Hello everyone!   Today I would like to share a few more photos from our last camping trip.  Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra is a very special place.  Its fascinating geology lends to its beauty.  I was a novice photographer when I was there the last time during sunrise many years ago and that left an impression on me.  Now, years later, it was time to revisit and refresh that memory.

 

 

 

Sunset Hour

 

Last month I shared photos of a spontaneous visit to one of the many glacial lakes in the High Sierras during the sunset hour.  It was a magical hour.  Not quite so spontaneous, we headed out next morning toward Mono Lake for the sunrise.

 

 

 

 

In September, High Sierra mornings are already very cold.  Since we were going to be standing still by the lakeside for photography, we bundled up in layers of warm clothing and drove out in the darkness. 

The cold air, the gentle lapping of water on the shore, the peach and cream sky and the intensely blue lake interspersed by the Tufa all combined to make the place look very otherworldly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike the sunset of the night before which unfolded over the course of an hour, the sunrise was a much briefer affair.   We left shortly thereafter with a dazed head from this ethereal early morning.

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.  

 

 

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I love October for many reasons, but this particular one is very special to me.  Twenty years ago, this east coast girl packed up on the last week of October and left for the west coast in pursuit of something she had read in a science fiction book.  I fell in love with the author’s description of California, and sight unseen I moved here.  I fall in love with her more with every passing day.

 

 

 

 

Last weekend we were without power for a very long time due to major Santa Ana winds.  The trees were swaying as if the ground itself was shaking them.  Colourful autumn leaves were swirling everywhere. Despite the drama, it was a tragic event, really.  I was wondering what keeps me here.

 

 

 

As you know, I love camping in the high sierras at 10,000 ft. for the cold weather it brings in September.  It is a respite for me from the summer heat.  Despite my wish of seeing the sun colouring the rolling clouds over the high mountains at sunrise and sunset, the day started out quite mundane.

 

Nonetheless, we got up before sunrise at 5:30 AM and drove up to one of the many glacial lakes to see the sun blazing on the mountains.  We were not disappointed.

 

 

 

 

As if mother Nature heard me, she started rolling in a few clouds later in the day.

 

 

 

 

I was trying hard not obsess about photography this time, and busied myself the next day with a bit of sketching of my new tent at the campground.

 

 

 

 

However, when the clouds continued to billow overhead, it was very hard not to heed that call.  My husband, who knows me very well, smiled and we drove to one of our favourite spots on Tioga Pass a little before sunset.

 

 

 

 

The 360-degree amphitheatre play of light, shadow, and colour unfolded around us slowly over the next hour.

 

 

 

 

The clouds turned from white to orange to purple and pink.

 

 

 

 

Then back to orange again on the other side of the mountain.

 

 

 

 

It was getting really dark around us and we were the only living beings there apart from the trees to witness the drama that only Mother Nature can create.

 

 

 

 

We finally left when the last light of the day had truly started fading away into night.  There was an intense pink glow around us still, and it was very hard to part myself from it.  Mesmerized and hypnotized, I wanted to stay there forever and become part of the mountains and the trees.

 

That’s why stay here in California.  I wanted to write something summarising my life here, but how do you capture twenty years of photographic journey in just one single article!  So I decided to share just one intense hour with you. 

 

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.  

 

 

 

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