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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Where would you go in the eastern Sierra's in October? | |
GroovyGeek wrote:
You should not really constrain yourself to fall color, which is not that remarkable in the Eastern Sierras anyway. With the weather being as warm as it has been for the past few Octobers you may not get anything decent anyway. Luckily for you the Owens Valley is rich with all sorts of opportunities around the twists and turns of the Owens River. There are of course the standbys of Mono Lake, Alabama Hills, Moffat Ranch, Bristlecones. The Minarets area above Mamomth is an easy hike - at least the first portion of it.
And I would not establish a base anywhere. The weather can be highly variable along the Owens valley, with Mono, Bishop, Big Pine, and Lone Pine potentially spanning the range between completely overcast and completely blue sky on any given day. Make a decision on the fly and move around a lot. There are plenty of cheap motels, or BLM areas to camp if you are so inclined....Show more →
I agree with much of this.
My approach to the "where" question is complex and flexible. The arrival of fall color varies due to a range factors: local conditions (down to the level of individual groves), weather, onset of cold and/or snow, north/south location along the range, elevation, whether exposed or in valleys. So when I head to the East Side looking for color I'm always ready to adapt.
Since there are others looking for the same subject, make a practice of striking up conversations with folks you run into. This is a great opportunity to not start by asking questions about gear! Instead, ask where they have been and what they have seen. I often find that they visited a place that was a bust or perhaps visited on that was great — and by the time I've talked to a few different people I start to get a better handle on the color situation.
General advice: If you go early, start high. This means places like the upper end of Bishop Creek roads, high up on certain side roads not far from Lee Vining, and so forth. Even at later dates, you can start high — go up to where the color diminishes and then work your way down until you find the ideal.
And, yes, there are always tons of other worthy subjects in the Eastern Sierra and nearby. They frequently distract me from the aspens. I tell a couple stories about these "distractions" and the resulting photographic successes in the book. One morning I woke before dawn in Bishop, planning to head up to photograph more aspens, but as I hit the road in the darkness I thought that might be seeing the beginning of a dawn Sierra Wave condition in the sky. I abandoned my plans to photograph aspens and instead high-tailed it a half hour up the valley and then to the east to a high desert lake I know of where I thought I could shoot sunrise. It worked.
Dan
http://gallery.gdanmitchell.com/gallery/var/resizes/NaturalWorld/TheLandscape/California/Desert/OwensValley/SierraWaveDawnReflectionAlkaliLake20111016.jpg
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