Green and Yellow Aspens. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 12, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A grove of green and yellow autumn aspen trees in the eastern Sierra Nevada
Since I just spent some days photographing autumn color in the Sierra Nevada, I’m going to interrupt the continuing series of early September Yosemite back-country photographs to share at least one of these recent autumn photographs. I began in the Tahoe area and this year I followed a path partly dictated by a fall color project that I’m working on, heading south through Hope Valley, then over Monitor Pass and continuing on the Bishop Creek area for a day of shooting before working my way back up into areas roughly around the intersection of routes 120 and 395 near Lee Vining.
As much as we all have “our places” to look for aspens, I was reminded again during this little jaunt that you can pretty much go anywhere in the Sierra or along its eastern slopes this time of year and quickly find tons of autumn color. I have a few favorites, indeed, and I understand that those just discovering the fall colors may want to go to “sure bet” places, but I’m having more and more fun just poking around and finding color in lots of odd little places. This location is very close to an area where many, many people were stopped to photograph some very spectacular color in a well-known place — but here, just a ways down the road, I was the only person shooting as cars whizzed past on their way to those other places.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Hi Dan,
I had a wonderful time photographing the Eastern Sierra last year during the second week of October (and as a Floridian, I especially enjoyed driving over Conway Summit during the snowstorm that hit).
This year a work conference is taking me to Monterey the last week of October. I plan to take a few days after the conference to head to the Eastern Sierra. I assume the aspens will have completely dropped their leaves by then, or might they still be patchy? That said, I’m sure there will be plenty of color from other trees such as the cottonwoods.
Good morning, Blake.
The aspen color show in California will be over by then, I’m afraid. It started almost two weeks ago, and probably has another week to go before most of the low elevation aspen color runs out. As you point out, there are other sources of color in the low country to the east of the Sierra, including the cottonwood trees.
However, the timing of your trip might provide another interesting option. For a short time right at the end of October and at the very beginning of November (the timing can vary a bit) there is usually some very good color in Yosemite Valley — from maples, dogwoods, oaks, and more. I try to visit each year at about that time. This color isn’t limited to The Valley, and you can also find it in other locations in the western Sierra foothills.
Dan