If you're interested in using any of these photographs in any way, please contact me. Send an e-mail to naturalhistoryphotos(at)gmail.com. Thanks!

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Snownoma

This morning I was driving from Sebastopol to Cotati when something off to the east caught my eye.  Was that snow on Sonoma Mountain?  After doing some chores, I decided to go take a look.


Sure enough, there appeared to be remnant patches of snow at higher elevations.  (Not having been there when it fell, I don't know if this could have been accumulated hail.)  The patches were still substantial, so I could gather enough to make small snowballs!  By the way, Sonoma Mountain reaches an elevation of ~2400 feet (~730 meters).  It was ~10 degrees colder up there; my car thermometer read ~43°F (~6°C).

It was a beautiful day to be on Sonoma Mountain.  Scanning to the north, there were quite a few snow-covered peaks.  Below are two examples:


I have to admit that I spend so little time in the inland portions of Sonoma County that I'm not totally sure about identifying all of the peaks.  Perhaps some of you can help?

My best guess for the above is Cobb Mountain.  Cobb Mountain is at the Sonoma County/Lake County boundary.  At 4483 feet (1366 meters), Cobb Mountain-Southwest Peak is the highest point in Sonoma County.  Here's a closer view (with two ravens flying by in the distance):


I learned something fun about Cobb Mountain today.  Both sides eventually drain to the Pacific Ocean, but they do it in very different ways.  The western slopes feed into the Russian River (via Big Sulphur Creek), while the eastern slopes feed into the Sacramento River (via Putah Creek) and then to San Francisco Bay.

Now here's a different peak:


My guess for this one is Mount Saint Helena.  It reaches an elevation of ~4342 feet (~1323 meters). 

While snow-watching this afternoon, I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in the distance:


Let me know if you can confirm or correct the identifications of these snowy peaks!
 

1 comment:

Alice Chan said...

Thanks for sharing that very interesting information about Cobb Mountain's water-drainage!