[Leica] Slip Sliding Away....

[richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard Man)]

People usually don't associate SoCal with snow, especially when they 
see SoCal'ers walking around in beachwear during the Rose Bowl or 
some such, but that's because these people may not know that there is 
a 4000 ft mountain range just an hour north of LA (probably has to do 
with the micro-climate and smog in the area too).

We were going to drive back home from SoCal on Sunday evening. We 
stopped off at a friend's place and notice that the storms were once 
again raging. My wife, my daughters, our friends, and even our 
friends' cat have the good sense to convince me that driving over the 
Tejon pass at 11PM when the conditions said ICY/SNOW may not be the 
best decision I would ever made as it might have been my last 
decision I ever made. So we stayed and crashed (or not crash as the 
case may be) on the floor and couch. Next morning, after some fine 
breakfast and 3 kinds of tea. We were on our way! The sky was sunny, 
the traffic was light, but little did I know that I would almost 
regret that last cup of tea. I knew there is a Rest Area just about 
the top of the Tejon Pass, and that is only another 15 mins drive...

All 4 lane traffic stopped! 2 patrol cars drove by, then an AMT, then 
an ambulance. Uh Oh, I hope people are OK...

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1419.jpg

Traffic started to move a bit, first we passed by one half of those 
Oversize prefab house sitting on the shoulder, it didn't take long to 
find where the OTHER half is:

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1421.jpg

Another view, see the snow? Elevation is just under 4000 feet here

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1422.jpg

Fortunately no one seems to have gotten hurt from what we can see. 
The ground is quite dry but you can see snow...

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1426.jpg

Pit stop! Whew! As I said, almost one cup of tea too many. My wife 
threw couple snowballs at me, almost hitting a couple changing their 
baby in the trunk of their car. Poor kid might get frostbite!

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1430.jpg

Once you get to the top of the Tejon Pass, it's a steep decline (4000 
ft to probably sea level to Grapevine) to the bottom. Here's a clear 
demonstration of fog is just clouds low enough to touch.

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1429.jpg
and more

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1432.jpg

Finally, we ran past the fog/clouds/snow! Ah, the green mountains 
(yes this is what we pass for green here, to you Oregonians or other 
rain forest dwellers) of California during the Winter months. The 
rest of the year it's mostly brown and dry, semi-arid desert like.

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1433.jpg


The Central ("we need to take water from everyone so we can feed 
YOU") Valley and the I-5 Straight Away is in sight. Look at a map of 
CA (maps.google.com). See that 250 miles of straight line down in the 
middle? That's I-5. Two lanes of
- DON'T FALL ASLEEP
- Close that window and put on re-circ unless you want the "nature" smell
- Wow, that's a lot of trucks
- DON'T FALL ASLEEP

heaven.

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1434.jpg

Notice the sign on the left indicating a crashpad lane exit for 
"Runaway Trucks." The stop seems a bit short to me, but I guess no 
truck has gone over it yet.

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1435.jpg

Grapevine! Blue sky! Yay!

http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/richard/PICS/IMG_1437.jpg


// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, 
please use richard at imagecraft.com)