I know that most of the middle of the country is literally frozen in sub-zero temperatures, and the desire to be in snow when I can easily hang out at the beach and bake in the sun sounds stupid to a lot of frozen people right now. But something in my primal being just craved snow-- not just seeing it on the top of the mountains from afar, but I craved actually surrounding myself in it like when I grew up in Wisconsin.
The two local options for snow are Big Bear at the ski resort, or to the Palm Springs aerial tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto (tram drop off at 8500 ft elevation, mountain top at 10,300 ft elevation). We chose the tram and had a lot of fun!
The tram itself moves through multiple climate zones which they liken to traveling from the desert in Mexico (base) to the mountains of the arctic (top). It rotates while traveling up the mountain so you get 360 views without any effort. And it is the world's largest rotating tramcar. It was, in a nutshell, worth the entrance fee and ride to get to the top of the mountain.
Walking through the snow was a blast too! It was icy so we opted for 'Yak Trax' shoe grippers instead of snowshoes. The Yak Trax made a huge difference and gave us enough traction that we didn't feel like we were slipping and sliding. We were surrounded by a few other nature trail walkers and hikers. But the majority of people were there to go sledding with their children. They sell sleds at the tram gift shop, and there were a lot of people having tons of fun. It was fun just watching them slide through the snow and ice.
Temperature-wise, it was in the 50's at the top of the mountain so it wasn't that cold. The ice/snow hangs around because it gets below freezing at night and there is a lot of it for the sun to melt.
This is definitely one place that I plan on re-visiting someday, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who wants a little refreshing break from the heat and desert below!
