Sierra Sublime Blog

The Sierra is a magical place. You can say it is sublime. To truly get the most from this magical place if you are there a lot and you meander through it slowly. I have the luxury of doing both and this blog is designed to visually share my adventures.

20 Yards of Track

Kearsarge Station - 20 Yards of Track

Having retired and signed up for Social Security has gotten me thinking. Thinking, about age and how folks feel about you when you get older. History has no memory if left unintended.

 I wanted to visit Billy’s Pond in the Owen’s Valley. On the way, I stumbled upon this E. Clampus Vitus historical road maker for the Kearsarge Station. There was a marker, a railroad sign, and about 20 yards of the original track. It was very unassuming. Knowing the history of the Carson & Colorado it seemed inconceivable. This was all there was to remember it.

 We tend to look at old folks as how they are in the present rather than the way they were when they were young.

 I remember my grandfather. We would visit him every Sunday at the retirement home. Even though I was young, I enjoyed the visits. Parkinson’s had taken its toll on him as he had a hard time speaking and his hands shook. There were flashes of fire that broke through with witty humor and a spark in his eyes. One day on the way home, my Dad asked what I thought of grandpa. I said he was a cool old man. My Dad then began telling me stories of what Grandpa had done in his life. He fought in WWI, he had owned more than 20 motorcycles and was a carpenter building houses. I never looked at grandpa the same way ever again.

 I attended the funeral of a friend’s Mom. She had health problems that slowed her down. At her funeral, every eulogy talked about how:

  • She liked to entertain

  • That her house was always open for company.

 They all remembered the “White Elephant Gift Exchange” she always had during the holidays. As they talked about that game it had the same level of honor as the Super Bowl.

 What to make of the Kearsarge station marker? Live life large and with a smile. That way when folks see you when you are older, they remember the deeds and traditions of your youth.

 In other words, make sure you leave 20 yards of track for people to remember and smile.

Owens Valley: The Tule Elk on Hwy 395

The tule elk herd was established in Owens Valley on October 10, 1933. Twenty-six tule elk, 7 bulls, 3 yearlings, 11 cows, and 6 calves, were brought from Yosemite National Park to an enclosure in the Owens Valley near Aberdeen and held for several days before their release. Four months later, 28 more elk were brought from Buttonwillow (which became the Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve) to augment that initial release. These original translocated elk have since expanded in size and range and have formed eight distinct tule elk sub-herds located throughout Owens Valley.

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Five Reasons to Buy a Wall Calendar

With all the technology we have at our fingertips why would anyone want to buy a wall calendar these days. Think about it. We have calendars on our phones, calendars on the computer, calendars in our Email application, calendars on our watches, and even the date on our car stereo.

The wall calendar should be as dead as a doornail. Yet the more accurate phrase is “the wall calendar is dead, long live the wall calendar!” What magic gives this lowest timekeeping device alive and well?

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Eastern Sierra Intimate Fall Colors

I needed new fall color images for my 2022 Eastern Sierra calendar. To fill the need I spent two weekends chasing fall colors in the Eastern Sierra from Bishop to Lee Vining.

The first weekend there was a lot of smoke, it forced me to refrain from the large vista type images and concentrate on more intimate compositions. While I am not a fan of smoke, but it prompted me to change my focus and improve my images.

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Sunrise, Sunset

“Regular mornings are for showers, coffee, catching up on the news, dressing for the day. Daybreaks are for quiet, peace, and standing on rocks to take bad selfies with the sun. Morning is responsibility, daybreaks are freedom—a smooth, blank page upon which I can write whatever comes to mind.” Gina Ryder

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The Case for Lingering

Getting to a location early and lingering afterward lets you see this incredible transition from darkness, to blue, to gold, and then finally to daylight. The same scene can look totally different and tell a completely different story, all within an hour. Same place, same stream, or trees, or mountains yet in a matter of a few minutes it “feels” totally different.

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A Different Take on Bodie

Instead of taking images that were documentation in nature, I wanted to have my images tell a story.  A story about what it must have been like to live in a rough town with hostile environment.  Nature gave me a bonus by providing this incredible cloud show the day we went to emphasize the hostile weather.

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Heaven

A few years ago, I experienced a drought of clouds for what seemed like an eternity.  Every time I went on a photo expedition it was nothing but blue skies. It was frustrating as I love clouds in my landscape images.  Well this spring ended the cloud drought in a spectacular way!

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A Perfectly Cloudy Day

Me and my camera took off for the high country.  When we got there, it was cloudy.  Perfectly cloudy to be exact.  You see lots of people love blue skies, but photographers think blue skies are boring and long for partly cloudy skies.  Especially Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, Stratocumulus, and Lenticular clouds. The first three are what the Lord gave me this “I got to go” trip.

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My Path to Better Wildflower Images

I am now on a quest to take the best wildflower image I ever have. This post is a combination of my experience so far this season combined with the research I have done to help my images get better. I thought it would be good to share before the 2019 season comes to an end.  Here goes.

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