winter of my discontent

Enough already!  Having returned from a 2 week hiatus - mostly down south, it's nice to be back at this forest sanctuary.  BUT - there's another winter storm coming tomorrow.  The drive through snow country (hwy 88 - minden to WinSol) was awe inspiring if it wasn't for the endless cars parked on both shoulders with snowmobiles, skis, sleds, and gawking people.  

 Records broken
Mammoth ski area had more closed days this season, than ever before - and they are staying open (weekends only) until July 4th.   Tioga Pass at Yosemite won't be plowed thru until late June or later.  Yosemite valley buildings have suffered a LOT of damage for snow loads.  
So it's now inching toward 8 weeks of non-stop winter.  The outside temp today was 55F (March 25) and the last time it reached that temp was in the 2nd week of January.  I've never seen a continuous winter without a break like this.  That's why I headed south to Death Valley at 90F and a PCT trail project with the 'gorillas' - a very cool crew with some great camaraderie and new friends. 

 comparisons
On one scale this is the 3rd 'worse' winter, on another scale this is easily THE worse winter.  Here's my criteria definition of worse:  COLD temps, deep snows, inaccessibility, continuity, #times i need to park car by main road and walk back and forth carrying stuff.   There were two winter seasons with more and deeper snow.  This year however, the long continuous days of snow fall and very COLD (below 30F), cloudy days (without even one sunny day) has exceeded anything in my memory.  My neighbors agree. There's also been some damage: car port failure, greenhouse door, wind strewn chairs = broken, etc.  AND, it's not over yet.  There's another major winter storm approaching, luckily the snow level is just above WinSol, but we'll see an inch of snow in a couple days... and the beat goes on and on... 

 solutions?
heading south!  extended backpacking trip on coast.  Going on an extended warm vacation.  Hibernating in place?  nahhh.... 

 looking at this picture more often:

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