What does winter mean to you? Sweater weather? Hot chocolate? Jackets and snow boots? John wants to know! To us photographers, it probably means snow and icicle images. To me, winter means one trip to the snow when the air is just right for a winter jacket and boots, you can drive in it without snow tires/chains and hot chocolate can be purchased at the nearest restaurant!

You got it, I enjoy seeing it, playing in it and leaving it behind. Fortunately I live in Sacramento California where it doesn’t snow. However that glorious winter weather is just a little over an hour away up Highway 80 at Donner Lake.

Also up the same road and about 10 minutes closer to home is Blue Canyon where my Astronomer husband has his observatory. Because of its location it is inaccessible in the winter.

Almost to the observatory.
The observatory
The road there and back.

One surprise snow experience happened when we were staying with the younger set of grands, in Reno Nevada, while their parents were away. During the night, I heard a strong wind slapping against the house. I woke up to a winter wonderland like I had never experience before. The truck was buried, the walkway had to dug out and the grands had a fun snow time.

Talking about the same trip, we decided to take the train from Sacramento to Reno, and back. We wanted the experience. Here are some pictures taken from the train on the way home.

Now we are about to enter winter. The weather will be cold, in the 30s (F) at night, climbing to the 60s in the afternoon. Yes, that’s the winter I want to experience!

Here in the Sacramento Valley the only time we get rain is in the winter. We do rely on the Sierra mountains snow pack, to fill our reservoirs with the melt during the summer. There have been many years of drought here when water has been rationed.

Thank you John for helping bring back those winter memories. Please remember to link to John’s challenge when you post your response, and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we explored elements via Sofia’s challenge. I enjoyed seeing your interesting responses.

Next week is our annual year-end challenge. In December 2022, the Lens-Artists team introduced a “Last-Chance” challenge. The idea was to review the year’s images that never quite fit our challenge subjects that year. The “rule” is that your chosen photographs must have been taken in 2024 and not have been included in response to our 2024 challenges. This challenge is not hosted. So, go through your archives and join us on Saturday, December 14, at noon Eastern Standard Time.

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays, have a safe New Year and we will be back in January.

48 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #328: Winter”

    1. This was a fun challenge John. The only way I’d take another train ride is to be able to eat in a dining car. Since we didn’t have a sleeper this trip, we couldn’t do that. The trip was only 5 hours. We could drive back in half that time!

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  4. Wow Anne, some glorious vista! I remember when you were snowed in with the grands. That’s about the only thing that would make a snowstorm fun 😊. I had no idea your husband was an astronomer – very cool!!

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    1. Thanks Tina! I don’t think I’ll ever forget us being snowed in. It made for a memorable trip and wonderful photography. Richard picked up the astronomy hobby when he retired. He loves it and it keeps him busy. I think I posted some of his images once in a blog. He images, meaning his camera captures deep space objects and sends them to the computer.

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  5. Anne, what beautiful photos! I agree with you about winter: it’s best enjoyed when one can travel to a place where winter is happening. I do not need it my backyard. 🙂 This gallery is amazing. The truck almost got totally buried in the snow.

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  6. I love the photos but have a very limited liking for the real thing, Anne. A big motivator in our move to the Algarve was to escape cold, bleak weather. And from what I’ve heard from UK friends, the winters are getting longer!

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  9. Great winter post, Anne!!! I usually like winter, except when it is too much trouble. Fortunately, in my city, it doesn’t usually snow, because when it does, everything is chaotic. Snow is good for playing, having fun and taking photos, but not for everyday life.

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  11. Your winter weather sounds perfect to me as I don’t like dealing with snow! But being able to ‘visit’ it is a different matter 🙂 I really enjoyed seeing Donner Lake in the snow as were were there just a couple of months ago on our road trip and it looked very different then!

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    1. The scene around Donner and Truckee change in the winter. Highway 80 is closed until they can plow the road and Donner Lake is just beautiful when it snows. Of course we wait until the roads are drivable and the snow isn’t falling.

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  16. Incredible photos of all the snow, Anne! How cool you rode the Snow Train and grabbed some images! We always enjoyed driving to Kyburz for some snow (Hwy 50), years ago. I loved Tahoe in all its seasons–I still miss it! My daughter’s BF has a cabin at Donner Lake–2 years ago they shoveled 12 feet o f snow off the roof! From where you live, I bet you can see the gorgeous snowy Sierras on a bright cold winter day!

    Enjoy a safe and memorable holiday! We head south to Arizona in 12 days!

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    1. Thanks Terri! I love Sacramento because just an hour or so I can reach the forest and lakes in the summer and snow in the winter. I’ve never used HWY 50 except to get to Hope Valley. We live right off the 80. Have fun in Arizona and enjoy the warm weather. Happy Holidays.

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  19. Hi Anne
    Great snow pictures 👍 👍 We envy you that you had so much snow.
    Winter means for us having fun outside and travelling to hilly places. We love driving through a snowy landscape.
    Your pictures document the beautiful sides of winter well.
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  24. Oh, I wish they could come here. Right now we are having a rain storm that’s dumping tons of snow in the mountains. If the roads are clear and the sun is out, we may go up and take some pictures.

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  25. Pingback: Lens-ArtistPC24-328-Winter – WoollyMuses

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