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Bill Bikes My bicycling expeditions and jaunts |
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Blizzard on Bald Mountain, February 2019
Rare snow in Sonoma County: A Photographic Log
7 February 2019, 6 miles
It seldom snows in Sonoma County. I've lived here since 1984, and I've seen snowflakes in Santa Rosa twice, with total accumulation of less than half an inch. Roughly once per decade, the higher elevations around the Bay Area—above one or two thousand feet—receive an inch or two of snow. Guess what? That happened Monday night and early Tuesday morning. It was a Very Big Deal around here, as newspapers and TV news constantly reminded us.Our house in Santa Rosa is at approximately 380 feet above sea level. No snow fell in our yard. But some of the nearby hilltops received a dusting. Approximately eight miles distant, a couple of inches fell on Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. Unfortunately, I couldn't get up there on Tuesday to see the winter wonderland. The daytime highs rose to 50° F or more, so the white stuff wasn't going to hang around for long.
On Wednesday, Jeff and I headed to Sugarloaf and hiked up to the summit of Bald Mountain at 2700 feet. Not a great deal of snow remained, but enough to make it seem to us like the results of a blizzard. I've hiked to Bald Mountain a hundred times, but this was the first time I encountered snow along the trail.
When I chose "weather" for the Cycle365 Challenge of the Month for February, I never expected to have the chance to bike in snow in Sonoma County. After hiking up Bald Mountain on Wednesday, I decided to pedal up on Thursday for the Challenge. Today only small traces of snow could be found, but I'll probably never have another opportunity to bike up there again with any amount of snow on the ground.
Here's a photo log combining Wednesday's hike to the summit and Thursday's bike to the summit, making for easy comparison. If you want to see what Bald Mountain and the park looked like on Tuesday, check the photos (not by me!) on Sugarloaf's Facebook page.
Today: Starting up the fire road to the summit of Bald Mountain with the Ogre, looking at Hood Mountain.
Climbing 1500 feet in three miles on a fire road partly paved (but crumbling) and partly unpaved.
Yesterday: Hiking to and from the summit of Bald Mountain with Jeff required fording treacherous rivers.
Yesterday: First sighting of snow and ice along the trail.
Yesterday: More snow from Monday night along the trail.
Today: So far, no sign of snow along the fire road.
Yesterday: Jeff with a snowy hillside as we climb higher.
Yesterday: Old Grumble-Face.
This photo has also been referred to as the Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch, the Grumpy Gnome, and Grandpa Troll.
Today: Near the same spot, only a minuscule patch of snow.
Yesterday: We weren't the only ones excited about the rare snow. Someone wrote "snow" on the picnic table.
Yesterday: Snow on the hillside.
Today: No snow visible in the direction of Hood Mountain.
Today: Near the summit of Bald Mountain, only a few square inches of snow on the ground.
Yesterday: Snow on the summit of Bald Mountain.
Today: Same spot. Not much snow remaining on the summit of Bald Mountain.
Yesterday: Snow on Red Hill, with San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais in the distance.
Today: Looking north toward Mount St Helena.
Today: Beyond Mount St Helena, puffs of steam rise from the Geysers Geothermal Power Plant in the distance.
Today: Old Grumble-Face bundled up on the summit of Bald Mountain. Let it snow!
Addendum: December 2021. More snow on Bald Mountain
Addendum: December 2021. More snow on Bald Mountain
Summary
Date: 7 February 2019
Time: 9:00 - 11:00
Weather: 35 - 45° F (at the parking lot and trailhead at 1200'), cloudy, breezy
Route: Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park
Distance: 6 miles, from 1200' to 2700' and back down (for average 9.5% grade)
Bike: Ogre
Riders: Solo
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I'd like to hear from you.
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