California has received a late-season load of snow in recent days, including blizzards in unlikely places such as Los Angeles County. This has meant ideal conditions for snowshoeing, an activity that I and my partner took up a couple of years ago as a low-risk release from pandemic-induced cabin fever. During a break in the storm systems on Saturday, we drove up close to the slopes of Mount Shasta and spent a few hours out in fresh powder and among trees that still had snow hanging in their branches, inhabiting a world something like the Whoville from Dr. Seuss. Occasionally a breeze would blow flakes off the branches, which sparkled in the sunlight like glitter in a snow globe. Our day may have lacked the thrill and glamour of downhill skiing, but it also came without the exorbitant ticket fees and crowded lift lines. At this stage of my life, it’s a trade I was glad to make.
