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.
As we start the new year, I’m hoping for input from the OTR regulars as I decide how to schedule OTR posts that are part of a series.
If it’s a series of four posts, I tend to schedule a week that starts with Albatrossity and then do the 4 posts in the series – I feel like that allows folks to get more of a sense of place than if I split the 4 posts across multiple weeks, but I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
With a series of 8 posts, I would tend to split them across 2 weeks, sometimes with a week or two in between. I do like getting a sense of place, but I also like time in between so we have a nice variety. Again, curious about how you think that works. If you guys have suggestions about that, I’m glad to consider them.
UncleEb, this series has been great!
UncleEbeneezer
For our last full day in the Sierra before heading home we had planned to do one more hike up to Parker Lake. About 20 minutes drive from our campground, the hike to Parker Lake is a favorite among Fall Leaf-Peepers.
After leaving the trailhead the first mile or so of the hike is very exposed with a steep elevation gain. Even in October it was fairly warm and tiring. We had to stop several times to catch our breath and couldn’t wait to get to some flat portions and shade.
After finally ascending to the top of the main incline we finally started to see some lovely aspens.
The mid-day sun was still rather harsh but here and there we got some nice views.
There really is nothing better than walking through aspens.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
We finally arrived at Parker Lake and it was gorgeous.
The shoreline was lined with golden aspens and the water was impossibly blue :)
The water was also very clear and looked so refreshing. But also VERY cold, so we decided not to swim.
On the hike back out we found a nice spot by the creek to rinse our feet and have some lunch. The water was so cold we could only keep our feet in for a few seconds.
The hike back down to the trailhead was hard on our knees but so much easier than going uphill. We would rate the Fall Color on this hike (as with most of our trip) as maybe 7/10 due to it being not quite peak timing and much of the foliage having been knocked down by wind. But all in all, it was still a great and much needed trip. Until next year…
eclare
Very nice! Great series.
mvr
That water is very clear!
Thanks!
Betty
Looks like a very enjoyable experience. Thanks for sharing the lovely scenery.
funlady75
thanks for the nice photos…
Torrey
Didn’t know you could outdo the pictures from the last couple of days, but these are just incredible. Of course, some of that is personal preference: I tend to like pictures of trees, and if there’s a path or a creek in the picture and the sense of something to explore beyond the next bend, so much the better.
ETA to answer WaterGirl’s question: personally, if there’s a sense of place in the pictures, I like to have them grouped together. On the other hand, pictures like Albatrossity’s, that are focused on different birds, aren’t mostly about place–unless you’re a birder, I suppose–and stand on their own. On yet a third hand, a series of pictures of a particular type of landscape or landscape feature, such as trees or trails or gardens, can run together, even if they’re not about the same place. So, uh, yeah.
Baud
Super gorgeous.
WendyBinFL
Really enjoyed this series, thanks UncleEbeneezer! Must admit when I first glanced at your first photo, I thought the trail sign was a person… My favorite shot is your second-to-last one, of Parker Lake. I could lose myself in the ripples!
Note to WaterGirl: I also love today’s bonus beauty, the aquascape from JanieM! Great idea!
lashonharangue
Great photos. Thanks.
UncleEbeneezer
@Torrey: Glad you all enjoyed these pix! I agree on the grouping issue. Sometimes (even from one trip) there are multiple different vibes to different sets of pix. Some could be outdoors, architecture etc. Some could be from inside museums etc.
WaterGirl
@WendyBinFL: Not sure if your comment posted before or after I changed the photo from yesterday’s to today’s. It’s cold here, and suddenly feeling very wintery, so we got a second gorgeous JanieM.
WendyBinFL
@WaterGirl: Oh, lovely! In my earlier comment, #7, I was referring to JanieM’s pond with lily pads, and now I am appreciating her wintry aquascape! Thanks to both of you! I’m a fan!
Madeleine
Thanks, Uncle E, for your photos of aspenland. Actually, Albatrossity’s photos on Monday helped me to see them better than before. His first photo and especially the close-up. In your stills I see the quivering—they look frilly—and the varying colors.
WaterGirl: I’m enjoying the daily photo. Thanks, too, JanieM.
MCat
I really loved this series. Thanks.
Interstadial
Thank you so much for this! I noticed the lake on the map as a teenager, I got to see it at a distance from the mountains above, but I never actually made it to the lake. Now with better health I’ll have to make that hike.
My father and I climbed one of the peaks (Parker Peak) in the background back in 1973 while on a backpacking trip. We went up the easy side of course, not the cliffs.
Winter Wren
Great series. I agree that keeping a series together is best and I also like the rotating side photo – both selections so far have been great!
Super Dave
Thanks for these tours, UncleEbeneezer. I’ve lived near these spots for 26+ years now, and I’m still learning more about the area. My SIL has a condo in Mammoth Lakes, so we visit several times a year, but especially enjoy the fall season.
WaterGirl, I don’t have any problem with how you’re doing this series. There’s probably an easy way to do this that I don’t know, but I would love to be able to easily search and aggregate a series of multiple posts on a particular topic, and/or by a particular commenter. For example, I’d like to be able to send my SIL a link that would take her to all of UncleEbeneezer’s posts on the Sierra Nevada. Is that possible? Thanks!
WaterGirl
@Super Dave: I try to do that for a series – but only when I remember!
These are the OTR sub-categories that we have already:
WaterGirl
WaterGirl
WaterGirl
@Super Dave: In this case, I already had a category for Eastern Sierra, but I hadn’t thought to add all the recent posts to it.
I am always happy to do that if someone reminds me.
Anyway, if you look up top, you’ll see Eastern Sierra in the category list. Click that and you’ll have the 26 or so Eastern Sierra posts we’ve had from UncleEb over the years. Newest start at the top.
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: What a great idea! Thanks for doing this :)
BigJimSlade
Ah, Parker Lake. In the early-to-mid 80s a friend and I were fishing there. We were getting our lures snagged on the bottom (probably logs) and we lost a few. So we started calling it Lure Lake. But, yes, very pretty!
Super Dave
@WaterGirl: Thank you! That’s exactly what I was looking for!