We have had such weird weather around here this autumn...very warm and also exceptionally dry.
So it was quite a pleasant surprise to experience some wintery weather finally. My friends Jim and Sandi decided to join me for a day of trail riding, yesterday. We made plans on Thursday night. Sandi said that the chances of rain were zero according to the weather site that she looked at. Yahoo weather told me that there was about a ten percent chance of rain for the mountains, so I decided to take a waterproof jacket with me.
As I was driving up into the San Bernardino mountains, I noticed long gray curtains of precipitation sagging out of the clouds. I soon ran into it...and it was snow. By the time I reached our staging spot at the Big Bear airport around 8 a.m., the whole town had a thin layer of white covering it.
My friends and I discussed the situation while we ate breakfast at the airport diner. Jim thought that the weather conditions might get too dicey for us, and thought that maybe we might alter our plans. He didn't want me to think that I had to go through with the planned itinerary just because we were already there. I suggested that we drive our vehicles over to a clearing near the trailhead we wanted to use, so that we wouldn't have to expose ourselves to the cold at speed, on any pavement stretches. My buddies were good with that idea, so off we went. If the weather looked like it was going to get worse, we would be a lot closer to the staging area than if we stayed at the airport.
As luck would have it, the snow stopped and the sun came out later in the day. Most of the snow melted and evaporated, leaving the dirt strangely dry and a little dusty, although not too dusty. The temperature probably never got above 40, but we managed to stay warm, save for our fingers...even with cold weather gloves. We had a good day, and then went over to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for an early supper, before heading home.
So it was quite a pleasant surprise to experience some wintery weather finally. My friends Jim and Sandi decided to join me for a day of trail riding, yesterday. We made plans on Thursday night. Sandi said that the chances of rain were zero according to the weather site that she looked at. Yahoo weather told me that there was about a ten percent chance of rain for the mountains, so I decided to take a waterproof jacket with me.
As I was driving up into the San Bernardino mountains, I noticed long gray curtains of precipitation sagging out of the clouds. I soon ran into it...and it was snow. By the time I reached our staging spot at the Big Bear airport around 8 a.m., the whole town had a thin layer of white covering it.
My friends and I discussed the situation while we ate breakfast at the airport diner. Jim thought that the weather conditions might get too dicey for us, and thought that maybe we might alter our plans. He didn't want me to think that I had to go through with the planned itinerary just because we were already there. I suggested that we drive our vehicles over to a clearing near the trailhead we wanted to use, so that we wouldn't have to expose ourselves to the cold at speed, on any pavement stretches. My buddies were good with that idea, so off we went. If the weather looked like it was going to get worse, we would be a lot closer to the staging area than if we stayed at the airport.
As luck would have it, the snow stopped and the sun came out later in the day. Most of the snow melted and evaporated, leaving the dirt strangely dry and a little dusty, although not too dusty. The temperature probably never got above 40, but we managed to stay warm, save for our fingers...even with cold weather gloves. We had a good day, and then went over to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for an early supper, before heading home.
