Mountain Snows – I

He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts out His hail like morsels; who can stand before His cold? Psalm 147:16-17

Some years ago, back when I may have known more than I know now, I often thought I’d like to just wander off into the mountains during the summer and see if I could make it through until the next one. I mentioned this to a few of my biologist colleagues. They all seemed to think it was a crazy idea. And here I thought they’d all thought the same thing, but were just afraid to bring it up! I learned to keep my crazy ideas to myself whilst at work.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but snow is a pretty efficient insulator. I’ve read where ten inches of fresh snow has close to the same insulation properties as about six inches of fiberglass insulation. That is because most fresh snow contains up to 95 percent trapped air. Since the air has little movement, heat transfer is minimal. Many animals in the mountains recognize this, and will sometimes burrow into the snow to keep warm during a storm or even to hibernate.

In my part of the world, snow in the mountains can supply well over half of the year-round surface water for areas far larger than the mountains themselves. That means there is a lot of life depending on a good snow-pack. And this includes not just the fish, but plants, birds, and animals as well. Of course the timing and length of the fire season in the mountains is also tied to the previous winter’s snowpack. It seems the more we study on how things work on our planet, the more we see how one thing is related to another to yet another. I’m sure we haven’t discovered the half of it yet.

I wonder how God thought of all this – kind of blows my little mind. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge of just the smallest part of it all. I’m sure I’d have messed something up.

Not sure how your own relationship with the One Who created it all? Please see Got God?

Hope you have time to get out in the woods today.