Yes, there is snow in Arizona, and it isn’t hard to find.

To everyone that says Arizona has only one season, summer, they are almost entirely correct (Arizona averages 300 sunny days every year). I am usually the first to get excited for the valley to warm up in the spring, but the kids have been talking about playing in the snow a lot lately, so in the spirit of a well rounded upraising, we went on the hunt. As usual, it was a warm sunny morning, and like every good road trip we started at the local Starbucks; White Mocha Latte’s for the adults, and banana nut bread for the kids. At this point, it was so nice outside that I was starting to prep the kids for the possibility of us not seeing any snow.

Things to keep in mind:

  1. Good tires, please don’t get caught in the snow with bald summer compounds.
  2. Snow boots for the kids, they won’t have fun if their feet are wet and cold; we got ours for $7 at Goodwill.
  3. Water, the high altitude will make your body work more than you expect.
  4. Give the kids the freedom to explore.
Putting those red Hunter boots to good use

I was wrong! just a few minutes past Strawberry, AZ we started to see patches of snow on the north side of hills. We found a pull-of next to an opening in the trees, just big enough to let the kids run around. We were the first to set tracks there, though this was no fresh powder, but to be honest, that was not a bad thing; the harder thawed/refrozen texture allowed the kids to walk on it without sinking down to their knees.

That would be my kid, throwing snowballs through my window as I’m trying to fly the drone… he was very proud of his accomplishments

Fresh air and adventure is all the kids needed. Running around, throwing rocks in a frozen pond, making snowballs; as a result Savannah and I were able to relax a good bit ourselves.