nothing in particular.

A snowy slope descends to a large lake bordered by snow-covered pine forests and distant mountains under a cloudy sky.A person in ski gear smiles, giving a thumbs-up, with a snowy mountain landscape and lake in the background.A smiling person in ski gear gives a thumbs-up on a snowy mountain with a lake and blue sky in the background.A brown dog wearing a harness drinks from a muddy puddle surrounded by green foliage and red soil.A dog drinks water in a shallow muddy stream surrounded by green bushes and trees under a partly cloudy sky.A light brown dog stands on muddy ground at the edge of a shallow, murky stream with surrounding green foliage.A light brown dog sits on a concrete patio next to a potted plant with orange flowers and a wooden star.A tan dog lies on a patterned mat in sunlight, with a tricolor dog standing behind it indoors.

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