The Levee Road. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Autumn sunshine breaks through the morning fog along a gravel road following a Central Valley levee.
California’s Great Central Valley, comprised of the San Joaquin Valley to the south of the Delta and the Sacramento Valley extending to the north, is a more complex and rich place than we might imagine, especially those of us who so often simply use the valley as a route to go somewhere else. We drive it heading north to Oregon and Washington, south to Los Angeles, or east/west between the coast and the mountains and deserts. As a result, we mostly see it at 70mph from roadways, or during rest and meal stops at interchanges. But get away from the main routes and slow down a bit and there are surprises. One surprise is just how much water plays into this landscape… and its politics. Along the major river drainages, especially where there is agriculture (which is practically everywhere) the allocation and control of water is a very big thing. In fact, this levee road is just one small example of something much larger.
I was out on this road recently, enjoying a late-fall foggy morning and searching out migratory wildlife. These fall and winter tule fog days are my favorites in the valley, though I can certainly understand that they aren’t usually viewed with enthusiasm. They can make driving treacherous and can affect residents’ moods. But they also produce beautiful and mysterious effects on the landscape. One of the most beautiful and most transitory effects comes when the shallow but thick fog begins to clear — the air is still obscured and soft clouds are everywhere, but beams of gentle light begin to move across the landscape.
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.
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