On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
UncleEbeneezer
After a decent night’s sleep we decided to head North and up to Virginia Lakes. The Virginia Lakes basin consists of twelve lakes by Conway Summit. Because of its’ high elevation of 9,000 feet, it is one of the first places where the aspens change color each Fall. It’s easily accessible from Rt. 395.
We got a bit of a late start on our day but around noon we finally got up to VA Lakes Rd., which had several groves of aspens alongside of it. We made a mental note to stop and explore them more on the way back down.
Here we are at the main lake by the parking lot and trailhead.
We decided to do a short portion of the trail to Blue Lake, since we had a couple other locations we wanted to try and hit before evening. Here is a lovely pond where we stopped for a bit. But most of the color wasn’t actually on the trail (according other hikers we talked to) and we were still not yet acclimated so we kept our hike short.
On the way back down to Conway Summit we stopped at some of the groves that we had seen on the way up. Here I am photo-bombing an adorable Asian-American couple who had already gotten to this grove first.
About halfway down to Conway Summit there was a small dirt service road that had some really bright aspens. We stopped and walked a ways up it. It’s amazing how much nicer the color looks when the aspens are back-lit.
Mine All Mine!!!
One more shot of that lovely dirt road and then we were off to see more sights. Where would we go next? Stick around for Part 3 to find out…
raven
sweet
JPL
Perfect weather for exploring!
OzarkHillbilly
I miss the mountains. Thanx for the reminder.
Tdjr
Beautiful! Thanks!
Yutsano
Maybe California should be its own country. There is so much diversity just in the state alone!
Xavier
Aspens look best against that dark blue high altitude sky, and some dark green evergreens for contrast.
eclare
Such beautiful color, thanks!
J R in WV
We had great color this fall, so much scarlet maple to contrast with the hickory yellows and the bronzes of the oak trees. The Appalachians have a huge variety of hardwoods which all have different colors both in early spring and in fall. New leaves have so many shades of green in spring!
Thanks for sharing your great photos of fall in CA~!!~
UncleEbeneezer
@J R in WV: I miss the red maples that I grew up with in New England. Our color here is mostly gold and orange but very little red. Glad you liked the pix. Several more to come in parts 3 & 4!!
Origuy
I love the Eastern Sierra more every time I go there. I was at Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Mojave, on Sunday. I still have a set of photos from Bodie I’ve been meaning to post.
StringOnAStick
I grew up in CO with a love of the aspens that are such a part of that state; thanks for the lovely reminder. A grove of aspens fluttering their gold leaves against a deep blue sky is such a treat.
Here in central Oregon there are a few aspens, and even some larch if you know where to look. The neutral soil means people can grow city trees with the full yellow to flame red co!or range; back in CO the more alkaline soils limit it to mostly yellow and orange (according to what I’ve read in garden books).
Interstadial
Glad to see part 2 – yay! I missed the peak of fall color on my trip this year but I’m glad you got some great color. When you’re acclimated the hike up Virginia Lakes, over the pass, and onward to Summit Lake is well worth it.
UncleEbeneezer
@Interstadial: Always heard great things about that hike. For whatever reason (usually staying in Mammoth) we’ve just never had the timing right. It’s tough without taking a full week in the Sierra for us to have the time/energy to do much beyond couple-mile day hikes.
JanieM
Thanks for taking us along, UncleEb. Beautiful country and great pictures of it — I like #3 especially, but also the last one — a road leading somewhere lovely, it looks like.
Interstadial
@UncleEbeneezer: I only managed (long ago) because I made it a backpacking trip.