Santiago Ibarra took the fluffy (if a little wet) snow, formed into a ball and launched it like a rocket towards his unsuspecting older sister Adilene.
They’d come up to Sempervirens Point Day Use Area at Castle Rock State Park from their home in Ben Lomond, Wednesday morning, to enjoy an incredibly rare phenomenon—a dump of snow in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
(Drew Penner / Los Gatan)
Greg Sumter, a park maintenance assistant, looked on, just as enthralled by the white stuff falling from the heavens.
“We’re at—oh geez—about twenty-five-hundred feet and the snow level dropped to below that,” he said. “And it’s cold, so it’s sticky.”
Sumter said the blanket of snow provided the perfect opportunity for people to enjoy nature’s bounty.
“That’s the beauty of it. That’s the real deal of the job—just being outside,” he said, reflecting on his chosen line of work. “Literally, we are made of nature, right? The medals, liquids and minerals of the Earth is what makes up the deposits in our body. And to be outside and be connected with those is so important. Our world caters to more being inside, you know, sitting behind a desk—which isn’t good. And just the simple things of, picking up trash, bending over and scrubbing toilets, and painting and sweeping, all these little actions are so good for the human body.”
Up at the main entrance to Los Gatos’ Castle Rock State Park, which had been closed the previous day due to stormy conditions (and after two people had to be rescued from the San Lorenzo River), the Colburn family had gathered from across Santa Clara County.
Mary, 7, and her sister Lindsey, 9, were pushing snow spheres.
“I think it’s great because I like cold temperatures,” Lindsey said. “It’s just like sand, but it’s really cold.”
More snowballs sailed through the air, as a snowplow cleared the parking lot.
Yours truly even got a brief snowboarding session in there along Skyline Boulevard.
Scott Sipes, a California State Parks superintendent with the Santa Cruz office, was out in his short sleeve uniform—but with a toque covering his noggin.
“This is something that people in the Bay Area don’t see often,” he said. “We try to provide people a safe place to get off the highway and actually enjoy the snow. We often see people stop in the middle of the highway because the shift is so stunning.”
He’d been part of the team that used ropes, harnesses and divers to collect the two rafters from Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park on Monday.
“Prepare,” he said, when asked if he had any tips for those hoping to experience the snow before it all melts. “So, make sure you have a full tank of gas; make sure you’re checking the Caltrans roadmap—they have an app as well as the website; just make sure that road conditions are conducive to getting up here; make sure that your car’s in good condition, including the tread on the tires. A lot of what we see is folks who are driving too fast or spinning out. Conditions are super slick. We’d recommend going even 10 miles under the speed limit when you’re coming up driving through the snow. Just in general, find a safe place to pull off the road and enjoy the snow. That’s what we’re all here to do.”
