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.

Best Images 0f 2021

My best Eastern Sierra images of 2021

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.

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?

Clouds make my Eastern Sierra Sunset Images Pop!

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."

- Rabindranath Tagore

Sound of Silence

We need silence to be able to touch souls

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

Early Morning Around the Loop

It is so beautiful and diverse you cannot go wrong taking images in the “Loop”. Plus, people who love the area never get tired of looking at images of the area. I guess the old saying applies; “When in doubt…” head towards the “Loop.”

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.

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.

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!

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.

March in Like a Lion ( and leave the same way!)

For me this was a March for the history books! For me March has been a Lion all the way through. I cannot remember a March in which I experienced such a diversity of photographic experiences.

March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear

Lori Hill

The End of the Line (well maybe) - Keeler

On the east side of the dry Owens Lake, southeast of Lone Pine on Hwy 136, is town named Keeler. I think the best description of Keeler comes from the website Weird California:

“Keeler is practically a ghost town. Many of the buildings are falling apart, the lake it sits on is dry, the mines the town was built to support have been played out, yet still about fifty people live in the town, so a complete ghost town it is not.”

Lone Pine the Little Town Below a Big Mountain

I have been going to Mammoth since I was a teenager. Until we bought our place in Mammoth we would do a non-stop drive to Mammoth ignoring all the amazing stuff between LA and Mammoth. With a place of our own we started spending more time in the Eastern Sierra. With that regularity the need to rush straight through to Mammoth went away We started exploring cool things all along Hwy 395. It was then I fell in love with the towns in the Owens Valley. These towns seem one dimensional as you drive through but when you get to know them they have multiple layers that make them gems in their own right. Today’s post focuses on the town I know best - Lone Pine.

My 12 Best Images of 2018

The 12 Best of 2018

Why 12? To be different. Everyone else has a Top 10. Besides I like the idea of one for each month. Even though I did not take as many images last year, it was an awesome year for my photography. Mainly for two reasons.

During most of my trips up to the Eastern Sierra there were luscious clouds in the sky. Nothing improves a landscape photo like clouds.
I started concentrating on the improving the composition of my images. Specifically working on improving the foreground area. To me, it made a huge difference.

So here we go.

Eastern Sierra Early Morning Scramble (ESMS)

A great Eastern Sierra Morning Scramble (ESMS) is a plate of “Golden Hour” Light, beautiful puffy, clouds, and a side of water (a still lake or a running stream will do.) When you get up to enjoy ESMS that is cooked right it truly is a moving experience!

The problem is you need to get up pretty early to get served because once nature runs out it is gone for the day!

Another Hidden Gem Along Highway 395

I really enjoy the Facebook “US 395/ Owens Valley” and “I Love the Sierra” groups. Folks are friendly and the photos are awesome. The cool thing is just when you think you have explored every nook and cavity of Hwy 395 someone mentions another unknown gem and the adventure starts a new.

This one started last year with the wild burros in Aberdeen. After hearing about them the next adventure up 395 we are turning left at Aberdeen to find them.

FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO ENJOY YOSEMITE ON A CROWDED WEEKEND

Yosemite can be the most beautiful place on earth or a crowded hell. Five steps to make your visit a truly pleasant and memorable trip.

Mom, why is the sky blue? Mom, Why is the sunset red? Mom, why does it always looks better in the Eastern Sierra? Answers to questions you May have always wanted to know

Man is not the only one who can produce beautiful fireworks. Nature does a pretty fine job herself! Lake Crowley sunset. Have you ever wanted to be able to predict when the clouds are going to go nuclear? Want to know why the sunrise/sunsets are usually yellow, orange and red? Check out my latets blog post.

The Streams are Alive

Images from this years epic snow run off!

I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water . . . has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river. — (Roderick Haig-Brown)

Over the last few weeks we have been wandering the Eastern Sierra exploring this year's epic snow melt. So I thought it would be appropriate to put a story board together that shows part of the water's epic journey from the high country down to the valleys below.