Aspens near Lee Vining, Sunday afternoon
Claudia and I got home last night after our two Eastern Sierra Fall Color workshops. We had a great time, as always. Both groups were really nice, the color was great, and some clouds added interest to sunrises and sunsets.
The color on the east side was a little early this year. When we left yesterday the lower-elevation areas like June Lake Loop, Lee Vining Canyon, and lower Lundy Canyon were at about peak. Mid- and high-elevation aspens were past peak, but you could still find colorful patches mixed with the bare trees (a photogenic combination, in my opinion). I’m sure there will still be good color in those lower-elevation spots this weekend, but probably not far beyond that.
On the drive home I made a short detour through Yosemite Valley to check on the color, and things are progressing slowly there. The bigleaf maples on the south side of the valley are starting to turn. There’s a nice patch of yellow along Southside Drive, underneath Middle Cathedral Rock (across from El Capitan). The maples in this area are perhaps 60 percent yellow and 40 percent green. Some maples near Pohono Bridge and the old dam are turning as well, but those areas are still predominantly green.
Elsewhere in the valley there’s little color so far. The oaks, cottonwoods, and dogwoods are showing just tinges of yellow and gold here and there. The maples will probably reach their peak in about a week or so, but it looks like the oaks, cottonwoods, and dogwoods won’t turn until the first or second week of November. Maybe we’ll get a dusting of snow during the peak color, like we did two years ago…
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: Back in the Sierra; Early November Magic in Yosemite
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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.
Oooh beautiful!! I just got back from a trip to Oregon – I was surprised at how much more color there is here than up there. I’d loooove some nice white snow mixed in with the dogwoods and oaks!!
Thanks Elizabeth, and I’d like to see snow in any form at any time this winter!
Me too!! Fingers crossed for this weekend!!
Another wonderful shot. You sure have more than your fair share of winners. I’m glad there was still color over there. We camped on the June Lake Loop on the 12th and it felt pretty close to peak. Thanks for the Yosemite update too. We were wondering when we should head to the Valley.
Thanks very much Kevin. Maybe we should define what peak color is, since it’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. I looked at the June Lake Loop (specifically the areas around Grant Lake, Silver Lake, and in between) on October 14th, and there was still a lot of green. I’d say it was about 60 percent turned and 40 percent green at that time, with a few bare trees here and there. Sure, there were some colorful areas, but to me, 40 percent green isn’t peak color. When I last looked at this area on Wednesday (the 22nd), it was about 80 percent yellow and orange, with 10 percent bare, and 10 percent lime green. To me that’s peak color.
Michael,
Thanks for a wonderful trip, the color was incredible and the company absolutely the best. You and Os provided all of us on the trip with many wonderful photographic opportunities and Claudia and Rider enhanced the experience. The color at Mono Lake on Thursday morning was great, deep red, sorry you were not there to see it. Thanks for a really great time and for sharing your knowledge and experience with me. It’s going to take awhile to process all of the wonderful fall color shots!
Connie, it was great to have you with us! It was a really fun workshop, and a great group of people. Sounds like I missed a nice sunrise Thursday – oh well. 🙂 I hope to see you again soon.
Michael,
Since you have just been in Colorado, how do the aspens compare between Colorado and California? Do you have your workshops set up for 2015? I looked on your web site and did not see any info there; I also checked the Ansel Adams Gallery. My wife and I will be in the Yosemite area in June and would like to do a workshop.
Thanks for your blog on the lunar eclipse. Your recommendations were right on and I did well until the clouds came in just after the full eclipse. This was my first time so I just took photos of the moon. I will try to do a composite with another photo; any tips for this?
Chris, I love the aspens in California, but Colorado has many, many times more. It’s the Mother Lode of aspens. We’re still working out details for our 2015 workshops, and will announce them soon. However we don’t typically do workshops in Yosemite in June, as we go up to the redwoods at the beginning of the month. As for the eclipse composite, I don’t know what to suggest other than what I wrote in my eclipse article. In any case, I hope you enjoy your trip to Yosemite next June.
Beautiful! We were in Yosemite the first week of October and caught some of this color on the Tioga pass on our way back home. Most of the beautiful yellows were between Tenaya Lake and the junction of the 395 and 120. The yellows were brilliant!
Thanks Mama, and I’m glad you got to see some color in the park.