Living in the snow.

[Nolena]

[Zarn]

Wow!!!! I did get a lot of responses... I am soooo going to ski sunrise parking lot to practice driving in the ice.  you will see me in my grey mini van... hahahha.. I will bring the kids, and they can see what its like riding in the car while it's icey.  I will be screaming at them to "BE QUIET!!!! Can't you see that the roads are slick and Im trying to drive???"  We will just practice the whole scenario!!!! I will remember to get my fish at Costco.. and it's good to know these things about Jensen's... I will have a 6th grader at Heritage.. How do you like it there?? I am so excited for her to go there.   I guess it might not be a bad idea to try a preschool in phelan, since I will be going to drop off my Heritage student also.. Does anyone know of any Christian preschools in the area?  Does the methodist church have one??  
After reading all of these posts, I am amazed at the town of WW.. Is this place great or what??

[Zarn]

Those stupid smileys!!! Can't I just use multiple explanations without having a smiley or sad face?   Guess not!!!!!!!!

[Zarn]

Did I say explanations???  I meant something else.... let's see, what are they called... Im waiting for that person that corrects all of the spelling errors in the posts......

[Wrightwood]

The smiley police better not get you.
It was the 3 question marks in a row that created the unwanted smiley.

Here's three question marks:

[bigpines]

Welcome to Wrightwood  11 years of living on the l.a. county side and driving down the hill to work.  We put snow tires on all our cars. No studs on the tires, they are illegal on the highways in calif.   I've never put chains on.  (tire rack .com).  

Napa has deicer that you can use on your windows in the am.  I love that stuff.  Can't reach all of the truck window in the morning to scrape the whole thing.  

A snow blower is nice if you have a big driveway.  We got an excellent one at the hardware store.  Grain shovels are great for shoveling snow.  

If you have young ones, make a snowman or whatever and fill a spray bottle with water and koolaide mix and make a colorful snowman.  We used to make dinosaurs and such in the yard.  Cheap thrill.

Pray for snow

[KathySC]

We are firm believers in AWD - no decision to make, it's there for you all the time.

The first year we lived here we got a jeep with AWD, but were also driving our regular Astro Van. I tried to drive up Cardinal and couldn't go anywhere - had to slide back down until I could get some traction again.  Couldn't get the car up our driveway either.  We're now on our 2nd AWD Astro Van.  

There has only been 1 day in the 12 years we've lived here that we couldn't have made it down the hill - and we were too busy have fun shoveling 4-5 ft. snow to go anywhere anyway.  (We always tell everyone we don't want to drive in the rain, that's what's not safe)

My husband had a problem once when the tires just started to wear on one of the cars - he slid.  So he immediately got new tires and now makes sure they are replaced well ahead of what we would have done down the hill.

I take Heath Creek down instead of Sheep Creek when it is icy - not as steep and not as many cars.  

Remember while you are driving everywhere so carefully you will come across the special people who do not have to worry about driving slowly and staying in control.  Your goal is to spot them and stay away from them.

Make sure you have FLASHLIGHTS.  When we first moved up here, we seemed to lose power more in storms.  Rarely happens anymore, but since our storms are usually heralded by big winds I wouldn't be surprised if Edison cut our power sometime during the season (as they keep warning us)

It is so beautiful and quiet when it snows - I'm sure you're going to love it.

[Zarn]

Oh, if I hadn't paid too much money for my Astro Van!!!  I think they will give me much less than what I owe.. and Im not going to like driving it in the ice... I know it.  Oh well.. live and learn.  I say that so often that I wonder if Im learning anything!  Anyway, We have a driveway that slopes down, but enough space at the top to park... (no garage, YET) I hope we don't regret that decision... not having a garage.  My husband is a contractor, and swares we will have one.  That could be a while. In the meantime, I'll get the de-icer.... scrapers, and maybe a few big brooms and shovels. I won't mind doing all of this work, because every morning I will have coffee next to a beautiful view of the mountains. It's worth it!! I didn't know Astro Vans had an AWD option... I heard that they closed that road from Phelan to WW because so many people died... what was that all about ?? I would think that with so many accidents every year, WW would get serious about the speed limits.  Do we even see police in WW???

[Nolena]

C.H.P. was hanging out on Highway 2 yesterday.

[Ensen]

Yeh.  We need more.  And DUI checkpoints.  But that's off topic.  When there has been significant snowfall in the past, a cop was nowhere to be found.  I'm sure they're usually busy with accidents and road closures.  Besides, even a reckless driver can't get close to the speed limit when there is significant snow on the ground.

[Zarn]

I love that about WW.. The fact that you don't see a police car every five minutes when you are driving is very comforting!! So peaceful, you forget that your not on vacation.  I am so excited to take a permanent vacation.  I told my husband that every morning I would be so happy to see that view.. I'll put on my bear suit and gloves and go out and have my hot coffee... Then i'll shovel the snow.
Anyway, I hear of so many accidents.. Is it the speed limit?  Or is it that people break the speed limit... Is it mainly people that are visiting during the ski season that are causing accidents?  Realistically, is it just the weather??

[Islip]

It's people driving too fast and carelessly.

[kawasaki_girl]

Plus, factor in that they are unfamiliar with the roads, possibly, and those turns come up on you real quick. If you hear sirens a lot, it is usually for Mt. High.

[ezzpete]

i'm just kinda wondering! i live on Apple, what time do they come through here and plough in the AM. i leave for work at 4:30 any chance they come before that?

[ezzpete]

[Zarn]

Ya!! I was wondering also what time they plow the roads? Especially hwy 2.

[Wrightwood]

There isn't any particular time frame when a road is plowed. I'm sure someone will post that this road or that road is plowed by a certain time.

Snow is plowed when the County or Caltrans equipment is in the area, crews have time and the road needs plowing. Hwy 2, Hwy 138 and I15 are taken care of by Caltrans as they are state highways with all other local roads belonging to SB County.

Generally speaking main roads in town are taken care of first such as Hwy 2, Apple and Lone Pine Canyon. Other streets are plowed when they get time to plow them.

The amount of snow plowing depends on how much money is available for either county or state crews. There have been times when the county has stated that they will not plow a street unless there is at least 6" of snow because they didn't have the money. Over the years I have seen times that plows do the same street 5 times in row with no snow present, while other times 12" of snow never gets plowed.

When a big storm hits it's possible that roads in town may not be plowed for the better part of a day because they just don't have enough manpower to keep up. It's rare when that takes place and overall SB County and Caltrans does an excellent job on keeping local roads cleared.

[BikingBrian]

Welcome to Wrightwood  11 years of living on the l.a. county side and driving down the hill to work.  We put snow tires on all our cars. No studs on the tires, they are illegal on the highways in calif.

Have you seen this from the CHP website?
http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/answers.html

I have studded tires installed on my vehicle. Are they legal in California? When?

The California Vehicle Code [Section 27454 (e)], permits studded tires to be used on vehicles between November 1 and April 30 of each year. The number of studs or the percentage of metal in contact with the roadway cannot exceed three percent of the total tire area in contact with the roadway.

Since there could be some confusion on this issue, you may wish to write to the CHP. That way you will receive an official response that you can carry in your vehicle. The mailing address is:

California Highway Patrol
Office of Public Affairs
P. O. Box 942898
Sacramento, CA  94298-0001

[BikingBrian]

Generally speaking main roads in town are taken care of first such as Hwy 2, Apple and Lone Pine Canyon.

When they do LPC, which route do they plow to get to Thrush to get over the wash: Sheep Creek or Heath Creek?

[GetFiddlePlayer]