We woke to snow this morning….the first real snow we have had this winter. What a delight to get out and feel the quiet moments before the world really comes alive on a snowy morning. The snow was falling so softly….like being in a snow globe.
The snow didn’t last long with afternoon showers washing it away but for the first few moments of the morning it is picture perfect.
Look at these little beauties! What a great way to showcase the purple of the grape hyacinths. The snow didn’t completely cover the blooms and their peeking little faces promise us that it really is spring…even with the snow.
The daffodils are waiting to burst out in bloom after the snow melts and the sun returns. I am very ready for it to be daffodil time and then the slide right into summer. Yes, I am a summer girl and I am anxious for the long hot garden days of summer.
For now, I will be content to have a snow day…steaming cup of coffee in my hand and fresh baked cookies on my plate.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s special First Day of Spring post…and a fun printable for your family.
When I posted on Facebook yesterday that we were going to head out to snowshoe, the weather forecast said something like “partly cloudy, high of 52 degrees, and 10% chance of precipitation”. Sounded good to me. Well no one told us that between our house and our hiking spot that there was going to be dense fog, drizzle, and the temperatures were falling into the 30’s.
I knew Mr. B was anxious to test out his new snowshoes so I didn’t want to disappoint him and we kept going up over the mountain. Once over the mountain it cleared up and we had lots of clouds but no rain.
Needless to say, we kept our eyes on the sky, checking for signs we were going to get rained or snowed. We had the snow to ourselves, not counting the many animal tracks that were visible. So many tracks going so many directions…there must be a whole forest full of animals out there.
Isn’t this a surprising sight of brilliant blue on this winter day? Steller’s jays are common and this one was posing for my camera. I love the blue feathers on the nose. My field guide says that these jays are “inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy”. Yep, that totally describes this bird.
We couldn’t resist seeing if we could lure the jay closer and Mr. B had a pocket full of pretzels. One little bit of pretzel and that Steller’s jay came swooping down for a tasty treat, making his shook-shook-shook sound as he flew.
We had to go the long way around since the beavers have now completely dammed up the water in the creek and the resulting pond has spread over the normal trail. This is where we saw the salmon spawning last fall and the mama bear with cubs. No signs of them now, although it smells rather fishy around this bend in the creek from all the dead fish remains.
We hiked along the creek a little way and we noticed that there are places where the creek mud is piled up onto the banks. We could see lots of little animal tracks around the mud but I’m still not sure what kind of animal did this and what they were doing. Winter hikes can lead to lots of questions. You can see the muddy sludge…it is the black stuff there along the edge.
I never get tired of looking at the landscape here at Taylor Creek. The patterns of the tree trunks against the Sierra sky in the winter is amazing and beautiful. Some people get to look out their living room windows and view a similar scene and I wonder if they stop seeing the awesomeness of it. I come here a dozen times a year and I never tire of this place.
When you are on snowshoes, you can follow tracks as much as you want but I am always a little afraid of getting out into the forest too far….I have a terrible sense of direction. This area is easy to navigate because I can hear the highway in the distance and I generally know which direction I need to head to get back to the trailhead. Here is an example of a nice clear print in the snow.
We did a little preliminary winter weed study while we were out traipsing around the woods. There were plenty of subjects even with snow on the ground. I just liked the way this one looked. I think it is a corn lily. Next week we plan on doing a whole winter weed study so we will revisit these images then.
So our first real snowshoe of the year is over and we didn’t get rained or snowed on. We were bundled up warmly so it was really a delight to be outdoors exploring just the two of us. Mr. B decided his snowshoes were perfect and now we will be able to explore the woods in winter as part of our Outdoor Hour Challenges.
You can read more about hiking in winter on my Squidoo page for tips on how to make it fun: Winter Nature Walks
Even if you don’t have snow…take a Winter Nature Walk. Click HERE for nature walk ideas to print out for your family. Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity.
Don’t forget to check in with the additional webpages for these sets of challenges:
Last night my boys were going down after dark to put our cats in their basement room for the night. They have to walk right past our bird feeder along the way and this night they saw some kind of creature inside the feeder eating.
