Aspens near Dunderberg, October 11th, 2010
The first winter-like storm of the season passed through Yosemite during the last two days, bringing over two inches of rain to Yosemite Valley, and enough snow to close Tioga Pass and necessitate R2 chain requirements on Highways 41 and 120 yesterday. There’s no word on when Tioga Pass will reopen; if I had to guess, I’d say sometime this weekend.
Although autumn was off to a late start on the eastern side of the Sierra, some of the higher-elevation spots outside of Bishop already had turned color. A storm like this will usually blow off the leaves that have already changed, and make partially-turned leaves turn brown. The good news is that most of the aspens on the east side were still green, and probably won’t be affected by the storm. However, it will be a week or two before those green leaves turn yellow, and color might be sparse over there during the next week.
The same thing happened last year: a large storm closed Tioga Pass on October 4th, one day earlier than this year. And yellow aspens were scarce for a week or so. But we found some nice color on October 11th, as you can see in the accompanying photo, and even better color a week later.
Meanwhile in Yosemite it’s early for autumn color, and it’s likely to be a couple of weeks before things really start to change. Peak color in Yosemite Valley usually doesn’t arrive until the end of October or beginning of November. I’ll keep you posted on what I find. Another good way to follow current conditions is through the CalPhoto group on Yahoo. And if you’ve been out photographing fall color recently, please let us know what you found by posting a comment!
—Michael Frye
Related Posts: Wild Weather, and the Annual Fall Freakout; A Trip to the Eastern Sierra; Autumn in Yosemite
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. He 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.
Thanks for the heads up, Michael. I was thinking of heading over next week.
Love the image w/ this post.
Nice photo! Hope the weather does not spoil the colours too much!
Here in hot sticky Bermuda we have a tropical storm passing so a deluge of rain, storm force winds and grey skies and not even the beautiful colours of the fall to compensate (we only get hot sticky summers and grey wet winters) oh how i miss the 4 seasons!
please post lots of beautiful “fall” pics because as a UK expat on this dull little rock i miss the colours SO much!
have been watching Ken Burns series on national Parks recently – big sigh. Lots of holiday planning going on…………………………………..
Thank you Michael for the update. I plan on heading over to Bishop and Lee Vining in a week or two for a few days of shooting. I will just keep watching the post.
Michael: I’m going to be over there in the next few days – hope they get the pass open earlier rather than later. Oddly, while the Caltrans mountain highways page says 120 is closed, the conditions page at the YOSE NPS site now says it is open – go figure!
Maybe I’ll run into you on the east side in the next couple weeks. If not, I’ll likely be in the Valley near the start of November, as is my annual habit.
Dan
Joolz, you’re welcome – good luck on your trip. And I’m glad you like the photo – thanks!
Thanks Claire! Hope you can get off your “dull little rock” and see some color this fall.
Richard, you’re welcome, and good luck on your trip. I’ll post whatever information I can!
Dan, you might have to take Sonora Pass! The best source for park road conditions, as I’m sure you know (but others might not), is to call 209-372-0200. And that recording still says the pass is closed. Anyway, I hope to run into you somewhere too. I have a lot of workshops coming up, so it’s unlikely that I’ll get over there before the 16th or so.
Thanks Michael,
My friend and I are heading to Yosemite on Monday, Oct 24. I am hoping there will be color in the valley.
Hi Michael, The picture was great and the color was fantastic. Thank you for sharing this picture with everyone and keep posting some good pictures and blog.
Jack, it’s likely there will be color then, but it’s too early to tell how much there will be at this point. Good luck!
Yep, I took a couple of days to go to the north of Minnesota to find fall color.
For example, this is a view from the Aiton heights fire tower in Itasca State Park. (the origin of the Mississippi, dontcha know).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvstin/6222053422/
Paul, you live in a great area for fall color, dontcha know.
I just got back from 4 days camping in the Eastern Sierra. I’d say that the predictions of the aspens being either green or brown after the storm were spot on! However, I did find some good foliage, specifically at North Lake and Lundy Canyon.
Hopefully the folks going up this weekend will have better luck.
Foster, thanks very much for the report. Glad you found some color, and with any luck it will get better in the weeks to come.
its so beautiful to look at ,the colors that they gain on there leaves are so natural ! the season of autumn have this beauty which is reflected on these scenic beauty
Thanks very much Norway!