We were at the Bristlecone Pines campground in CA at about 8,500 ft. Got all set up late in the day and I got a campfire going. Then it started to snow. Beautiful.
I sat outside in the snow and just marveled at the quiet and the beauty. Poking at the fire and moving closer to stay warm. A libation offered some distraction from the gathering cold and darkness. Liye decided to move inside.
Eventually, I moved in too. But looked out the window at the orange glow and fog of snowflakes. Again, totally quiet and we were the only ones there. Miles from anywhere and anyone.
The heater clicked on and off during the night and as I noticed it, I also noticed how snug we were. Snow makes the dark forest even quieter. Morning brought the chance to see how much snow we got and start a new adventure going on up to the 10,000 ft level to marvel at the 5,000 year old trees.
Bristlecone Pines. One of my favorite places. Through coring and other tree ring methods we can look back 12,000 years with a recorded history. All of this from trees growing in a dolomite soil that was previously a sea bottom. Now, that ancient "sea bottom" is at 10,000 ft elevation. Such are the wonders of the Sierra Nevada Range and plate tectonics.
Fun to ponder on a quiet night, camped in the snow with a warm fire crackling.
The idea is to lean into it, experience it, marvel at what it is. Try to grasp the enormous amount of time that has passed to form this scene. Living trees that I can reach out and touch, that were alive when the pyramids were being built. But more than that, soil that formed as a sea bed and is now here!
Without our beautiful little trailer, we could never come here and have a comfortable winter visit.