Aspens and lodgepole pines, upper Lee Vining Canyon, yesterday afternoon
After returning from Colorado, and spending a couple of days at home, Claudia and I are back in the eastern Sierra. Yesterday we scouted areas around Lee Vining, and most of the aspen groves here are at about the stage you would expect for the second week of October. That means that the lower-elevation aspens still have a lot of green, and more color can be found in the mid- and high-elevation areas. The best color we saw was in Warren Canyon (in upper Lee Vining Canyon), around Conway Summit (including the lowest part of the road to Virginia Lakes), and Dunderberg. The June Lake Loop and lower Lee Vining Canyon still show a lot of green. We didn’t visit Lundy Canyon yet, but heard there was some nice color there.
We also found some aspen groves that seem to have lost their leaves prematurely. These tend to be in drier areas, so that might a sign of the drought. But these places are a minority, and most of the aspens look healthy and are changing according to their normal schedule.
The large, lower-elevation groves in Lee Vining Canyon and along the June Lake Loop are showing signs of changing, and look like they’ll be most colorful next week. Again, it’s typical for those areas to peak around the third week of October. In the meantime, you have to look a little higher!
— Michael Frye
Aspens and willows, June Lake Loop, Saturday afternoon. There’s some color around the June Lake Loop, but still a lot of green.
Autumn aspens reflected in a creek, yesterday afternoon
Related Posts: Colorado Color; From Eclipse to Aspens
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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, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, 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 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.
I suspect I am going to have to enjoy the autumn colors through your vision, Michael. We are having such windy conditions here that I think all the leaves will be blown off before we can enjoy them!
I love the creek photo, with that lovely reflected color and zigzag pattern.
Well I hope the winds don’t knock off all the leaves for you Vivienne. Glad you like the creek photo – I like that kind of stuff too, as you can probably tell. 🙂
Nice to see the color starting. I just read about the small fire, hope that gets put down quickly.
Are you talking about the fire in Yosemite above Bridalveil Fall? It’s pretty small so far.
Yes. I set up a google news alert in advance of my trip there in a couple weeks and that story popped up today. Looks like they are very much on top of it.
Do you think there will be any good color in the southern portion of the Eastern Sierras? Or is that area just too dry and low?
I’m not sure exactly what territory you mean by southern Sierras. The most southerly area with good fall color is Bishop Creek canyon, which is quite colorful now.
Thanks. I’m coming up from LA, possibly with my kids this time, so I’m trying to cut down the overall drive time. I just can’t remember seeing any good aspen groves further south of Bishop.
Went to Lundy Canyon yesterday (10/15). Everything is golden yellow up to the waterfall (about 0.7 mile in).
Thanks Stephen!
Yes, they announced that about a month ago, and it’s great news. I don’t think we’re going to see a big difference, because the compressed Raw files are rarely a problem, but the uncompressed Raw will be helpful in some situations.