Snow trip in Sierra Nevada mountains...

After almost six years of drought, California has received much needed rain, and more importantly, snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Sierras are legendary for snowfall, and the last few years haven't lived up to their reputation, but January, 2017, the mountains came ALIVE with snow!

Photo: It's about 0900 on Friday morning, January 27, 2017, and I'm gassing up at the Chevron station at Cisco Grove, CA, located on Interstate 80, between Sacramento and Reno. I checked the temperature, and it read 28 degrees, which isn't bad for this time of day in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

Photo: I'm driving east on "Historic U.S. 40," just east of Cisco Grove. The GPS tells the elevation better than I can post it. Lots of snow!

Photo: I do not believe this Jeep Grand Cherokee, or the house, will be doing anything for quite some time. Along old "U.S. 40," most of the houses are vacation cabins, as I assume this place is. As you can see, the snowfall has been spectacular.

Photo: The Soda Springs, California, post office. Placer County had to dig the snow away from the entrance to allow access to the post office. Yes, the snow is very deep on this Friday, in late January, 2017.

Photo: A quartet of local ravens, and more of their buddies not shown in the photo, enjoy lunch from a dumpster, located behind the restaurant at Soda Springs. They don't seem to mind the snow, and the 30-degree temperature.

Photo: I didn't know that ravens liked newspapers, but this raven seems to be enjoying reading a copy of the New York Times. I kid you not about this....

Photo: I really don't think this Subaru or it's Toyota neighbor are going anywhere soon..

Photo: Donner Pass Road, near Kingvale. Lots of snow! Once upon a time, this was U.S. 40 highway, but it was bypassed by Interstate 80, just to the south of this photo, 60 years ago.

Photo: For the first time in many years, Donner Lake is frozen. The white lines are tracks made from snowmobiles and ice skaters. Yes, just like in Minnesota, snowmobiling, ice skating, and ice fishing are alive and well at Donner Lake.

Photo: Icicles at the Truckee, California, Amtrak depot. Needless to say, I didn't step under them.

Photo: Donner Pass Road, which is "main street," in Truckee, on this early Friday afternoon in late January.

Photo: The vintage "Flying A" gas station in Truckee is actually a real estate office, but it looks good on this snow-filled early Friday afternoon in downtown Truckee.

Photo: Snow is piled high between the sidewalk, and the "main street" of historic downtown Truckee. I saw rock salt on the sidewalk, so I assume the town salted the sidewalk to remove the snow, but let it pile between the sidewalk and the street.

The snow is alive and well in the mountains, thanks to the January, 2017 storms. Let's hope California can handle another year of decent weather that brings relief to the several year drought.