They ran back up and had me go outside to see and by the time I got out there the creature was climbing up the supporting rope and up into the tree. I got just a glimpse and I actually saw two critters climbing up. The boys were sure it was something like a possum or rat but I didn’t think so from what I had seen.
We pulled out our mammal field guide and started paging through. What was the tail like? How was the head shaped? How big was it? What color was it? We went through all the pages and decided it had to be some kind of rodent.
I crept back to the door with the flashlight and quietly tiptoed out to the deck rail. I flipped on the switch and there in the feeder were the biggest mice I have ever seen. They looked straight at me a few seconds and then made a leap from the feeder to the tree, out onto a branch, and then hopped over to another tree and out of sight.
As long as they stay outdoors I can live with a few mice in my feeders.
This morning we woke up to snow on the ground and more coming down as daylight broke. I was so glad that I had gone out yesterday and cut a lot of my tulips and daffodils to bring inside. The ones left outdoors look so sad.
Our dog thinks this is perfect weather to be outdoors. It brings out the Labrador in her.
We are off to enjoy our very snowy day….I think hot cocoa is in order since this will more than likely be the last of our snow for the season.
Sunrise: 7:06 AM
Sunset: 5:28 PM
10 hrs and 22 min of daylight-tomorrow will be 2 minutes and 8 seconds longer
High temperature: 50.8 degrees F
Low temperature: 38 degrees F
Winds: 7 mph S
Rain is predicted to start anytime this evening and rain through Saturday.
No snow…snow level is going to be at around 4500 feet in elevation and we live at around 2300 feet.
Here is a photo from our walk today. The weather was actually pretty overcast and a little chilly. The grasses are turning green though and that is encouraging.
Here are a couple of weather related photos from the last few weeks.
We took this photo a few weeks ago as part of our weather nature study. My son was trying to gauge how much rain we were having and then it started to drop in temperature and to snow. His water in the gauge froze. He noticed there was a thick layer on top and a slushy layer underneath. We had a lot of rain.
I thought this was a funny photo. There was a big frozen ice cube on top of my leftover broccoli in my container on the deck.
This week though we have had signs of early spring popping up in our backyard.
Violets….mmmmmm. They smell so delicious.
Daffodils in big bunches all around the yard. I can hardly wait!
We are hoping for some good rain and then perhaps some snow next week so the boys can go snowboarding. I will pack up my snowshoes as well in hopes that I can take a romp in the snow.
The sun was out and we jumped on the chance to go to the snow for some fun and refreshment.
Let’s just say it was breathtaking….far too awesome for words.
(Not sure if you are on an email subscription if the video shows up, but you can click over to my blog and view a 30 second video of the landscape.)
It was so quiet and we had the whole place to ourselves. This is the best kind of hike…time to enjoy the quiet and the beauty. Look at those cattails. It reminds me that in the summer this place is hopping with red-winged blackbirds and egrets. This day we saw nuthatches, mountain chickadees, and a raven. It was surprisingly quiet.
The beavers have actually dammed up the regular waterway and it is now flowing around the right side instead of straight through. Fascinating.
Some of the creek is actually all covered over with snow…you can see openings where the water is frozen over. As many years as we have been coming here in the winter, we have never seen this before.
Not very many tracks in the snow this time…
As usual, we end up spreading out and just taking the trail at our own pace. We are usually all within eyesight of each other but keeping a nice distance in between.
As much as I hate to miss a day of regular schoolwork, we really needed this day to wander out in the sunshine and fresh air.
It was a day of hiking in the aspens and pines….there is something so refreshing about hiking in the snow on a sunny day. The light must be different or perhaps it is the air. Whatever it is about winter hikes, I feel more alive. The indoor life does not suit me very well and getting the chance to spend a few hours hiking with my family makes me smile even now just thinking about our time outdoors.
Although there were no other hikers on the trail this time, we knew there were other living creatures near-by. The snow recorded their activity for us. We always have a great time imagining who the tracks belong to and then discussing what they may have been doing out here in the woods.
Many times as we hike along we spread out and have some alone time. I love to walk and pay attention to the crunching of the snow under my boots. There were a few birds that showed their faces while we walked and a few that just let us know they were there by knocking on the tree or whistling a little tune.
These ducks don’t seem to mind the cold, cold water.
