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.

Channeling Huell Howser in the Eastern Sierra

The last couple of months, with the drought going on, we have been channeling his shows on the Owens River and the Eastern Sierra. He visited an amazing number of locations. (Admit it, you heard his voice when you read amazing didn’t you.)

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Wildflowers are Coming, the Wildflowers are Coming; are You Prepared?

It’s February and raining and snowing a lot. The skiers in the Eastern Sierra are in heaven, but what are the non-skiers to do with our time? Prepare for the wildflower season of course. The flowers are already popping up here and there already. I wanted to provide a list resources to help you plan your wildflower hunting season. We will cover:

Where to look for wildflowers and websites that track the wildflower blooms
How to know what you are looking at. Yes, there is an app for that and I found a great website.
Tips on how to take great wildflower pictures

Hike Big Sycamore Canyon - Tejon Ranch

If you go to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy website they have this quote:

“There is no other place like Tejon Ranch in California...and perhaps in the world.”

I have to say it is true, it is true.

It is immense at 270,000 acres, the largest contiguous private property in California.
It is diverse lying at the boundaries of multiple ecosystems as diverse as the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert.
It is magnificently beautiful. Especially when there is weather happening!

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.

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.

Clouds are the Photographers Spice of Life

Clouds are a landscape photographer's spice to add flavor to their images. Don't believe me, do a google on "Ansel Adam on cloud" and see how many hits come up of his images that have "cloud" in the name.

My point is this, There are a lot of good images that have a bright blue cloudless sky. There are many more "great" images of the same location that have clouds in the sky! I love the Owens Valley, it is gorgeous. That said, would the above image be so moving if it did not have those wonderful clouds in the sky? I think not.