A boulder in the midst of early autumn aspen color in the Eastern Sierra Nevada
Besides being an example of relatively bright color, this little aspen scene may reveal a few other things to close viewers. The colors range almost across the entire spectrum of aspen color, from the green or trees that have not yet turned, through the typical brilliant golden-yellow, and in between some orange and even a bit of red. These are rather small trees, growing on very rocky soil, the environment where the trees frequently begin to turn first.
The slope is perhaps not remarkable among many other similar slopes that are also covered with aspens. But for some reason — it may be an accidental turn I took near here years ago — this little section of an east side valley seems special to me, so much so that I have to make a sort of ritual passage past and through it when I’m in the area. This photograph was made close to the middle of September, which seems early for Eastern Sierra aspen color. But after several drought years the trees are not behaving according to the familiar plan. Yet, there is still a lot of green, too, which promises several weeks of developing color to come.
Smoke layers from a nearby wildfire drift across Mono Basin at dawn
Late summer and early fall are the wildfire season in California and especially in the areas around the Sierra Nevada. (That statement used to be more accurate than it is these days, as drought and anthropic climate change have now extended the fire season in the state.) Like most people who spend time in the outdoors I have complicated responses to wildfire. I hate to see forests and wild lands destroyed, especially by some of the recent super-hot fires that have done more serious damage. At the same time I fully understand that fire is a natural and even necessary component of the natural life in these areas. In recent years I have tried to find beauty alongside the destruction, and it has opened my eyes to seeing fire in different ways.
During my recent mid-September Sierra Nevada photography jaunt, mainly focused on visiting a few high places and scouting early aspen color, a very smoky fire broke out in the Owens River area. I first spotted in while driving down from Yosemite in the evening after a backcountry hike, and the next morning there was a big cloud of smoke over the lands southeast of Lee Vining. Mono Lake was still mostly clear, except at the south end, but beautiful layers of smoke were beginning to drift across the lake before and during sunrise, muting details and rendering more clearly some of the larger elements of the landscape. I moved around the lake and surrounding areas looking for vantage points for several hours, until eventually the smoke-filled Mono Basin so much that I decided to leave.
A group of harbor seals hauled out on a beach at Point Lobos State Reserve
When I was very young, shortly after my parents moved the family from Minnesota to the San Francisco Bay Area of California, we used to periodically visit Point Lobos on the Monterey Peninsula, located at the very upper boundary of what some call the Big Sur coast. We were fascinated by the ocean itself and by the strange life we could find in the tide pools, by the birds on “bird island,” and by the rugged cliffs. I especially remember one small and pristine beach we often visited, in a very narrow cove and accessed by a steep stairway. I also recall that there were “seals,” but I don’t remember seeing a lot of them — somehow they weren’t really on my radar.
I have continued to visit Point Lobos for decades now, and I eventually became more away for the marine mammals that frequent the place. I learned where they hand out, and I found certain overlooks from which I could observe them. I figured out that not only had I been less than aware of these creatures, but that they come in colors! I have no idea how I missed that, but I recall the it may only have been a decade ago when I understood that the harbor seals are really quite beautiful — as you can see in this photograph, their mottled fur ranges from black to white-tan to somewhat blue. On a recent winter visit I found that little beach my family visited was now closed, and that a large group of these animals had made it their own.
Even though the calendar reports that a few days of summer still remain, and the thermometer here in the San Francisco Bay Area still reads hot enough for summer, the annual autumn color show is now underway in the Sierra Nevada. I’m just back from four days “over there,” and I’d like to share a bit of what I saw, along with a few hunches about where things might go over the next few weeks. (Disclaimer: Predicting fall color is very much an inaccurate science — kind of like predicting the outcome of the playoff games before they begin. Over the years I’ve been surprised many times, and we really won’t know how this year’s color plays out until it happens.)
Early fall color from aspens on rocky slopes in the Eastern Sierra Nevada
Between September 16 and 19 I visited the Yosemite around Tuolumne Meadows, a few spots well east of the Sierra with views back toward the range, the Mono Basin, US 395 between Conway Summit (just north of Mono Lake) and Bishop Canyon, and Bishop Canyon itself.
Acknowledging the risk of pronouncing this to be an “Early Aspen Season This Year!”, I’m going out on a limb and saying that it did seem like some of the color is progressing on an early than usual schedule. I usually wouldn’t both seriously hunting for aspen color in the Sierra this early, but I found a number of places with color worthy of photographing. In fact, I had the joy of photographing alone in some locations that will be overrun by photographers in a few weeks! (To be clear, and as I’ll clarify below, there are still lots of very green trees!)
For example, the photograph above was made up in Bishop Canyon at between 8000′ and 9000′ in a place that I visit every year. While these particular trees are often among the earliest in the area to change colors, seeing almost an entire slope of yellow/gold this soon is not what I would expect.
Most of the early color comes from small aspens, growing at relatively higher elevations, and often on what seems to be margins terrain — in very rocky areas, along talus slopes, and it areas that are typically dry. There is some extensive color in some areas east of the Sierra, areas that are drier and tend to support the smaller “scrub” aspen trees.
Would I recommend going up there right now to see the color? Not exactly, though if you do go you’ll be able to find some nice color if you poke around a bit in the usual places, emphasizing the higher and rockier locations. That said, there are still a lot of very green trees, and the vast majority of the bigger and taller trees are essentially still completely green. This is especially true in the low elevation canyons, where the trees often grow larger and are sheltered more from the elements.
When will the rest of the trees change? Good question! I don’t know, but I have some hunches. Typically they would get their color after the start of October, and some years ago I would look for the best color beginning a few days into October and continuing through the second week and possibly a bit later as the final good color comes to large, low elevation aspens. My thinking this year is that last year’s (2015) pattern may be a guide to this year as well. Color last year also started a bit early. Last year it also looked like some trees were stressed by the prolonged drought. But in 2015 many of the bigger trees in areas perhaps less affected by drought seemed to change on almost their typical previous schedule. This meant that at any given moment it might have been a bit harder to find the “perfect grove,” but that the season actually lasted longer due to the early start.
Speaking for myself, if I had a choice between going early in the usual time frame (starting near the beginning of October) and going later (say at the end of the second week of the month) I would be more inclined to gamble on the early time rather than the later this year. In round numbers, perhaps aiming of the first week of October would be a good bet — though I’m also confident that, barring weather surprises, there will still be color at lower elevations and among the largest trees later on, too.
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.
