What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday, October 31st, the color in Yosemite Valley was progressing, but still not there yet. Yesterday I returned to the valley for a private workshop and found colorful leaves everywhere. All the deciduous trees—maples, dogwoods, cottonwoods, and oaks—are turning. Green leaves, abundant a week ago, are now in a small minority. All four species of deciduous trees are close to, or at, their peak autumn color.
Most years the maples and dogwoods turn before the oaks and cottonwoods, so the color is spread out over several weeks. It’s unusual for all these trees to be near peak at the same time, and I’ve seldom seen the valley look more beautiful than it did yesterday. I don’t know how long this will last. A significant storm arrived today, and forecasters are predicting one to two feet of snow above 6000 feet. While it probably won’t snow in Yosemite Valley, at 4000 feet, the rain will knock down some leaves—although surely not all of them. I’m planning to go up to the valley again tomorrow when the storm clears, so I’ll let you know what I find.
This storm has closed Tioga Pass. The pass closes for the winter after the first significant snowfall in November, so it will probably remain closed until spring. My favorite eastern Sierra locations, only a few hours away during the last five months, now require seven hours of driving to reach! I’ve always wanted to visit Mono Lake in winter, so maybe this will be the year, but if not then I’ll return when the pass reopens in May or June.
My five-day workshop, The Digital Landscape: Autumn in Yosemite, finished last week. While the autumn color had not yet reached its peak, we still found many colorful leaves to photograph, and saw some fantastic light and weather, as you can see from this view of Yosemite Falls as a storm was clearing. The group was diverse and interesting, with participants from Sweden, Belgium, New York, Texas, and Minnesota. I think this is the first time I’ve ever taught a Yosemite workshop with no California students! Anyway, thanks to everyone in the group for making this a fun class.
