This Is Where I Was At Right Before Now

by Dan Phillips

Last Friday I left for the Sierra with my eleven-year-old son Josiah, and stayed until Tuesday morning in friends' guest house in Bishop. The occasion was my 497th birthday (52 in calendar years).

The Bishop-Mammoth Lakes area has been a vacation spot for the Phillipses since long before I was born. I've probably gone up there since I was around 5. I remember when coffee at Schat's Bakkery was 5 cents a cup. Don't even ask me what gas used to cost!

There is family film of little-bitty me, roped to a pole they'd stuck in a pond's bank, fishing. The rope was to keep me onshore, in case I caught a big one. (I have fallen in two Sierra lakes since then, but never for that reason.)

I've come back since over the years -- soloed many times, honeymooned in the area, have brought all my children. Try to get there at least once a year, more if possible.

So this is really a photo essay, and a brief one.

The trip over was through increasing cloudiness, and rain. The next day, since Josiah had never seen falling snow, we hunted for some.

Up the trail by McGee Creek, I thought I'd find some. What we found was sort of light and fluffy hail — less solid than your usual hail, a bit heavier than your standard snow. It was a good start, anyway. (Click on each image below, to see the larger version.)

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
(Psalm 148:7-8)

I told Josiah that this wasn't the big, fluffy flakes that I've more often seen fall. We went looking for them; saw one very brief flurry, but it was over as soon as I pulled off the road!

Then at the lower Twin Lake we hit "pay-dirt," as fluffy snowflakes began to float gently down.

As it turns out, the Mammoth Lakes were just warming up (or cooling down). We went to Horseshoe Lake, and the weather turned to this:
...and then this:

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow...?"
(Job 38:22a)

(BTW, we were careful not to get too close to the lake. Thus we were able to avoid experiencing either dizziness, unconsciousness, or death. We did note the dead trees. The volcano [?] continued to slumber.)

On the way back down, we saw a brilliant rainbow, all the way down to the ground — but in the mercurial Sierrra weather, it had faded as soon as we pulled over to capture it.

"When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
(Genesis 9:16)

And on the way down, we saw both rain and clouds...


...after which, we enjoyed a delicious barbecued dinner.

"...foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and know the truth."
(1 Timothy 4:3b)

And that was just our first full day!

It was a great trip. The only really depressing event there was... Sunday, when I went to church.

Maybe more on that, later.

With no pictures.

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