Tag Archives: aspen

Plans Change

I had originally intended to hit the road this afternoon for points east of the Sierra crest for another round of aspen color (and other subjects) photography… but I changed my mind within the past 48 hours or so. Why? Several reasons, actually:

  • Folks who are currently in the eastern Sierra and whose reports I follow are saying that the aspen color situation is still a bit difficult this season. As I expected, the highest groves are mostly devoid of leaves at this point and, oddly, many of the lower level groves have not shown signs of great color yet either. I’m not at all certain that another drive up there today would gain me better opportunities than I had during the past few weeks.
  • With that in mind, the idea of another 600-800+ miles of driving is a bit less attractive (to put it mildly!) than it might otherwise be.
  • I want to find some time to more thoroughly go over the aspen and other photographs that I’ve made during the past few weeks – so far I’ve only had a chance to “pick off” the most obvious keepers, and I know there are others there that require a closer look.
  • I want to make some prints this weekend!
  • I want to attend a concert this weekend at which the orchestra (of which my wife is a member) performs a few favorite pieces.

So, with all of this to consider, I’m going to put far less mileage on my car this weekend – though I may just make up for it the following week!

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit

Aspen Leaves Near Conway Summit. Sierra Nevada, California. September 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen leaves take on fall colors in the middle of a grove near Conway Summit, California.

This is more or less my first autumn aspen color photograph of the 2009 season. Near the end of September I was in the Sierra for a few days, mostly to backpack into Cathedral Lakes for a bit of photography – but after emerging from that trip I had just enough time for a quick trip over Tioga Pass to the “east side” near Lee Vining and then around Conway Summit and Virginia Lake.

In the past I’ve found that the aspens up high on the road to Virginia Lake seem to change fairly early, and they have often lost their leaves even while trees elsewhere are still in good condition. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to try to make an early trip up this road. As you start up the Virginia Lake Road from Conway Summit you soon begin to pass some fairly large groves of aspen trees. The first grove, along the right side of the road, was still almost completely green. However, just up the road from here and on the left side is another grove at the turn-off for a gravel road – and this grove was in great shape. Many of the leaves had turned golden, and a few had turned hues of red and orange. At the same time there were still quite a few green leaves and only a few leaves had fallen.

As the sun dropped closer to the high ridge of the Sierra crest above Virginia Lake, the east side of this grove began to fall into shade – which can be the best of conditions for photographing the intense colors of these leaves.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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(Yet Another) Quick Eastern Sierra Fall Aspen Color Note

Based on what I observed during my visit to the eastern Sierra last weekend and on what I’m hearing from others who visited and who may be visiting now, a few quick observations, predictions, and thoughts:

  • Most of the higher elevation trees are likely to have lost their leaves by this weekend – if you shoot there look for the stark quality of bare aspen groves and perhaps a few lingering trees.
  • For this weekend, I suspect that middle elevation trees may be your best bet. Last weekend it looked like trees at the 8000′ elevation and a bit lower might be starting to pick up color, especially those in somewhat more exposed locations.
  • The consensus among a number of folks whose reports I follow seems to be that some of the areas that generally change later may be best a week or more from now. (For me these include spots like Lee Vining Canyon and Lundy Canyon.) To state it directly, some are suggesting that the weekend of October 17-18 may provide some interesting low-elevation color.
  • Overall, the the grand cycles of nature in the eastern Sierra, a number of us are thinking that this may well not go down in the records as the most astonishing year for aspen color.
  • There are always other great subjects to shoot in the eastern Sierra. Trees down in Owens Valley and other high desert areas are changing colors; the eastern face of the range provides may wonderful photographic opportunities; aspens can be photogenic even when they are not bright red, orange, yellow, and gold; a dusting of snow on the higher peak – not unusual at all this time of year – provides some great images.
  • Keep in mind that even when the whole eastern Sierra is not lit up by wild aspen colors, all you have to do is find one spot that is.

There are no guarantees when it comes to figuring out what nature will do. Consult as many reports as you can find, watch the weather, be flexible, and hope for the best.

UPDATE: Do keep a careful eye on the weather early next week. Based on current predictions there is a very good chance that the first significant storm of the season may sweep across the state, and this could easily lead to extended closures of high passes.

More Eastern Sierra Aspen Color Conditions

I returned very late last night (Sunday, 10/4/ 2009) from a weekend trip to the eastern Sierra to photograph fall aspen colors. It was, as they say, an “interesting” experience – in many ways not quite typical but in others not totally surprising either.  On Saturday I posted “Bishop Creek Aspen Conditions – 10/3/09”  in the early afternoon, so this report takes up where that one left off.

After posting that first report from Starbucks in Bishop I drove back up into the Bishop Creek drainage. After getting a camp site at the Four Jeffrey campground (now a surprising $21/night!) I headed up the road toward South Lake to do some late afternoon and evening photography. The weather was not fully cooperative, to say the least! The predicted high winds were arriving in the eastern Sierra, and I think that anyone can understand the “perfect storm” of low light, high winds, and fluttering aspen leaves! I was still able to work with the conditions and get some interesting stuff, though it was a real challenge. To avoid writing the same thing twice, I’ll hold off on the description of the aspen conditions and cover that below as I describe Sunday shooting.

My final stop on Saturday night before putting the camera away for the day was at South Lake, where the wind was howling and the light was fading fast and the temperature was dropping. As I arrived two rather cold-looking backpackers flagged me down and asked, with a certain amount of intensity, if I would drive them down to Bishop. It turned out that they had just finished a 22 mile day, coming from just below Mather Pass, and were exhausted. Realizing that it was time to recharge my own supply of backpacker hitchhiking karma (e.g. – sometimes I need a ride back to my car!) I agreed to squeeze them into the car and drive them down to Bishop. Continue reading More Eastern Sierra Aspen Color Conditions