With "the big one" yet to come, the Upper Paradise Ridge in the high Sierra foothills boasted plenty of beautiful snow on Saturday morning, Feb. 14, 2009. This gallery of images was taken between my hometown of Magalia (2,500 feet elevation, 4-12 inch snow-pack) to Stirling City (3,530 feet, 25-35 inches of snowpack). For the first time in the 10 years that I've lived here, officials have plowed the Skyway shut at the northern end of Stirling City, preventing any four-wheel-drivers from continuing on, past College Hill, Inskip, and Butte Meadows. I don't know if it's designed to keep Butte County Search and Rescue from saving the lives of the careless, if it's because there was an avalanche above, or because they expect another several feet between Sunday and Tuesday. Photos by Alan Sheckter / NorCalEdit@sbcglobal.net. Permission must be granted for re-publication.