In search of snow

I light of the fact that it is almost February and Mary and I had not seen snow we decided to head to the local montians for the day. Our first stop was Pine valley where we found an incredible amount of snow 2 years ago.

Well Pine Valley didn't have any snow at all. 2 years ago (pic on left) we couldn't even drive up to the old cabin. Today we didn't have any trouble and didn't even have to lock the hubs.

We drove over to the gate at Deer Park Road to see if we could get through but of course the forest service had it locked.  Deer Park road will take you on a scenic back route that winds all the way up to Mount Laguna from Pine Valley. According to the lady at the forest service I spoke with they had just closed it in anticipation of the wet weather.  Bummer.

We spent a little time hiking around Pine Valley and then zipped up Sunrise Hwy. to find some snow.  On the way up we purchased our "Adventure Pass" which allows you to day park at any of the US National Parks. We decided to get the annual pass since it was only $30 and $5 for an extra pass. Can you say EBay?

We ended up parking at the Mount Laguna side of Deer Park Road, also locked, and hike into the Mount Laguna backcountry. There was around 2-3" of snow and the dogs had a blast.

 

After hiking for a couple hours we drove the LandCruiser back down the mountain and stopped for lunch at Major's Diner in Pine Valley. Decent diner type food and an ecletic mix of weekend bikers, tatooed locals and families. 

All in all we had a great time and Diesel and Sadie loved getting out to run around the wilderness. Sadie even brought back a souvenier which I will call the "Tick from Hell". It took Mary and I 30 minutes and three sets of tweezers to dislodge it from her paw.

 

You can view our photo slideshow of the day here.