Eastern Sierra Foothills, Autumn Aspens. Sierra Nevada, California. October 1, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small grove of autumn aspens is dwarfed by eastern Sierra foothill terrain

This is another Sierra Nevada autumn photograph, though the aspens take a smaller role in this one. The eastern base of the Sierra is a fascinating place. In some locations one can almost precisely locate the base of the range, where steep mountains or cliffs plunge directly into the alluvial fans at the base of the range. In several of these spots I have descended from the crest on long pack trips and walked to the “edge of the Sierra” to suddenly find myself in what feel like high desert terrain. In other locations the transition is more gradual, such as this location where the north-south highway reaches 8000′ of elevation or higher, putting this country in the same elevation range as many High Sierra meadows.

Here the junction with the range is more gradual, with high desert mountains and hills seeming to merge with the eastern extent of the Sierra and occasionally marked by huge rocky outcroppings and here and there cut by the ancient paths of glaciers. At the base of the hills in this photograph a couple of small groves of aspens manage to find a place in what is otherwise sage brush high desert, hinting at the forests to be found at higher elevations.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.