Our Bird List for the Day:
Mallard ducks
Ravens
Steller’s jays
Red-breasted nuthatches
The creek was flowing along with crystal clear water, much deeper this time of year than in the summer and fall. We observed lots of tracks on the other side of the bank….big tracks where it looks like someone came to get a drink perhaps.
I told the boys to be on the lookout for interesting tracks in the snow and if they found some to call me over. These are the “dinosaur” tracks they found….very funny.
Seriously though, this photo shows the most interesting and most abundant track we noticed through the trees. It looks like footprints with something that made a line to the side….a tail perhaps? I would love to know what made this track in the snow.
Maybe this is why I love winter hikes so much….there is an air of mystery and awe to them that I love and crave. We are looking forward to more snowy hikes in the near future.
We decided we should take our Kona dog out for a proper walk. She has not been out for her long walk in days. She was happy and we were feeling good too. The interesting thing about this walk was how many trees were down all along our regular walking trail. Many were actually across the trail and some were down in the meadows alongside it.
Mostly oaks had fallen which makes me sad, but they are clearly not designed for such a great snow like we had this week. The live oaks especially fared badly in the snow because they don’t lose all their leaves in the fall.
The leaves were my favorite part of the walk. The snow was sprinkled with leaves of all colors and shapes and sizes.
When the oaks fall down, you get to glimpse at what is going on at the top without climbing. The various kinds of lichen were amazing. We really must learn some more about lichens this winter. I will add it to the list.
The rains are coming and that will be the end of the Really Big Snow for us. My youngest is the one who will miss it the most. He was sick most of the time we had our big piles of snow to play in and he really needs to get in some more snow time. Perhaps it will snow again in the months to come and then he will be able to build his big snow fort and have snowball fights with his dad and brothers. It seems that snow is the great equalizer…..all my men love to get out and play in the cold stuff no matter their age and dignity level.
Our first winter snow! This is the most snow we have had in December ever!
Here is my garden all covered in a blanket of snow. Last week I was hopeful about the broccoli but even the protective frame that I built over the top is covered in snow…..seems like winter has arrived.
We took off on our snowshoes to see what the neighborhood was like on this first snowy morning. Here I am about 1/4 mile from our backstreet. There were a few children out throwing snowballs and a man walking his dog but we pretty much had the whole street to ourselves. I always forget how quiet it is when there is snow.
We lost a few big branches from the trees that still had leaves on them. The evergreens held up pretty well but the oaks and sweet gums just aren’t built for this much snow.
Later on in the day, we all built what ended up being a snow bear in the front yard. Even our Kona dog “helped”.
The next morning we had icicles like never before.
Today is really, really cold for our area….15 degrees. The ice is thick on the roads and I am hoping my husband is careful on the way to work. He has to travel over the river and then climb up into the mountains to get to his station and yesterday it was treacherous. I can only imagine today’s drive. He has chained up the truck and he assures me he will be careful. I will be waiting for his call once he arrives.
Amanda hiked up to the top of our hill to see the sunset. The sky was pink and lavender and after such a stormy night and morning, it was great to see the sun again.
This has been one snowy week for our family. We woke up to snow on two mornings and it was gloriously beautiful.
The birds showed up for the Great Backyard Bird Count even with the snow and it was very entertaining to watch the different techniques for getting to the seed. The Spotted towhee was a master at scratching a hole in the snow and finding the seed underneath. The juncos just waited until the towhee flew away and then they took over.
The bulbs seemed happy to just hang out with the white stuff.
We took numerous opportunities to go out and measure the snow depth. We never got over three inches at any one time but it would snow, melt, and then snow again so I think our total count is somewhere about 8 inches for the season. That is actually a lot of snow for our area and we have enjoyed it thoroughly along with the Winter Wednesday activities. (Teenagers think that they can go outside wearing sandals in the snow….and t-shirts. Brrrrrrrr.)
We enjoyed a few snow walks this week and this particular one was very beautiful even if the trees kept dumping snow on our heads as it melted and fell to the ground.
There were quite a few trees and tree branches across the trail.
This is the first time we have seen water running over this waterfall along the trail. We were excited to see this on the day after the big snowstorm. The sound was the perfect little waterfall sound.
Hope you are enjoying your Winter Wednesday activities as much as we are.
