Although my main weekend photographic activity involved a short pack trip into the Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite (more later on that), I did manage a quick Sunday afternoon visit to some aspens in the Tioga Pass, Lee Vining, Conway Summit area. With that in mind, here is a short report on what I saw.
- Tioga Pass – As you head east over Tioga Pass you begin to enter the “aspen zone” of the eastern Sierra. (There are aspens west of the crest, but very few in this area and fewer still along the road.) There are some specimens turning colors in roughly the Ellery Lake area, but the first really colorful trees are near the far end of the section of the road the traverses the headwall of Lee Vining Canyon. These are small trees, but some are quite colorful right now – with other still-green trees promising a bit more color yet to come. From this area I could also see more aspens (and other fall foliage) on higher ridges above the canyon.
- Lee Vining Canyon – A bit later the large aspen groves down in Lee Vining Canyon will usually put on quite a show – and many of the trees growing in this lower elevation protected area are quite large. However, yesterday there was very little color down in the canyon. I could see a very few trees starting to turn, but that was about it.
- Lundy Canyon – I did not enter Lundy Canyon on this trip since I had another goal in mind – so what I can report is based entirely on what I could see while driving by on highway 395. High on the ridges above Lundy Canyon there are some very colorful groves of trees. There appeared to also be some down closer to the entrance of the canyon. (I’ll post more concrete information about Lundy as soon as I can find it. Typically Lundy Canyon peaks a bit later than some of the other areas.)
- Conway Summit – The huge groves of aspens right below the highway to the north of Conway Summit are barely starting to turn colors. I saw a very small number of yellow trees right near the road but the vast majority of the trees here still appear to be green. This bodes well for conditions in a week or so. However, the long view toward Dunderberg Meadow from here shows that the higher trees are changing and colors there may be peaking. (I could not investigate these upper groves more closely since the car I was driving is not equipped for travel on rough gravel roads.) South of Conway Summit there are some large and not very accessible groves that are turning colors quite dramatically, but it is next to impossible to find a place to pull over and photograph them.
- Virginia Lake – The road to Virginia Lake leaves right from Conway Summit. Based on my visits in previous seasons, the trees along this road, especially up higher, tend to be among earliest to show color and then drop their leaves. I have arrived too late more than once! Yesterday, however, there were many trees showing very good color even along the upper sections of the road. There are also still a good number of green trees, so this show is probably not quite over. The first groves you come to shortly after leaving Conway Summit are currently at different stages of color. There is a parking area along the right side of the road in this area, and the trees parallel to the turnout on the right as you ascend are almost entirely green. However, across the road and just a bit further up there is a large and colorful grove where I photographed. Although there are still green trees here, there are also a few trees that have lost quite a few leaves. Another grove a bit higher alongside a creek at an obvious bend in the road is starting to look quite colorful, though the number of green trees suggests that there is still some good color to come.
UPDATE: For first time visitors to my site arriving via this page… I have posted several other notes on aspen hunting during the 2009 season:
- Michael Frye on fall photography in Yosemite and the Sierra
- The aspen hunters network
- A few notes on Sierra Nevada fall color progress
- Eastern Sierra Aspen Color Reports Starting (9/24/09)
- More Links to Current Eastern Sierra Fall Aspen Color Reports
- Keeping an Eye on Eastern Sierra Weather
Enjoy!
Geoff, two weeks from now is a bit on the late side, but you should still be able to find some color. By that time it is almost certain that the high elevation trees will have lost their leaves, and the color will have likely worked it way down to much lower elevations. On the positive side, some of the lower groves contain much larger trees! Lower and more sheltered areas like Lee Vining Canyon, Lundy Canyon and similar can have some wonderful color a week and a half and more into October – and there are many other areas along the edge of Owens Valley that can also be in great shape.
Dan
I was supposed to be up in Mammoth & Bishop Creek this last weekend, but had to postpone for 2 weeks.
First I was worried I would be going to early for the color, now I’m worried it’ll be too late. I’ll keep following along though.
Hi Greg:
Yes, the general impression I’m getting from some of the other reports I’ve seen is that colors may be changing faster further south – though it is sometimes difficult to sort out the individual impressions from the background of normal variations in timing. From my very brief foray into the area around Lee Vining I’d have to say that my observations were a bit mixed:
It will be interesting to scan through a lot of on-the-scene reports from this past weekend this evening.
Dan
This is great news; thanks Dan! Looks like my time up there in a couple of weeks will be spent further north, which I’m OK with.
Also, glad you made it up to the Sierra after the debacle last week.