Travels and Adventures: October 2009

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Eastern Sierras and Yosemite - 10/24/09

I FINALLY got around to get out and take some Fall pictures around the Eastern Sierras. I went up the 395 and hit up Rock Creek, June Lake, Lundy Lake and the Lee Vining area, before heading up the 120 to Tioga Pass. There was a lot of nice color around the June Lake loop, although it was past peak. In some places, there were more leaves on the ground than on the trees - lol. June Lake was definitely pretty, and just past Silver Lake, there was a nice aspen stand on the left side of the road, and some on the right near the stream. Grant Lake was pretty bare. Lundy Lake had some golden aspens too, but there weren't many places to pull over and park, and at the time, the lighting was not so great.

Up the 120, there were quite a few aspen stands with some nice color. Fall changed to winter really quick as the golden color of the aspens was replaced with the white snow. Quite a lot of it in fact. It looked really cold out, but it wasn't all that bad. A nice little surprise in Yosemite, was Siesta Lake. It was surrounded with gold with some splashes of red. I hit it late in the day, though. I bet it would be even prettier in the morning/early afternoon light.

Down in the valley, the black oaks were turning brilliant shades of yellow and green. And the bigleaf maples were turning yellow and gold. Some even were tinged with a bit of red. And the dogwoods were turning pink. Again, it was late in the day, so there was too much shade to get a decent picture. But it was still quite pretty to look at. I took a nice stroll thru the meadow to the chapel. and back to the car. If I had more time, I would have gone to Yosemite Falls too, but fall had reduced it to more of a trickle than the roaring waterfall it was in the spring.

It will probably be my last trip to Yosemite til next year. Soon, the snow will make travel to there impossible without chains. But, there are plenty more places that are great to visit in the fall/winter ;)

I posted a few cell phone pics below. You can view the whole photo album on Flickr by clicking HERE.