Since returning from our Sierra trip, I’ve been editing photos, and have some new ones up on the website.  In true banzai* fashion, a friend and I made a run up to the eastern Sierra over the weekend.  We left after work on Thursday, and arrived in the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine about 11pm.  I shot some star trails of the now famous Mobius Arch (also called Galen’s Arch, after Galen Rowell).  After sunrise, we headed north, and shot up Bishop Creek to hunt for some fall colors.  In my last post, I summed up the difficulty we had finding fall color.  That night, we headed north and shot the Minarets at sunset.  The next morning, we visited Mono Lake at dawn.  At the South Tufa parking lot, I counted 28 cars when we arrived, one hour before sunrise.  Figuring on a minimum of 2 photographers/car, I bailed and went to the Navy Beach parking lot; we were the only ones there.  In my opinion, Navy Beach has tufas that are waaayyy cooler than the “regular” ones at South Tufa.  After sunrise, we went to Lundy Canyon, in hopes of finding fall colors there, then to Tuolumne Meadows for a hike to Cathedral Lakes.  Sunset at Olmsted Point, then to the Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner.  The next morning, we went for a hike in Devil’s Postpile, then shot home.

I’ll share some of the images from this trip in the next few posts.  However if you can’t wait, I’ve updated my Sierra Nevada page with new images, as well as Mono Lake.  I’ve added a new page for Devil’s Postpile National Monument as well.

Desert Bouquet, Autumn, Alabama Hills, California, October 2009

*See Phil Colla’s definition of a banzai photographer.

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Greetings from Mammoth Lakes!  We just finished our second day of shooting and “chasing” fall color, amid what’s been called an atypical year.  After leaving work on 10/8/09, we drove to Lone Pine and camped in the Alabama Hills.  On Friday morning, 10/9, we drove up Bishop Creek Canyon, and found–as expected from reports–very little in the way of prime fall color.  That said, many thanks to Inge Fernau, who tipped me off to a good grove at Cardinal Pond, as well as some decent trees in the South Fork, near the “fake” waterfall.  It was nice to finally meet Inge in person at Cardinal Pond as well!  Here’s a shot from Bishop Creek Canyon:

Aspens and Sunburst, Bishop Creek Canyon, CA, October 2009

This morning, 10/10, we drove to Mono Lake for sunrise, then headed up to Lundy Canyon because we had heard word about a small grove in the day use lot.  We found the trees, as well as about 7 photographers.  However, on the way to Lundy, about 400 yards north of the Tioga Lodge on the north end of Lee Vining, we saw the best trees of the whole trip, with yellows, oranges, and reds:

Aspens at Moonset, Mono County, CA, October 2009

From what I could tell, there were few, if any, brown leaves.  This grove is best shot from the highway, as, in the interest of full disclosure, I may have been trespassing onto this grove.  I accessed it via a sagebrush escarpment to the south, and did not see the “no trespassing” signs until I walked back down the road to the south.  

After photographing this grove, we hiked into Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite.  Driving up Lee Vining Canyon, I saw little color at all from Hwy 120.

Thanks to all who offered advice, for the hard work on the Flickr group, etc.  

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Last night I received word from a friend who lives in Bishop about the status of fall colors in the eastern Sierra:

[On Friday (9/25)] We took a drive up Bishop Creek to see how the colors are.  The canyon is beautiful with reds, yellows and oranges.  South Lakes is already fading with lots of the leaves already on the ground.  North Lake is really nice and so is Sabrina.  Looks like fall came early in this area.  I’m told that farther north that the aspens are still green (Conway Summit and Virginia Lakes area).

[On Saturday (9/26)] We just returned from a day of wandering around with my sister and bro-in-law who are passing through.  Interestingly, there are lots of brown leaves and not much color up Rock Creek, while the June Lake loop is still green.

I’m thinking that I’ll be spending most of my time further north on my 10/9 visit…possibly June Lake, Lee Vining Canyon, and Lundy Canyon.

Enjoy!

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