When my sister invited me to join her on a three-day road trip to the Eastern Sierras to try to view (and photograph) some fall foliage, I cleared the decks and packed a bag. We haven’t done a road trip together in a few years, and I looked forward to spending some time with her. (Above, view from our cabin’s porch.)
The most direct pass through the mountains to our destination was closed, so we detoured a bit north, and began seeing snow at about 7000 feet altitude. This was taken at about 8000 feet.
Fall comes late to LA; our leaves are only beginning to turn, and never achieve the brilliance seen in colder climates. In the Sierras, we’d missed the peak foliage by just a few days, but there was still plenty of beautiful scenery to see and photograph.
Sis had arranged everything, from booking the cabin to researching when the light would be best in various locations nearby. She’s a serious hobby photographer, and loves shooting landscapes especially.
We were staying not too far from Mono Lake, which was well worth a side trip to visit.
Those jagged structures are called “tufas” and were originally formed under water from salts and minerals. When Los Angeles began diverting streams that fed the lake in the early 1940’s, water levels dropped drastically. Due to a legal ruling in 1994, this practice has stopped, and the level of the lake has begun to rise again. The goal is for it to reach the 1963 level, still below where it prior to the water diversions, but those tufas may again be submerged someday.
We also enjoyed some time just relaxing at the cabin…
It was cool to downright chilly at these altitudes, and I wasn’t sorry to be missing the latest heat wave in LA! On my way home today…
Have you ever traveled to “leaf peep” in the fall?