A short storm blew through

Any kind of precipitation in the Southwest makes headlines.  A fast-moving storm had been forecastedt from late Tuesday into Wednesday, starting with high winds Tuesday night.  My walk Tuesday late afternoon was a brisk 2.3-mile walk around Ranchos San Pedro.  Sadie waited in the truck.

The winds began howling later that evening.  Early Wednesday, the rains came.  It was also noticeably colder.  I drove to the high school in a light drizzle at 37F.  I couldn't see the mountains because low fog shrouded them.  The classroom was cold.  Temperatures had dropped outside into the low 30s.  I thought of Ellen, who wanted to ride her mountainbike up Carr Canyon Road and then hike the peak from there.  She had asked for anyone else to join her via Facebook.  I don't know if she had any takers.

By around 10:30am the rain turned to light snow and the wind increased again.  I could see snowflakes blowing down at an angle from the small window in the classroom.  The sky briefly opened up to blue and I could see thicker fog over the peaks, but couldn't see if we had gotten any snow.  By early afternoon, the skies had cleared up again.  The peaks had gotten a dusting.

When I finally drove home, I could see a light layer of snow in the higher elevations.  Yes, we had gotten some snow, but it didn't reach 4500' as at first predicted.  It looked more like 7000.'  The foothills were barren.

I wanted to play in the snow with the dogs and finally took all four with me to Ash Canyon.  That's still my favorite snow walk as fewer people come here.  (Carr Canyon Road is the crowd favorite)  The road were dry; not much snow there, either.  I kept driving, watching the road carefully to avoid any head-on collisions with larger pick-ups coming from the opposite direction.  Before I even realized, I had gone up the path, past the "Locked Gate Ahead" sign.  How did I miss the trailhead?!?  I noticed the heavy ruts and simply thought seasonal erosion had taken care of the crevices, as flash floods tend to do across dirt roads.   The only vehicles I see go this far up the road are USBP vehicles and ATVs. I parked the truck just below the higher gate, the one the Border Patrol keeps locked, and walked uphill from there.  I was high enough to look back down into the canyon.  I could see another car parked where I should have parked.

There was still no snow, although it was visible higher up.  Small patches were on the north side which the dogs ate from.  They seemed to enjoy the romp.  Even Sadie was out finally on a hike after a two-day break.

The hike up Thompson Ridge was just 2.2-miles.  I had cut off a half-mile each way driving past the trailhead.  I didn't mind, as it was already 4:15pm when I started and the sun was already behind the western slopes, casting its shadows over the canyon.  It would only get darker and colder now. I hiked as fast as I could.  When I got to the top, I was panting.

The snow was two inches deep in some drifts, but nowhere near as much as I had hoped.  My two layers of dryweave pants were dry.  My socks and shoes were dry. No snowballs formed on Zeke's fur.  The ridge itself had very little snow.  There was no snow looking south into Mexico.  Even San Juan peak looked barren.

I took a few photos and a short video and quickly went back down.  I was back at the truck in just under an hour, still amazed I had not noticed the official trailhead parking area.  This isn't the first time I had temporary amnesia.  Hope that's not a sign of more of this to come.

The near full moon was already in the sky as I drove back home. (The full moon is tomorrow at 6:15pm and I'll be out for that one.)  A few hours later Ellen posted her snow pictures on Facebook.  She was right in that windy storm at 9:30am and turned around before she hit the higher reef at 7000'.  Snow was around four inches there.  The wind is what made her turn around.  She had made the right decision.

The exercise did Sadie good.  She had a restful night with no barking.