Each year, around this time, LA changes its personality, growing cold and wet and windy just when everyone forgot that it was capable of producing weather. Also around this time, I post my annual “I can see snow from my street!” photo. It was unspeakably clear today so I took a five-minute walk around my block to capture three ways I can see snow.
The snowcapped peak is Mt. Baldy. Because this is LA, that’s not the mountain’s real name, it’s actually named Mount San Antonio, but everyone calls it Mt. Baldy. The highest point in Los Angeles County, its summit is just over 10,000 feet and it hosts a small ski area that opens tomorrow. Pretty amazing how well you can see it—the trailhead to hike to the top is about a 50-mile drive away from where I’m standing.
Some people think that LA lets us ignore our seasons, but for four months out of the year, I get to see snow every time I leave my house. Still, it has a way of sneaking up on you. You’re standing there, admiring the waxy subtropical leaves of a banana tree, when suddenly you’re smacked in the face with a vision of winter, peeking out from behind a fence.
More photos.
