Here are some pictures that I took two years ago during a spectacular autumn in the high country between Lake Tahoe and Bishop, California.  I usually like to get out into the high lonesome every year at this time. However sometimes that isn't possible. That is why a good photo archive is handy to have.  A photographer must be prepared to leave home at a moment's notice upon first word that the trees are changing color.  This does not take place at the same time every year but can begin as early as late September or as late as the middle of November.  Once a picture taker decides to become spontaneous concerning this event, the rewards are many.

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West Walker River Area

There's gold in them there hills!	Small grove of Aspen on a Walker River ranch.	Example of Aspen grove with mixed coloration at lower elevation. Should be completely gold in less than a week.

June Lake Loop

The June Lake Loop (Hwy 158)  is a narrow 15 mile byway off of Hwy 395 that passes through some of the most beautiful mountain and lake scenery in the world (my opinion only). The route takes you past Grant Lake, Silver Lake, and June Lake.  There is a small resort town at June lake that features a nice ski run in winter. Unfortunately, there are plans to add additional housing and condo developments to the area.

Mt. Lewis (elev. 12,324 ft). Notice the small grove of Aspen at the base of the mountain.	Mono Lake from the June Lake Loop.	Bee gets the last of the summer nectar from a Rabbit Bush.
Road to Parker Lake with Mt. Wood (elev. 12,657 ft) in background.	Aspen Grove flowing down the side of Mt. Wood.	Grant Lake with Reversed Peak (elev. 9,481 ft) in the background.
Grant Lake and small grove of Aspen.	Looking toward canyon separating Reversed Peak & Mt. Wood.	Populas tremuloides. Quaking Aspen gets its name from the way the leaves shake with the wind.
Silver Lake.

Convict Lake

Convict Lake (elev. 7, 850 ft)  is located south of the Mammoth Lakes junction of Hwy 395 and was named for an incident that took place in 1871 where three escaped convicts from the Nevada Territorial Penitentiary in Carson City were pursued by members of a sheriff's posse which included Robert Morrison, a local store keeper who was shot and killed by one of the convicts.  The three were eventually captured. Two, who were adults, were sent to the Inyo County Seat of Bishop where they were hanged.  The third convict, a teenager, was returned to the prison in Carson City. This event was chronicled (very loosely) in 1951  in the motion picture The Secret of Convict Lake staring Glenn Ford, Ethel Barrymore, and Zachary Scott.

Laurel Mountain (elev. 11,812 ft) above Convict Lake. Notice the tilted layers of rocks on the mountain side.	Fisher folk and foliage. It doesn't get any better then that!	Looking across Convict Lake.
Mt. Morrison (elev. 12,303 ft) stands guard above Convict Lake. Named for Robert Morrison who lost his life in pursuit of the three convicts.	Another view across the lake. Notice the folding of the rocks to the right.

Here's an enlarged view of that geologic formation across the lake from the last image:

Road to Rock Creek.	Wheeler Ridge & Mt. Morgan (elev. 13,748 ft)	Rock Creek.	More California Gold.	Rock Creek Lake.
View from above Rock Creek Lake and Wheeler Ridge	End of the road with Mt. Starr (elev. 12,835 ft) in the bachground.

Bishop Creek

Bishop, California is a center of operations for many folks venturing into both the Sierra Nevada Range and the White Mountains. Bishop Creek drains the watershed area which includes Lakes Sabrina, North Lake, and South Lake.

Early in the morning on the road...

Sunrise over the White Mountains as seen from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range.	First light on the Sierra Escarpment. You've got to get up awfully damned early to see something as beautiful as this.	No wonder John Muir called the Sierra the "Range of Light".
Gold on the side of the ridge.	Mt. Emmerson (elev. 13,118 ft) and its reflection on Southern California Edison Intake Lake 2.

Lake Sabrina Area

Early morning at Lake Sabrina.	Another view of Lake Sabrina.

North Lake Area

View of Mt. Emerson (right) and Sierra Escarpment from the North Lake area.	Arbor glyph near North Lake. Arbor = Tree, Glyph = Writing. Arbor glyphs are often seen on the trunks of Quaking Aspen wherever Basque sheepherders have been.	Follow the yellow tree'd road!

South Lake Area

Quaking Aspen along Coyote Ridge.	South Fork of Bishop Creek.	Quaking Aspen and other color on the rock face near Bishop Creek.
South Lake with Bishop Pass in the background.

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Monitor Pass

Driving up Hwy 395, just north of Topaz, California, turn left on Hwy 89, drive through a narrow ravine and upwards  through a series of switchbacks and hairpins for about 8 miles and you'll find yourself on Monitor Pass. The pass itself isn't really that spectacular but the groves of Quaking Aspen, especially if you happen to be there at the right time of the year during the fall color season, there some scenes to behold.
 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)

 

Time to return home. All good things must eventually come to an end.