First Fall Color. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An eastern Sierra Nevada aspen grove with first signs of autumn color.

One of the risks of starting my annual Eastern Sierra fall aspen color hunt a bit early is that I just might arrive too early for the color! That was mostly the case this year, when I made my first aspen-focused trip right at the beginning of October. The timing of the color transition can vary a bit from year to year, but I usually bet on the start of widespread color coming near the end of the first week of the month. Last year it came earlier — I photographed large groves of small trees at a location near the Sierra near the end of September, and I found good color close to the start of the month. That experience led me to start early this year.

There was some color when I arrived on October 2, but it was not widespread. Some of the higher elevation “scrub aspen” growing on rocky soil were changing to yellow, but most of the larger trees were still green. There were a few notable exceptions where groves had changed. More common were sights like this one — mostly green trees, leaning toward the lighter “lime green” color that comes before the transition, plus a few actual yellow leaves. This particular grove presented me with a special lighting situation. The trees were in the shaded bottom of a deep canyon, but across the canyon and beyond my camera position there was a large open slope that lay in direct sunlight. This rocky terrain reflected the warmer-colored light directly into the grove, giving a bit more light to the trees along its edge.

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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East Slope Canyon, Autumn. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspens carpet the lower reaches of an Eastern Sierra Nevada canyon.

The eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada is remarkable, with peaks rising abruptly by as much as 10,000 feet above the valleys to the east of the range. In summer you might start your morning in what amounts to a high desert town, drive to a 9,000 foot trailhead, and before day ends cross a 12,000 foot pass — or, if you are especially immune to pain, summit a 14,000 foot peak. During most summers you can look up from those valley towns to see such things as snow fields or impressive summer thunderstorms.

Huge canyons cut into these eastern slopes. Most have glacial origins, which are still visible in the form of lateral and terminal moraines extending into the slopes below the base of the range. In fall many of these canyons are carpeted with the (mostly) golden color of transitional aspens, beginning along creeks in the canyon bottoms and ascending the rocky slopes. I have backpacked up this canyon during this period, passing from the larger trees at the trailhead, through dry sagebrush country above, and then through groves of small trees before ascending into the subalpine zone.

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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Aspens and Conifers. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspen trees among conifers at the base of cliffs in reflected light.

After photographing at another location earlier in the morning we headed back to this narrow section of canyon where the tall walls blocked the sunlight until hours after sunrise. We wanted to photograph here in the soft light of the shadows, and we knew that we’d have plenty of time to arrive later. We passed by other areas of lovely soft light in the canyon before arriving at this spot and, thinking we had plenty of time, we stopped to photograph here before heading back… and discovering that those other shaded areas were now in the sun! (We came back the next day to try a second time at those locations.)

Often these smaller aspens that live high up on very rock slopes seem to change colors a bit earlier than the larger trees that live in less exposed areas. Some of the talus-loving trees are so small that they look more like bushes — I refer to them as “scrub aspens.” A few of the trees in this scene are almost that small, though others appear to have lived long enough in this location to develop substantial trunks. The lighting here was complex. Much of it came directly from the blue sky and, as is often the case in the shadows, there was a lot of blue. But additional light was reflected into the scene from the other side of the canyon, where a large, rocky slope faced directly into the sun .

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 | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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