I made it the the eastern Sierra Nevada this weekend to photograph fall colors, and I thought I’d post a trip report for anyone who may be contemplating a similar trip. Judging by the number of photographers I saw, quite a few people may be headed that way!

I left the Bay Area early in the morning – well before dawn – on Saturday, September 30, and headed first toward Hiway 88 and the Carson Pass area. Although my plan was to travel over this pass pretty quickly, stopping only briefly if I saw especially interesting fall colors, it ended up taking me until about 2:00 to get to Markleeville. Yes, the colors were really starting to pop on this route. Before Kirkwood I started seeing scattered colorful stands of aspens and in the last few miles before the pass there were some spectacular trees.

Things only got better after I crossed the pass. While there are still some green trees in Hope Valley (east of the pass) there were lots of spectacularly colorful groves of aspens throughout the valley, including the very colorful stand right below the turnoff to Luther Pass near Sorenson’s. The peak may not have quite arrived there yet, but it can’t be far off.

I continued on down toward Woodfords, passing more aspen stands, and turned right to head up past Markleeville. This is always a beautiful area, though not the best for autumn aspens – some of the trees are colorful, but there were not a lot of them in this area.

I travelled up the canyon beyond Markleeville and turned left to climb up Monitor Pass. Not surprisingly, the trees on this route were quite spectacular. There are more or less small stands on the way up, and there are huge groves nearer the summit of the pass. The best were before the pass where one not only stood in the middle of brilliant golden aspens, but also looked across ridges and valleys to see more stands in the near and far distance. For the most part, I think that this area is nearing its peak – especially up higher – though there are still some green trees waiting to turn. The trees on the pass look good, though they also look a bit beaten by the wind and weather.

Now behind schedule, I drove on down to Hiway 396 and headed south, passing a few cottonwoods that were also starting to go from green to golden – though not much in the way of aspens in this lower portion of the drive. After climbing up out of Walker and getting into higher country once again, I began to see more aspens. Unfortunately for me, it also began to be cloudy, making photography a bit more challenging. Nonetheless, I could see extensive groves of very colorful trees up on the hillsides in the distance after passing through Bridgeport.

I had originally thought of doing a short side trip up toward the valley at the base of Sonora Pass and perhaps visiting the Dunderburg Meadow area as well, but the late hour and the clouds induced me to keep going with only a short break at Conway Summit.

Conway was spectacular, though I think it has a ways to go before reaching its peak. Bright golden stands are intermixed with trees that are still completely green and others that are just beginning to get color – a spectacular site worth stopping for in good light. (For me, this means late afternoon – but not sunset as the light is already gone then at Conway.)

As I descended towards Mono Lake I passed the groves of aspens just past Conway summit – and also, regretfully, did not turn up toward the higher trees here. These trees along the road on the upper descend are also in great shape right now with a bit more color to come, I would guess.

At this point I was becoming aware that I needed to high-tail it south if I wanted to make good on my plan of getting a campsite on Bishop Creek before dark. So I continued on, passing Lee Vining Canyon (which, I discovered yesterday on the way home, is still mostly green – and should be good in a week or so) and driving past the June Lake Loop. I made a brief stop in Bishop for coffee and a quick visit to Vern Clevenger’s new gallery – fortuitously located three doors down from Starbucks! Soon I left town and headed up 168 toward the North Lake, Sabrina Lake, South Lake area.

I only went as far as the South Lake, Sabrina fork in the road and I got a campsite at Four Jeffreys campground – familiar to me from many pre-pack trip camps. Below this elevation (about 8000′) the aspens were not yet doing much, but the colors were certainly changing at this elevation and above, judging by the trees at this campground and those nearby.

After getting a campsite and quickly eating my “dinner” (a fairly barbaric non-cooked meal) I decided to use the waning light to scope out the aspens at Aspendell and above for my early morning photography. While the aspens in Aspendell were still almost completely green, the show began right above town. The view looking up-canyon from here was filled with golden aspens – though the effect was a bit muted by the late hour and the overcast. The trees kept getting more colorful above here, with the exception of a few exposed areas where the wind had removed leaves from the trees. The narrower areas of the road passed through tunnels of aspen trees. I arrived at Sabrina Lake to see some colorful aspens on the far shore and along the left side of the lake.

I hadn’t planned on taking any pictures here, giving the late hour and cloudiness, but I stopped at the lake and got my gear out anyway. I wandered on across the spillway and took a few long exposures of the lake and the peaks at the upper end… and then turned around to see one of the most brilliant illuminated clouds over Owens Valley that I have ever seen. I and the one other photographer who was there at this late (and cold!) hour quickly turned and got some photos of this before it faded a minute or two later. I left the lake and headed back to my camp.

