Category Archives: Locations

Commentary, Locations

Chasing the Aspens… And a Storm?

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I have plans to photograph the eastern Sierra aspen color this weekend, but it looks like there will be a “bit of weather,” as the first real Pacific weather front of the season will pass through. My first instinct was to perhaps not make the trip since this sort of weather makes things a lot less predictable. But my second instinct – hopefully the better of the two! – was to note that the front will pass and that the conditions may turn out to be a lot more photographically compelling than the usual pre-front weather.

In any case, I’ll have more to report soon – either from on the road or when I return.

Commentary, Locations, News

California Fall Color Season About to Start

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The autumn color season in the Sierra Nevada should start very soon. Actually, if you count – as I do – the dry grasses and the high elevation ground plants going dormant, it has already begun. But the real show is the turning of the aspens, mostly in the eastern Sierra, starting around the very end of September and likely peaking during the first week of the month. If conditions are right, it can last as long as the middle of October, but earlier is always better.

Several web sites have posted fall color guides in the past, and since timing is so critical it is a good idea to follow the as the time approaches. One site that is new to me is a US government site that reports on fall colors nationwide. Another that I’ve often followed in the past is the California Fall Color site, though it doesn’t (yet) appear to be active. In addition, I’ll summarize what I know and what I hear about Sierra fall color once the curtain begins to rise on this year’s show.

Commentary, Locations

Sierra Time Starts Now

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In many ways the best time to visit the Sierra Nevada starts right about now.Half Dome, Dusk - Olmsted Point

The period after the Labor Day Holiday brings wonderful changes to the Sierra. The number of visitors decreases tremendously, and this trend continues through mid-October. The mosquitos – including those who drove me mad at Young Lakes in July! – have virtually disappeared. Almost all of the lush green growth and wildflowers of a month or two ago have gone now – except in a few in wet area – they has been replaced by the beautiful tan, brown, yellow, red, and golden colors of the late season, and these will very soon be augmented by the astonishing colors of the aspens and other fall foliage. The hottest days are behind us, and most days are sunny and comfortable with softer light. The occasional dusting of snow on the peaks reminds us of how close the Sierra winter is.

It is hard to put my finger on precisely the cause, but I always have a feeling that everything relaxes and slows during this period between the end of the summer growth season and the coming of winter. It seems quieter and more peaceful, as if the mountains are settling in to wait for the snow to arrive.

I’ll be there several times during the next two months. I have one very short pack trip scheduled for late September, and I hope to chase the aspens at the end of October and during the first weeks of October. Later in October I plan to go to Yosemite Valley for its beautiful fall color season. And very soon I hope to join a group of photographers who even now are camped on the trail a day out from Tuolumne.

(Photo: Half Dome, Dusk – Olmsted Point. Yosemite National Park, California. October 7, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.)

Commentary, Locations

Eastern Sierra Fall Color 2008 is Coming Soon

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Autumn Sunset, Monitor Pass

While New Englanders will scoff, Californians have their own spectacular fall color display in the eastern Sierra Nevada when the aspens and other trees turn red, orange, yellow, golden, and more around the beginning of October each year.

I’ve been “chasing the aspens” for some years now, and every year at about this time I start to look forward to visiting and photographing them – and I join in the speculation regarding the times of peak color, how the weather may affect this, where to find the best displays, and so forth.

Today’s post is just a reminder that the aspen color is now little more than a month away – I’ll post more on this topic during the next few weeks.

(Photo: Autumn Sunset, Monitor Pass. Sierra Nevada, California. October 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.)