Oaks, lupine, and poppies in the Merced River Canyon near El Portal, CA, USA
Claudia and I drove up the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite Sunday afternoon on a scouting mission, looking for wildflowers that were rumored to be blooming. And we did find some flowers – despite our dry winter. The redbuds are coming out all along the canyon; most are just budding, but we found some in full bloom, and the rest should get there within the next week or so.
Redbuds have deep roots, so they’re not affected by drought as much as some other flowers. But the poppies in this area are annuals, and dependent on winter rains, so I was surprised to see quite a few poppies blooming up and down the canyon. The display doesn’t approach last year’s, or the even more spectacular bloom in 2009, but any flowers at all seem like a miracle after our dry winter. And who knows – maybe the show will get better.
Right now the most eye-catching hillside of poppies is about a mile east of Savage’s Trading Post on the opposite side of the river. You can reach the base of this hill by driving to the end of Incline Road and continuing on foot for about a mile down the old railroad bed. But getting up among the poppies requires climbing a very steep hillside. (There are directions to Incline Road in my Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, which most of you probably have, but if not the road is easy to find. Just cross the bridge at Foresta Road, about four miles east of Savage’s, then turn left along the river on Incline Road.)
There are also poppies near the beginning of the Hite’s Cove Trail. This spot is a little more accessible since the trail goes right through the flowers. Claudia and I hiked up another hillside near El Portal and found a nice patch of lupine along with some scattered poppies. I made the photograph above as the sun sank behind an oak tree, casting long shadows across the field of flowers.
There’s rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. It’s hard to say how that will affect the poppies. Sometimes a storm will cause the poppies to shrivel up and disappear, but since the bloom is just starting maybe the extra moisture will help.
The approaching storm is expected to be warm, so there probably won’t be any new snow in Yosemite Valley, but a clearing rainstorm can be quite beautiful too. From the forecast it looks like the storm will clear late Wednesday or Wednesday night.
Let’s hope that it turns out to be a better year for wildflowers than expected, not only in the Yosemite area but around California. If you’re looking for flowers this spring, you’ll find some useful links here.
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: Spring Conditions; More Poppies; Redbud and Poppies; Hunting Wildflowers
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBooks Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, and Exposure for Outdoor Photography. He has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Really beautiful image, your work inspires me! We have a ‘poppy area’ near Santa Barbara where I live, it too has suffered from the lack of rain. The poppies and lupine were present, but in much less numbers than in years past.
You mentioned the redbuds, I was wondering when the dogwoods bloom in Yosemite?
Thanks Susan! The dogwoods in Yosemite Valley typically bloom at the end of April and into the first couple of weeks of May.
Michael, I love the shadow of the tree across the hillside of lovely blooms!
Thanks Denise!
Beyond lovely, as always. Thank you so much Michael, for your information and images you so graciously share!!!
You’re welcome Lynette, and thank you!
Great example of taking the lemons you have to make lemonade, right? Blue sky and bright sun usually are horrible, so shoot in the shade and put the sun behind a tree. Viola! I never would have thought of it.
-eric
Thanks Eric. It never occurred to me that there was something wrong with the light. It was what it was, and I just worked with it. As the shadows crept across the slope I had an idea that it might work to get in the shadows and put the sun behind the tree — and it did work.
Michael, I think that’s what makes you tha caliber of photographer you are 🙂
I hiked up the Hite Cove trail today (Sunday) and the wildflower symphony was simply astounding. Field of poppies blue dick (I think, I’m no expert, clusters of purple/blue flowers) and others that had me paging through my guide. If this is a so-so year I can’t imagine a great one.
The redbuds were outstanding as well. The color is so intense it’s almost outlandish.
Thank you for your guidance is a very good trip, Michael (I had your app open most of the time).
Dogwoods next?
should be “poppies *and* blue dick” – My fingers are faster and less edited than my brain…
Eric, glad you enjoyed your visit to the Hite’s Cove trail. Blue dick is probably right — they’re quite common. It is indeed a so-so year; I hope you get to see it in a great year! The redbuds, however, are at peak right now, and it’s a good year for them.
Yes, your patience did pay off! The shadows really are the main player in this image as far as I am concerned. The addition of the wildflowers are a bonus inside the shadows. Beautiful composition, and image, as always.
