We had a landslide which washed out part of hwy 18 coming up to the mountains.  This route will be closed for awhile, some say weeks, other say months.  But I think more damage will be done after this latest period of rain tonight.  Half of the hwy at this point is washed out in a particular area.  

Anyway we got out today to go to the store and because we have a 4 wheel drive we weren't worried about ice on the roads.  It felt good getting out and taking a drive to see how it looks around town and the lake.  First two heading out our road and down toward the lake and town.  I love that house in the distance where you see just the roofs. It's always so pretty in every season.

In two or three days it shows clear skies so I'm anxious to get to the other towns/lakes in the area to see how high the water has risen in the lakes. 

I would say out drought is done - The sierras have gotten so much snow and Pacific Northwest tons of rain and snow.

We always get out within two days of snow when everything is plowed to see how much the other towns got snow.  We didn't get much only an inch or two but did get lots of rain.  We checked out some of the nearby lakes and Lake Arrowhead is already showing less shoreline so the rain helped the levels.  Lake Gregory is looking good and another storm will be coming about Wednesday of next week.   

Here are a few photos of driving through Rim Forest,  Running Springs, Sky Forest, and ArrowBear lake which i always make a point of seeing that small seasonal lake. 

We are actually going somewhere today we haven't been in a year.  TapRoom in Lake Arrowhead to get one of their pretzles and a beer.  We go to Lake Arrowhead at least once a week for groceries at Staters but because of how crowded it is during different parts of the year we stay away from the restaurants.  Beginning ChristmasVacation- for three weeks in the mountains it will be filled with people coming up for the snow.    We will definitely stay home on the weekends.  

Running Springs, Arrowbear and on up to Big Bear definitely has huge rocks along the highway. Not so much in Blue Jay and Lake Arrowhead area but the size of the rocks increase as you go up higher.  I love the topography of the area and amazing to think  of the forces of nature that created these mountains in the world and how different each mountain range looks with their trees and wildness.  

 I want them on the blog to add to my memories of hiking in certain areas.

We went down the mountain to our old hiking area where i got the photos below.  After we saw the deer we continued along a trail and everywhere we looked it was so dry.  After these photos and after we came off this trail then we  walked closer down another trail that leads to the back of our house that we sold in 2011.  To this day I still miss my house and these foothills I use to hike on.   

We have now at this point  gotten over 6" of rain in a 24 hour period and now it has turned to snow.  The reports say we will get snow for several hours and as the temps drop it should stick.  I don't think we will get more than an inch or two and tomorrow is going to be sunny.  So these photos that I'm showing, if I go back down in a week I have a feeling it will already  have greened up down there.  I hope to go back in a week or two and hike farther on that trail.  We went pretty far and really didn't know where it would end.  This is a trail that runs parallel to the deeper canyon trail. 

We parked here and headed out.

The trail that leads to the canyon and waterfall...  It was very dry looking but to me beautiful regardless ...the smells,temps,etc. But then changed our mind, came back up and got on a parallel trail that went alongside and up from it.  

That trail in the right upper hand corner used to be called party hill.  We use to walk up there once in awhile -quite a hike up hill.

 A few days back we headed down to where we use to own a house and lived for about 25 years.  There is a canyon where we could go behind the back yard to a trail and it was always something I enjoyed.  The trail took us to more trails in the foothills where we lived or into the canyon where if you followed it for quite a while came to a waterfall.  I was anxious to hike there again which we did. 

As we parked and headed out down a trail three deer were crossing over and I was able to get some photos. I love the way they look like they are prancing when they run.