Tag Archives: sagebrush

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Desert Aspens, Autumn

December 12, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Yellow and orange autumn aspen trees in the high desert terrain of the eastern Sierra Nevada

My “discovery” of Sierra Nevada aspen trees has gone through a number of phases. I was first aware of these trees many years ago, early in my backpacking career, when I frequently encountered the trees and their fluttering leaves along backcountry trails. (To this day, when I think of the green trees, one of the first places that comes to mind is a humble little thicket along the trail to Cathedral Lakes.) It was not until much later, believe it or not, that I made the connection between these trees and the color show that they put on for us in the fall. Perhaps this was because my orientation to the Sierra was from the west side (rather than the east, where the most spectacular aspen displays are arguably located) and because I rarely visited the range during aspen color season, instead going almost exclusively in summer (for camping, hiking, backpacking, and occasional climbing) or winter (for cross-country skiing.)

Perhaps fifteen or twenty years ago I had my first introduction to the “east side.” I know that sounds crazy, especially for someone who has loved the Sierra for a lot longer than that, but somehow it worked out that way. On the bright side, I had the opportunity to discover a whole new aspect of the Sierra at a relatively later point in my life. After “discovering” the precipitous east side of the range, it wasn’t a big step to expand my season a bit to include late September and October, which eventually became my favorite times to be in the range — for aspens of course, but also for beautiful fall weather and the occasional early season storm. More recently, after perhaps a decade of heavy focus on the eastern Sierra aspens each fall, I have begun to turn my eyes further east, to the color along the base of the range and in the mountains to the east of the Sierra, where the trees often grow in spare, dry surroundings.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Sagebrush and Aspens

November 6, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sparse, colorful aspen trees in the high sagebrush country east of the Sierra Nevada.

Back in October I made my annual trek to the east side of the Sierra Nevada to photograph autumn subjects, including but not limited to aspen trees in their fall colors. As often happens at this time of the year, we encountered a wide range of conditions ranging from beautiful sunny days to one day on which it snowed the entire time as we drove over the crest and down highway 395. Overall, this turned out to be a fine year for aspen color, though it was not exactly a typical year. The color came a bit early and seemed to change quickly in a number of areas. Even though many of us were concerned that the past two years of California drought – perhaps combined with the effects of global climate changes – might have reduced the colors, in the end the effect was simply to change the timing a bit. (And long time aspen photographers know that, in a sense, there really is no such thing as a “typical season” for aspen color.)

The final day of our five-day visit was a diverse one, and it took us to a range of quite different locations. It started in Mammoth Lakes, where we were surprised to find that it was snowing lightly when we left our motel in the pre-dawn darkness and headed out into Long Valley. After stopping there to photograph the morning snow flurries along the eastern Sierra, we continued to the east and drove all the way to Benton before turning around and heading back toward Mono Lake, investigating the interesting fall color in this less-visited area. As we reached highway 395 again we found that the snow was continuing to fall along the eastern escarpment here, too. We stopped in Lee Vining for a (very) late breakfast and decided to continue on to the north. After a stop to photograph the vast stands of aspens on the summit north of Lee Vining, it looked like the weather might be photographically interesting out toward Bodie, so we headed that direction. I photographed this little high desert valley with its small stands of autumn aspens momentarily illuminated as cloud shadows raced across the landscape. Mono Lake and the surrounding mountains are visible in the distance.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Desert Aspens

November 3, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The golden leaves of a small grove of autumn aspen trees against the rolling hills of high desert sagebrush country

As I have photographed the beautiful autumn color displays of the eastern (and not so eastern) Sierra Nevada aspens, I have thought more about variations on this location theme. There is no question that there are very beautiful aspen trees up high in the eastern Sierra, and I go there every fall to photograph them. There are high elevation stands of interestingly twisted smaller trees, dense stands in lower and sheltered areas, some examples of big stands of tall and straight trees, and more. I have some favorites that I return to every autumn, and I still find new ways to see them and photograph them.

However, I’m also starting to think more about some slightly different opportunities for aspen photography that aren’t all that far from these familiar places and which present the trees in slightly different ways. I’d rather not get too specific at this point, so I’ll just say “think east.” This particular group of trees isn’t all that far east, but it has some of the characteristics that I’m interested in exploring: a narrow band of colorful trees set against a more open and barren essentially high desert landscape. Here the trees seem to tend to grow in (mostly) smaller groups, and in some ways they almost seem more special for being a bit less dense and for growing it what seems like a more difficult environment.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Southern California

Titus Canyon Road

December 31, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

I made this photograph during midday hours after walking a ways up into the canyon from its mouth – the alternative to making the very long drive over the Grapevine Mountains from Amargosa Valley. (I have done the latter a few times, too.) While most Death Valley subjects tend to be appealing in the early morning or in the evening, many of the canyons can be at their best during the middle of the day, especially the very deep and narrow canyons like lower Titus Canyon. Here the canyon narrows down to the point that there is only room of a single gravel track, and twists and turns around rocky outcroppings. The light striking the upper canyon walls – out of the range of this photograph – reflects down into the canyon and produces soft, diffused illumination.

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

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Tag Archives: sagebrush

High Desert Aspens, Autumn

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Sagebrush and Aspens

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Titus Canyon Road

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.