“Good luck and good work for the happy mountain raindrops, each one of them a high waterfall in itself, descending from the cliffs and hollows of the clouds to the cliffs and hollows of the rocks, out of the sky-thunder into the thunder of the falling rivers. Some, falling on meadows and bogs, creep silently out of sight to the grass roots, hiding softly as in a nest, slipping, oozing hither, thither, seeking and finding their appointed work.”
-John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (1911)
What a year for water! I was back on Figueroa Mountain this last Monday and hiked down to the Sisquoc River via the Sulphur Creek Trail. There was still snow on the backsides of the peaks along the San Rafael Mountains around McKinley Mountain. Not bad for late May in our neck of the woods.
I had noted back in late March, Santa Barbara County 163% of Normal For Rainfall, and now CalTrout is reporting snow melt in the northern, central and southern Sierra to be 253%, 195% and 178% of normal, respectively.
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 
The amount of rain/snowfall this year was amazing. The high Sierras look like they’ll have snow hanging on well into summer and some intense river crossings over the next month or two.
Locally, it’s looking good for our creeks and swimming holes to be well-supplied with water late into summer. I’ve got a couple of swimming holes out off the Sisquoc in mind that just might be worth visiting this summer. The local SB hiking season looks like it’s gonna’ be doing overtime this year. Yah!