I was up well before dawn on Sunday to drive back up to Sabrina for the first light. Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing as the sky was almost completely overcast. There was some faint color in the east, but it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. However, I was able to spend some of the time working on closer photos of aspens below the day – close shots in the groves are a decent strategy in “poor” light. After an hour or more I was about ready to leave and try another location and I started to walk back across the spillway. By chance I paused to talk to a few other photographers on the way, delaying my departure by 10 minutes or so – and the sun began to shine on the upper peaks and then momentarily on much of the scene.

Eventually I did tear myself away and I worked my way slowly back down the road to ward the North Lake turnoff, parking the car and walking back up the road part way, since I think I see better when I’m not behind the wheel of the car. I finally started up the North Lake road, thinking I’d be at the lake in a few minutes. Wrong. Not five minutes up the road I stopped at a nice aspen grove and hiked around a bit to take pictures. I found one scene with a large rock, dry grass, and (duh) aspens that needed better light, so I spent a good amount of time waiting…

Finally I drove on toward North Lake. For the most part the light did not really cooperate with me there, but the trees really are were in great shape. There is a gully extending up toward the ridge that was filled with color, and lines of very bright yellow trees were mixed with the conifer forest on the other side of the canyon. I parked the car and wandered up to the lake – with many, many fisherman – and spent some time photographing aspen trunks and the light came and went. On the drive back down to the main road I stopped again to see if the light on “my rock” had improved, and then took the main road back toward Aspendell.

I decided to drive up toward South Lake before heading back to Bishop. Just above the small village a couple miles up this road the trees were in tremendous shape. (This is in the area of an odd waterfall on the left side of the canyon.) The yellow aspens were extensive and brilliant here, and had not deteriorated in the wind – and there were still green trees that promise to turn soon. There were more spectacular trees as I continued to ascend the canyon and I stopped for many photographs, despite the very difficult light. Sections of this canyon appeared to have been affected by the wind, and there were trees that had lost, or were losing, many of their leaves, especially in the more exposed areas. In general, I’d say that there isn’t a lot left to happen in these upper canyons and that the peak is here or quickly approaching. However, there are still quite a few aspens that have not changed color down a bit lower, closer to 8000′.

It was now getting close to 2:00… and I was getting hungry. I headed down to Bishop to pick up a Schaats sandwich (lunch and dinner…) and then began the drive back toward the Bay Area, heading north on 395. While it had been cloudy all day – with brief sunny interludes – I was still surprised to notice that the clouds were thickening around the peaks and it started to sprinkle. By the time I got to Mammoth, I couldn’t even see the Minarets. I drove the June Lake Loop in light rain – there are quite a few very colorful trees here, though I did not stop in the rain. After rejoining 395 I made a couple of stops, hopeful that I might get lucky with the poor light – the Mono Lake interpretive center, and then Conway Summit again. I managed to get a few shots at Conway in raining and cloudy conditions, but it was obvious that the time had come to head back over the Sierra. I returned via Tioga Pass (40 degrees at the pass, almost no color in Lee Vining Canyon, but color on ridges above) and drove through the park in fading light and rain.

A quick summary of conditions: Carson Pass and Hope Valley were definitely worth a visit. I think that Hope Valley is going to have some color for a bit longer. Monitor Pass had great, colorful stands that appear to be reaching their peak quite soon – and the trees at the pass may have already gone beyond their peak of color. I can’t say much about areas between 395 and Conway Summit, but I did see a lot of color high up in the eastern Sierra here. Conway summit has not yet peaked, and I would guess it would be a good bet for next weekend. Lee Vining Canyon has not really turned yet; June Lake Loop was quite colorful – some parts seem to be at their peak, but I think there may still be color in another week. Bishop Creek was wildly colorful, though a few spots were past their prime and affected by wind. I suspect that the upper areas (North Lake, Sabrina Lake, South Lake areas) are not going to get any more colorful and some portions are past their peak. Lower down the canyon there is still a lot of color to come.

The weather is an interesting variable this year. It was cloudy, rainy at times, and quite windy – and this has had and will have and effect on the trees. In some of the upper, exposed areas of Bishop Peak I had to change strategy from taking pictures of colorful trees to shooting colorful leaves on the ground. This was not the main condition, but things will likely swing that direction more if this week’s weather turns out to be windy and stormy – and that is the current forecast.

Hmmm… I guess that the report wasn’t so brief after all… :-)
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