SNOW!

SNOW! The copious amount of snowfall this winter is impressive (and, with a little perspective, welcome!) The snow is still falling, and while this series of storms is already probably top-five, time will tell if it’s a record-setter.

     Dionne Bolton has asked me to reminisce a bit about past snowy winters in PMC. Over the 40+ years we lived there, many memorable snow events come to mind. **Please understand that there is no intent to compare anything from the past with what many are currently dealing with: isolation, damage, power outages, etc.**

     The most impressive snowfall event, in my opinion, took place in January, 1976. It was just six months after we had become full-time residents, and were still commuting to the San Fernando Valley and West LA. On our way down the hill, it was snowing hard in Cuddy Valley, and still snowing when we reached Castaic. Snow fell in many areas in the LA Basin, and accumulated over a foot in Castaic. I-5, and many other highways were closed - the Grapevine for three consecutive days. We stayed with family until the highway opened. Mike Schmidt, with a similar commute as ours, started early, avoided the closure by taking The Old Road to Templin Hwy, and made his way towards PMC, through the deeping snow on the empty freeway.

       Meanwhile, up on the mountain, the blizzard raged: heavy snow, with mostly whiteout conditions. Mike later told us his experience:

     ***Kern Co. plows had attempted to keep Frazier Mt. Pkwy clear for most of the day, but the snow was falling faster than they could clear the road. The snow on the road got deeper through Frazier Park and Lake of the Woods, but the 4x4 pickup was making good headway, until just past Ivins Drive. There, the plows had been unable to deal with the depth of the snow, and turned around, leaving a wall of compacted snow several feet high. Mike left the truck a few yards back, and waded through the snow to Marge and Cecil Chambers’ house, a short distance away. By the time he got there, and was welcomed inside to good food and drink,the conditions worsened to a total whiteout. Sometime later that night, two jacked-up 4x4’s drove past Ivins Drive, and tried to push through the wall of snow. In short order, they became stuck. Unaware that there were homes nearby, they elected to stay in their trucks through the night, and came dangerously close to freezing to death. Luckily, the snow stopped before dawn, and they were found the next morning by the plow crew, VERY cold, but alive.***

       Overnight, Kern County had arranged to borrow a snow blower from the east side of the county. It arrived, and began making its way through Cuddy Valley. It cleared the road to the intersection at Mil Potrero Hwy, and turned around. Through most of Cuddy Valley the snowblower left a vertical wall on both sides as tall as the roof of some cars. (Didn’t have a cell phone then, so no photos!☹️) When we reached the turn on Mil Potrero, it wasn’t plowed, but, as luck would have it, the snowfall was less at the west end of the Valley, and a few vehicles had been up and down the road ahead of us. Our 4x4 struggled mightily (loved that ‘73 K5 Blazer!) , but finally made it down the canyon to Yellowstone Drive, and home.

The accompanying snow photo is from the March 2011 storm, courtesy of Mike DeAngelis.