Half Dome and clouds reflected in the Merced River, Saturday afternoon
It was good to hear the rain drumming on the roof Friday night. We’ve seen occasional showers during the summer and fall, but Friday brought the first significant storm of the winter rainy season, dropping over an inch of rain in Yosemite Valley, and over a foot of snow in the high country. Everyone in California is hoping for many more storms like this over the next six months.
The storm started to clear around midday on Saturday, so Claudia and I drove up to Yosemite Valley that afternoon. It turned out to be a really beautiful afternoon in the valley, with lots of autumn color, and some great light and clouds. We found a wonderful scene near the east end of the valley, with clouds and mist-wrapped Half Dome reflected in the Merced River. I included some cottonwood leaves in the foreground to give the image a touch of autumn (right).
Early this morning we drove up to Yosemite Valley again, hoping to see fog in the meadows. We found a little mist, but not much, so we decided to go back to El Portal, which had been very foggy when we drove through. I’m glad we did. There wasn’t as much color as in Yosemite Valley, but the fog more than made up for that. I’ve included my favorite image from the morning below, with the sun breaking through the mist and silhouetting the gray pines.
The autumn color in Yosemite Valley has progressed nicely over the last week. The color isn’t quite at peak, but getting close. The big-leaf maples are beautiful now, adding lots of yellow to the west end of the valley. Overall the maples are about 70% turned, 30% green. The dogwoods and black oaks are about 50-60% turned, so not quite there yet overall, but already lovely in spots. The elm tree in Cook’s Meadow is just past peak, but still has most of its leaves.
The cottonwood trees, on the other hand, are all out of sync. The large stands of cottonwoods in Leidig and Chapel meadows apparently went from green to bare without changing color. Some other stands, like the ones in my photo above, are still mostly green, yet the ones near Cascade Fall are near peak. This schizophrenic autumn behavior is actually not that unusual for the valley cottonwoods. Some years they turn early, some years they turn late, and sometimes the leaves fall off without turning color. This year they’re just doing all of that at the same time.
But the other deciduous trees are in good shape, and the valley promises to be very beautiful over the next week or two.
— Michael Frye
Fog, sun, and gray pines, Sierra Nevada foothills near El Portal, Sunday morning/caption]
Related Posts: East Side and West Side Color; Autumn Light
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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.
I really like how the shape of the leaves in the water mimics the shape of the landscape. I think it draws the eye in and up perfectly. Thanks for the update. I hope the color is still in good shape next weekend.
Thanks Kevin. The camera position was chosen carefully to allow the cloud reflection to fit into curve of the leaves. I think you should still have good color next weekend – close to peak.
Yosemite’s colors are just so spectacular this year indeed. It was nice to see you Friday afternoon Michael.
Nice to see you too Martin! Hope you got some good photos from this spot.
Taking pictures in Yosemite is always fun. You are a good writer. You inspire me in many ways when it comes to photography, and for that I thank you.
mARTin
Hi Michael – We may have passed each other on Saturday as I was shooting this corner of the river probably just a a few minutes before you took this shot. What a gorgeous afternoon! I made the trip up a week earlier this year for two reasons: First, I wanted to be there for the first Winter storm of the season, and secondly, I was hoping to catch some more leaves as I felt like I had just missed the peak last year. The thing that struck me this year was that there doesn’t seem to be a rule book when shooting the leaves in the valley. Last year, I still had some color on the trees along the river just West of Swinging Bridge (Cottonwoods?), but this year, they were already gone. At the same time, most of the trees around the Valley View were still there this year and seemed to be approaching peak on Saturday, but last year they were already gone. You would think that things would progress in order from year to year, but I found it odd that entire patches of trees were already bare this year while the oaks only seemed to be about halfway done. All of that aside, I am officially hooked on Autumn in the park and I’m planning on making this a tradition. I thought that would have closed Glacier Point road on Friday as there was a 100% chance of heavy snow from the NWS, but at 4:30 PM, it was still open, so I drove out and was one of the last few stragglers to drive out after it began to hail. Thanks for the updates! Please keep them coming. Hoping for a LOT more snow this year!
Sounds like we did indeed just miss each other William. As for the color, the bare trees you saw west of Swinging Bridge are indeed cottonwoods – the ones I mentioned in this post that just suddenly lost their leaves without turning color. Cottonwoods are rather fickle, and things like that sometimes happen. As for the inconsistency you talk about compared to last year, I think a big part of that is the different species of trees involved. On the east side we’re looking at only aspens. In Yosemite Valley there are four different species of deciduous trees that turn color, and they all react to conditions differently and turn at different times. Every so often they all turn at the same time, which is spectacular, but that’s rare – it’s usually a somewhat staggered progression. And even when looking at one particular species, there’s a lot of variation in timing from year to year – more so, I think, than with aspens. Part of that might be due to the relatively low elevation and warm temperatures of Yosemite Valley. Aspens live at higher, colder elevations, and they have to drop their leaves promptly once the temperatures start to fall. The trees in the Yosemite Valley may not have as much urgency.
I just returned to the East Coast after spending 8 days in California, with the last 4 being in the Mammoth Lakes area. The snowstorm on Halloween was a real thrill, plus the sun came out the next afternoon and 395 was totally clear. The color in the Owens Valley was really spectacular, almost overwhelming the senses. I went into the experience not expecting much of a show still going from the aspens, but even 3 days ago (Nov. 3) there were still plenty of groves full of color, with a few trees here and there still green!
Thanks for the report Blake. It sounds like you had a great time over there – I’m glad! I keep trying to tell people that the color lasts longer on the east side than they think, so thanks for the confirmation. 🙂
Like the first one withthe fall leaves in the foreground. Wondering how the Yosemite valley fall color is progressing?
Want to headup there in the next few days.
Thanks Wayne. See my latest post for a fall color report.