Journeys›Photograph

Clear Skies Then a Late February Snowstorm at Alpine Meadows

·California, United States·#winter#california#tahoe#skiing#snow
A winter scene with a ski lift station and "SUMMIT" sign, mountains covered in snow and trees under a clear blue sky.

Bluebird morning at Alpine Meadows before the late-February storm moved in. Summit chair first thing, corduroy still holding at the top, and from the ridge the whole of Lake Tahoe laid out with a single rope of cloud sitting low over the water — not on the mountains, just floating on the lake like it had been set down there and forgotten.

By afternoon the clouds had thickened over the trees on the lower lifts, and the storm the forecasts had been going on about all week started delivering on the drive home. This system was a big one — supposed to blanket mountains all the way down to the San Gabriels, blizzard warnings and snow at elevations that almost never see it.

Best part came after the skiing was done. Stopped on the road in falling snow because a hawk was sitting on a broken branch maybe twenty feet off the shoulder, hunched against the weather, every bough around it loaded white. It stayed put the whole time, watching the road through the snowfall.

A wide snowy ski slope overlooks a large lake surrounded by mountains and a clear blue sky.A groomed ski slope overlooks a vast lake with distant mountains partially obscured by low clouds under a blue sky.Snowy mountains with pine trees overlook a large lake and distant mountains partially covered by clouds under a blue sky.Multiple empty ski lift chairs move over a snowy slope lined with evergreen and bare trees.A hawk sits on a snow-covered pine tree branch amidst a snowy forest during a snowfall.A bird perches on a snow-covered branch in a snowy forest during a snowfall.

More Entries