At the Foot of the Sierra Nevada During a Winter Storm
Lone Pine Creek, Inyo County, California
At the south end of Owens Valley the foot of the Sierra Nevada rests upon the top of the Alabama Hills, raising it just far enough that winter storms bring snow right down to the desert floor.
This is just what happened on the first night of my post-Christmas trip. After a cold windy night near Lone Pine I drove up the Whitney Portal Road to the base of the mountains. The storm had mostly cleared to the east, but lingered low on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra. There was fresh snow on the slopes above, and a rapidly vanishing trace in sheltered spots below.