Also as the wildflower show goes, we were up Hite Cove two days this past week and although I don’t have any other years’s sightings to compare it to, we found the poppy display to be beautiful, and plentiful. So go now before they’re finished!
Thanks Carol. I hope you get to see the poppies in the Merced River Canyon in a really good year some time, but I’m glad you found plenty along the Hote’s Cove Trail. As you say, they won’t last long since its so dry.
Hi Michael,
The trail to Moss Creek above El Portal School is looking quite nice – covered with poppies. What a perfect week for my students to learn about flower anatomy – oh and an appreciation for beauty.
Thanks for the report Hugh. That’s actually where this photo was taken, as you might know. 🙂 But maybe the poppies have gotten better in the last week.
Michael,
I have both of your books, “A Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite”, and “Digital Landscape Photography”. Both are outstanding, and I’ve been through many similar books.
In “Digital Landscape Photography” there are some references to where the pictures where taken, but only for some of the photographs. Is there a way to obtain more information on where the shots were taken?
I’m particularly interested in the Yosemite photographs as I’ll be at the park this coming Monday and I’m trying to get all the great photo experience I can before I arrive (from Highway 140).
Many thanks
Ron
Thanks Ron — glad you like the books. The only way to obtain more information about where some of the photos were taken in the Digital Landscape Photography book is to ask me. 🙂
Thanks Michael.
The photos of flowers on pages 27, 29, and 51 are of special interest.
Regards
Ron
Ron, page 27 is along the Hite’s Cove Trail, location 20 in the app and new edition of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite. 29 I can’t say specifically, but it’s near the Glacier Point Road, and that’s a July or August photo, so you won’t see that next week. Page 51 is on a hillside behind the Rancheria Flat housing area in El Portal. Unfortunately I think all the poppy locations (including the ones on page 27 and 51) will be past peak by the time you get here. There will undoubtedly be good opportunities to photograph individual flowers of many varieties in the Merced River Canyon, but you’ll be lucky to find areas with large swaths of flowers.
Michael,
Great info and again thank you very muchy. One last (2) questions: given time of year and what you are saying, is it unlikely i will find ‘fields’ of poppys or other flowers in the merced river canyon? (i expected to find them but only by what i’ve read, so this is very good info).
Is the climb up Sentinel mtn good to catch a sunrise for Half Dome?
Regards
Ron
Yes, it’s unlikely that you’ll find fields of flowers in the Merced River Canyon, but not out of the question. Every year is different, and sometimes April is good, but usually March is better for poppies. After our dry winter I’m surprised that we had any poppies to speak of, but they won’t last much longer. There are other flowers in the canyon that typically bloom later, but they usually don’t form dense patches.
If you’re asking about Sentinel Dome, you won’t be able to get there this time of year, as the Glacier Point Road won’t open until May. It’s not a good sunrise spot for Half Dome at any time of year though, unless if you have interesting backlit clouds or mist. That goes for morning photos of Half Dome from Yosemite Valley too. Since it’s backlit in the morning, you need clouds or mist to make it work at that time of day.
Any spots within the park you might recommend for sunrise shooting?
Ron, I suggest you get my “The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite” book or iPhone app, which describes the best morning and afternoon locations. The app even allows you to filter the locations my month and time — for example, show only the best locations for April in the a.m.
Bonjour Michael. J’ aime les ombrages des ligne qui convergent de bas en haut. merci encore une fois ,
Merci Pierre!
Not that any of your photographs need improving – as one of your posters earlier said, your work and talent are inspiring – but…I do prefer the second shot a bit more than the first – which I’m sure is attributable only to my own personal sensibilities. I am a novice photographer, and I am sure will never come close to your astounding ability to capture the beauty that you are able to; however, hope springs eternal, and it still motivates me to look at my selected photography in somewhat a different way, and I’m working my way up to whatever ability I am able to reach. So…for what it’s worth, they are both lovely, but, my preference is this most recent.
Thank you, again, for having this small insight to your work – I know all of us subscribers and wanna-be photographers love it! : )
Thanks very much Melissa — I really appreciate the kind words, and it’s good to know that you like the second image better. And I suspect that “whatever ability you’re able to reach” is higher than you think. 🙂