There are few sights more beautiful and spectacular than a shoulder-season sunrise on the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada. Believe me, it is well worth getting up long before sunrise and putting on all of your warm clothes! Many of the best views on these mornings are from a distance away from the base of the mountains, where you have a clear view that stretches from the high desert at the base of the range right on up to rugged, snow-covered summits.
While my main goal for heading out there in late September and early October is to photograph the changing fall colors, the light and atmosphere change, too as summer fades and autumn arrives. When I went there on this visit I had just returned from two-and-a-half months of overseas travel, and I was missing “my Sierra!” I headed into the high country to set up camp, and from there I wandered on foot and by vehicle — and on this morning my wandering took me out into the high desert east of the range before dawn.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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