Bob Kent Bob Kent

Three Days of Fall Colors in the Eastern Sierra

Three days of fall colors

I had a wonderful time bopping around the Eastern Sierra enjoying and capturing the season’s fall colors and clouds.

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also in the trees, and in the flowers, and clouds, and stars. Martin Luther

Three days of exploring the Fall Color in the Eastern Sierra

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

Best Images 0f 2021

My best Eastern Sierra images of 2021

It is that time of year where folks publish their best images of the previous year. Here is my list.

Locations include:

  • Owens River

  • June Lake Loop

  • Bishop Canyon

  • Bridgeport

  • Sage Hen

  • Silver Lake

  • Gull Lake

  • Mammoth Lakes

  • Round Valley

While 2021 had its issues it was a great year for photographing the Eastern Sierra.

Would love to know what you think of the images and which one you liked the best.

Wishing you an awesome 2022!

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

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?

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?

Here are my top five reasons the low tech “wall calendar” thrives in this technology-driven society:

  1. In our high-tech screen-driven world, images and information are fleeting.  This creates a human desire for something physical and more permanent.  We have two calendars in the house.  One in the kitchen and one in the main bathroom.  I usually make two calendars, one of the Eastern Sierra and one of Dodger Stadium.  We catch ourselves regularly stopping and looking at the images.  It takes us back to places and experiences we love.

  2. It is like having Christmas twelve times a year.  The calendar in the kitchen is too high for my wife to reach.  On the first of each month, one of the first things she asks me to do is to flip the page on the calendar.  She looks forward to seeing what the next image is going to be. It’s like opening a present! Some of the images have a special meaning because, as my “Photographer’s Assistant” she told me to take them!

  3. Wall calendars bring people together.  You can write something on a calendar for a specific date.  From that point on everyone can see it without having to ask Alexa.  We have a group of longtime friends with who we get together several times a year.  With kids, sports, and work it is hard to schedule things.  We have a planning party every year to map out the things we want to do together for the next year.  You should see the calendars come out at that event. If you have a friend that really likes a particular topic a quality wall calendar on that topic is a great way to provide an inexpensive gift that still has a very personal touch.

  4. I think having a wall calendar hanging up is also a character statement.  Let me give you an example.  In the Book Blue Highway, the author takes a trip around the US trying to drive only on “Blue” highways, meaning back roads.  In the book he stated he could predict the type of meal he was about to have by the number of calendars the restaurant had on its walls:

“No calendar: Same as an interstate pit stop

One calendar: Preprocessed food assembled in New Jersey

Two calendars: Only if fish trophies are present

Three calendars: Can’t miss on the farm-boy breakfast

Four calendars: Try the ho-made pie too

Five calendars: Keep it under your hat, or they will franchise”

Now think about it.  The last road trip you made.  If the joint had a calendar or two, usually of a local youth sports team or a local business, the food was pretty good and the service was friendly.  Now think about the last time you saw a calendar at a McDonalds.  Enough said.

Well, maybe one last point for my Highway 395 friends.  Our first impression of the Aberdeen Resort was a Margie standing in front of a wall calendar hanging next to a rotary phone.  The food was off the chart.

 

Aberdeen Resort

 

5. The benefits of buying from a local or small-time artist that focuses on a place or thing you love.
  In my case the Eastern Sierra.  You are supporting a local artist.  That artist will put some of that
money back into the local economy of the place you love.  If that was not enough, the calendar will
bring you back to your happy place all year long.

We have several calendars up on the walls of our house. The connection between calendars on the wall and good food that the Blue Highway author makes is true. The BBQ at the Kent house is pretty tasty.

Reverse Seared Rib Eye

 After reading this you have the desire to buy a wall calendar of the Eastern Sierra check out mine at the link below.

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

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.

Bishop Canyon

Every year I reluctantly hang on to summer and desperately resist the coming of Fall.  Despite my best efforts the days keep getting shorter, the nights have a chill, and heck it is mid-September and it 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 to impress your friends and a lot of information on how to successfully see the Fall colors in the Sierra.

Bishop Canyon

Why do leaves change color?

The short answer is simply the leaves get less light.  There is more to it than that!  Here is your trivia facts that you can use to impress your fellow Fall Color lovers. 

Trivia Fact 1. In fall the days grow shorter.  The reduction in the total amount of light the tree leaves receive induces a chemical change causing a corky wall to form between the twig stem and the main portion of the leaf. 

After a while this corky wall causes the leaf to drop off the tree. Before it falls however, the wall blocks the in and exit vessels which traps sugars in the leaves. With reduced light an no new food the green chlorophyll pigments die.  This allows us to see the two other pigments the leaves always have had - carotene (yellow) and anthocyanin (red).

Trivia Fact 2. The reason the leaves look more vibrant after sunny days is that the sunlight continues to produce anthocyanins after the blockage occurs.  During cloudy days less anthocanin is created and the leaves take on a more pastel tones.

Weir Pond

Eastern Sierra Fall Colors Locations

While the Maine, Vermont, and the Rockies are better known for their fall colors there are plenty of places in the Eastern Sierra that put on quite a show. As the California Fall Color Web Site says “Dude, autumn happens here too.”  Here are a some of the locations that usually have good showings:

  • Big Pine Canyon
  •  Bishop Creek Canyon
  • Lower Rock Creek
  •  Rock Creek Canyon
  •  McGee Creek
  •  Convict Lake
  • June Lake Loop
  • Sagehen Summit (Hwy 120)
  • Lee Vining Canyon
  • Lundy Canyon
  •  Virginia Lakes
  •  Conway Summit
  • Walker River Canyon
  • Lobdell Lake
  • Monitor Pass
  • Hope Valley

Viewing Etiquette

During the peak viewing time, there are tons of site-seers and photographers.  Lately there are a lot of Photography Tour groups as well.  There is enough beauty to go around to see so folks please be respectful of your fellow viewers!  I remember a time where I was at North Lake very early in the morning.  The sunrise was so beautiful and peaceful.  That was until a large group of tourist that had broken up into two groups decided it was okay to loudly yell things to each other across the lake, ruining the peace for all others.  Think before you yell, walk in front of someone’s camera scene, or bogart a location while other photographers are waiting behind you.

McGee Creek

Incredibly Helpful Resources for Planning Your Trip

 Generally, the colors start changing first at higher altitudes usually in late September and the 1st week in October is best overall for color viewing. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.  The change in fall colors is a very fickle thing.  It does not always start on time.  One location might look gorgeous one day then after a sudden wind storm, cold freeze, or snow storm be totally decimated the next day.

Fortunately, there are a lot of kind people that actively track and publish the current conditions.  Some of the best sites are:

Lower Rock Creek

Best blog post and How To Book

G. Dan Mitchell provide an incredible amount of valuable info!

·         Sierra Nevada Fall Color Season – Coming Sooner Than You Think!

Hope this helps you in your quest to see one of nature’s best shows.  Maybe I will see you out there among the colors!