I was hoping for a white Christmas this year, but given that I live in Phoenix and was spending the holiday in Santa Barbara with my family, my prospects didn't look good. But my ace in the hole was Yosemite National Park and the nasty winter storm that had dumped lots of white stuff on the park before Christmas day. So while the wrapping paper was still warm Christmas morning, I was setting up my bed in the back of my truck and preparing for my great adventure. I found Yosemite a true winter wonderland; several feet of fresh powder on the valley floor and a foot of snow on all the trees that refused to fall to the ground...PERFECT! I spent a glorious day and a half there before calamity struck, snapping a leg off my tripod (I'm here to tell you, bipods WILL NOT be the next big thing!), but did manage to take some shots using snow banks for support while leaving the park in search of a new tripod. But my adventure was just beginning, with my quest for snowy peaks and pastures taking me to Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Bishop, Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills, and finally to the Kern River Canyon, where glorious sunrises and sunsets, fog on Mono Lake, Fall color in Kern River Canyon, and ice-crystal clad macro subjects awaited. In all, six days on the road and close to 2000 miles of driving. And when it was all over, two more days of photographic bliss to be had in Santa Barbara...it truly was a Christmas to remember!