When we flew from SB to SD, it was via Redlands for a quick visit with my cousin who lives on the mountainside below Big Bear. I’d been looking forward to some great snowy vistas from the recent storms that have brought heavy rains amid our long drought. Instead, this is the most snow we saw on the peaks above the LA basin.
9669 Still Dry
Normally that reservoir would be full, the hills green and the mountains solid white where now only patches are showing. Below that view of the San Gabriel Reservoir this secondary dam looked like some ruin from an ancient culture.
9693 Archeological Site
As you can see, where there had been a lake miles long above it now rests a small pond. This was quite a surprise to us, because the recent storms were so powerful they produced extensive flooding and damage. But here is evidence in support of what the experts have been saying about many more storms needed to end our drought. Still, there’s an austere beauty in the dry mountains towering above the haze of the mega-city.
9706 Stillness
A sense of stillness, as if the rocks were watching us unfold a new millennium of dramatic changes wrought by our species. The rocks have a better view after wildfires have cleared away the vegetation and trees.
9720 Clearing
Where once the wind whispered through pines, now new growth clings to cleared ground beneath the skeletons along a dry creek. An empty fire lookout tower evokes memories of a different era when there was a forest to protect.
9756 Lonely Lookout
At its feet the massive nearly empty reservoir below Big Bear waits in vain for a snow melt that probably will not come this year.
9718 Dwindling Lake
After all this brown where we’d expected green and white, the moist coastal colors of Batiguitos Lagoon refreshed our eyes and hearts.
9798 Batiguitos Lagoon
Even before the thrill of discovering a new route over San Diego (see prior post below), scenes like this along the coast brightened our mood immeasurably.
John & Anne Wiley 
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