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.

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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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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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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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.”

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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.

  1. During most of my trips up to the Eastern Sierra there were luscious clouds in the sky.  Nothing improves a landscape photo like clouds.

  2.   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.

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Dad Why Do the Trees Change Colors?

Every year I reluctantly hang on to summer and resist the coming of Fall.  Despite my best efforts the days keep getting noticeably shorter, the nights have a chill, and heck it is mid-September and just snowed in the Sierra!  So, I will throw in the towel and look forward to Halloween and Fall colors.  Hopefully, this post will give you a bit of trivia and a lot of information on how to successfully see Fall colors in the Sierra.

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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.

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