On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youâre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
On my first drive up to the eastern Sierra, I saw the sign for Convict Lake and drove on to Hot Creek. I actually glad I did, Convict Lake is best viewed in the morning as the light hits the surrounding peaks and with a good dusting of snow on the peaks.
In the late 1800’s several inmates from the Nevada State Prison in Carson City escaped and made their way into eastern California, a pose was formed to capture these inmates and return them to Nevada. One member of the pose was killed in a shootout with the inmates and Mt. Morrison is named for him and the lake is named for the convicts. The lake is only 2 miles west of US-395 and provides a nice reflection of the fall color in the mirror like lake surface.
I hiked around the trail that loops around the lake to attempt to get some shots of the fall color from different angles.
The mountains and fall color mirrored in Convict Lake shot from the bridge crossing Convict Creek.
Fall color along Convict Creek as it exits the lake.
A stump along the lake shore.
Fall color at the south end of the lake extends into the mountains.
A shot looking northeast across the lake, the hill in the distance looks much more volcanic in origin than the Sierra peaks behind me.
Convict Lake in infrared(IRChrome), I wanted to see how fall color looked in infrared(it really doesn’t look any different than non-fall color).
Pretty much the same shot as the previous one in visual color.
The view from one of the ADA compliant viewing platforms.
Benw
Unreal
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Benw: I think my first comment to myself when I got out of the Prius and looked at the lake was, wow!.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Wow is a very appropriate response to Convict Lake and basically the entire area around there. As I’ve said before, I had a high school friend who’s dad lived in Mammoth and have visited a number of times and we explored and hiked a lot. I have stories.
Your pictures are stunning. Thanks for sharing.Â
Rusty
Thank you again for sharing. I was particularly struck by the vertical format of the stump photo and the lake reflection below that. I always think of landscapes as horizontal, but the vertical orientation of them really adds something.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: I didn’t actually go to Mammoth, or the lakes near town. I might try it next year for fall color or maybe a Milky Way shot in the summer. Thanks for the kind comment.
@Rusty: This is true, the horizontal format is called landscape and the vertical, portrait(usually used to take photos of people). Sometimes the portrait format just works, I use it quite a bit for astro-landscape shots(you’ll see it in the near future).
raven
sweet
Wvng
Wow. Lovely photos. One might note, however, that the American West has wow around nearly every corner.
donatellonerd
they’re incredible. and the fourth one would make an amazing pattern for a sweater …
?BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: Thanks
@Wvng:Â If you go about 20 miles north, it’s not ‘wow’ it is ‘oh’ as in Oh Ridge above June Lake
@donatellonerd: Hmmm, a fall color sweater.
SiubhanDuinne
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Also wow.
Absolutely love the one with the stump.
Rob
Pretty!
Laura Too
So beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
HinTN
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Wow was my reaction to several of these, especially the fall color at the south end of the lake. Stunning reflection and color. Thanks
lahke
Lovely pix as usual.
Spelling quibble: it’s “posse”.
cope
Absolutely beautiful, thanks. I canât believe the lake is ripple free in so many shots. Have you done any astro/reflection sessions there?
lashonharangue
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Great photos. I’ve driven past Oh Ridge many times before pulling into the campground just up the road at June Lake.
Mike Mundy
I was able to get a stormy view of Convict Lake back in 2007:
https://mikereport.blogspot.com/2019/06/convict-lake-minarets-2007.html
stinger
Spectacular!
stinger
@Mike Mundy: How beautiful!
YY_Sima Qian
Beautiful photos!
arrieve
Just gorgeous. I am always a sucker for reflections and these are magnificent.
J R in WV
Just WOW ! All of them. Esp the portrait of Mr Stump. Not the first to like that one, won’t be the last either.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Those are beautiful.
I remember that reaction. We were staying in June Lake right after the season ended, and were nearly alone on the road there, totally alone when we got to Convict Lake. The sense of loneliness in these places was striking.
mvr
Nice! I especially like the top photo that is also above the fold on the main page.
way2blue
Gorgeous. Â My favorite time of year!
Almost Retired
Stunning! We went up last October (2020) to Convict Lake and June Lake for some leaf-peeping, California style. Very smoky, alas. But Convict Lake was spectacular, even though the trails were quite crowded the day we went. We ended up cutting our trip short because of the smoke. And yes, I realize the irony of rushing back to Los Angeles for the superior air quality.
Sister Golden Bear
Don’t know if the dusting of snow covered it up, but the twisted rock layers on the cliffs are impressive. They’re magma and sedimentary layers that got deformed over the eons. Hard to think of rock as something that’s malleable like putty, but given enough time, heat and pressure, it can be pretzelled.
I used to go to the Eastern Sierras every summer as a kid, and skied there regularly as an adult. It’s magnificently beautiful. Especially in winter driving up 395, when the snow levels almost reach the floor of the Owens Valley, and with the mountains rising 10,000 feet on either side. (It’s a relatively narrow valley with Sierras to the west and the White Mountains to the east.)
Mo MacArbie
A stump. Yeah. Some stump. Background’s OK too.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks, I liked the one with the stump.
@Rob: Thanks much.
@Laura Too: I really is amazing up there, thanks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@HinTN: Thanks, I hiked down the loop trail to try and get some closer shots of the fall color heading up the valley, but I ended up in the trees and couldn’t get an unobstructed shot, maybe I’ll head up the trail that goes up the valley next year.
@lahke: Thanks, spelling’s not my strong point.
@cope: Thanks, it was ripple free except for the fisherman’s boat that headed out late. I’ve not shot there before, it not really positioned the best for Milky Way stuff since the long dimension is more to the southeast.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lashonharangue: My first trip up there, I stopped at Oh Ridge, but didn’t continue on the June Lake loop since it was so smokey. I did drive the whole loop and shot up there my second trip up. Thanks.
@Mike Mundy: Nice, and the lake is still mirror like.
@stinger: It’s an amazing view.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks.
@arrieve: I like reflections as well, and Convict Lake seems to have them consistently.
@J R in WV: Being that it is California, Mr. Stump wanted a fee for his photo being taken, I told him I was from Balloon Juice.
BigJimSlade
Lovely shots! I haven’t been there since the 80s, but it’s always picturesque :-)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: There were a lot of photographers on the bridge, I had to take the loop trail to escape them.
@mvr: That’s my favorite as well.
@way2blue: I was going to head up there last year, but the smoke was too bad. This year, I decided to head up anyway and the smoke forecast was a bit better. I was up in the southern Owens Valley last week and the fall color was nice down there this time of year.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Almost Retired: Thanks, the fires last year were really close to the eastern Sierra. This year, they were further to the north and further to the south, so it wasn’t as bad, though it did show up in the afternoon of my first trip up there.
@Sister Golden Bear: The Owens Valley is a pretty unique place geologically. I did shoot some winter shots of Mt. Whitney in Feb. 2020 and the snow was almost to the valley floor.
@Mo MacArbie: Heh, glad you like Mr. Stump.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@BigJimSlade: Thanks, I wanted to get a shot of the Sun rising over the hills and get a good starburst photo and reflection, but that didn’t work.
Interstadial
Bill, you keep moving me to come out of lurking mode by posting photos of some of my favorite places in CA. Really nice shots!
My wife loves Convict Lake, in part because of the accessible trail at the east end that she can use her rollator on. The hike all the way around the lake (mostly not accessible to wheeled transit) is a reasonable and almost level jaunt that’s a great intro to the area for those who don’t have much time or stamina.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Interstadial: Thanks for your kind comment about my photos. I was going to mention a portion of the loop trail along the east side of the lake is ADA compliant.