Thanks for the comments -- and yes, we did have fun. And we have seen white sparkly snow all the time. But never gaudy rainbow snow! The article mentioned by Fizz said:
"You may notice some faint colors in the sparkles. As light travels between air and water, the colors in the light separate, much as they do in a rainbow. The sun’s ray can reflect off different surfaces of the crystal. If the sunlight reflects off the back of the ice crystal, the colors may disperse as the light enters and exits the crystal, making those faint colors."
These were not faint -- we were the ones almost fainting. So that is what I am asking -- is it common to see brilliant colors, like chips of jewels scattered on the snow??
2Lazy mentioned extreme cold and low humidity -- that is exactly what was going on. The night before had gotten down to 11 degrees F. (which is very cold for the Sierra), at the 6500 foot level (where we were camped). The photo was taken at the 8000 foot level, which must have been even colder (maybe down to zero or so?). And the air was very dry, so dry that our fingertips were cracking and bleeding. If severe cold and low humidity are the key factors, I would bet that folks in the Yukon see this a lot. It's very odd, though, that there are so few photos on the Internet of this phenomenon.
