Many inches of snow were forecast for Friday and the weekend. My house-mate let me borrow an old set of tire "cable-chains" for Silver truck. Thursday afternoon I put them on myself. Later in the day he returned to the house and said, "Those are too big for your tires." Richard and girlfriend have 3 old sets of tire cable-chains that are no longer used. They each have a Jeep. The 3rd set we tried was the right size. The photo is of the "too big" set I installed first.
The top of the mountain received 30 " of snow overnight into Friday. Skiers were happy. Saturday it rained buckets all day and into the night. Sunday the rain slowly tapered off. Squaw Valley ski area closed down on Sunday. I drove slowly around town to work and back for 3 days, before taking the cable-chains off on Monday. It was the first time I had put chains on Silver's tires. Yes, it did snow, then the rain melted it away.
Today I drove over Mt Rose highway again. So beautiful with the new snow. I drove to Davis Creek county park for birding because the ebird reports looked good. By lunch time I decided those birds must have sheltered out the storm some place else.
Mountain Chickadees, White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches, Flickers, and much twittering that I did not identify. This Spotted Towhee was singing, but did not want to be photographed. Camera was not happy when I asked it to focus on the bird instead of the branches.
While ski resorts are praying for snow, ducks are going about their seasonal business. "Down the hill" in Reno, House Finches are singing, and in the wooded neighborhoods Pygmy Nuthatches are, as well. Forests are dry, and look like November.
