"Old, Older, Ancient - A California Road Trip (Part III)

This is Part III of the road trip ““Old, Older, Ancient – Another California Road Trip”. Part III will take you to the ‘Land of the Ancient’.  Please check out Parts I and Part II.

After shooting the Milky Way over Bodie until midnight (see Part II), and resting for only a few hours, I was up for catching and shooting the sunrise over Mono Lake. I have been to Mono Lake many times over the years, but never  for a sunrise. I’m not an early morning person, so getting up at 4 am to chase sunrises is very hard for me, but it was so worth it!

Sunrise at Mono Lake (shot 2017-06-24 between 5:40 am and 6:15 am PDT)

The light, the changing colors, the serenity, and the birds in the early morning hours – it was a Zen experience.

And just like all my Mono Lake experiences, it’s never the same! I returned for another photo shoot exactly one month later (in July 2017), and the sunrise experience was very different, but no less interesting, as the clouds from the night's thunderstorm were still lingering over the lake and the surrounding hills. The pictures below were shot 2017-07-24 between 5:50 am and 6:20 am PDT

I was happy to see that the water level at Mono Lake had further risen since my June visit. According to a post by the Mono Lake Committee the Lake level had reached 6381 ft as of 2017-07-26, but it still has ways to go before it reaches the targeted management level of 6391 ft.

As elated as I felt after this June sunrise Zen photo shoot, my body wanted coffee and a hearty breakfast after this almost all-nighter with Milky Way in Bodie and sunrise at Mono Lake. What better place to re-energize, and plan my next steps, than Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining. Their breakfast burrito is fantastic!

As the Whoa Nellie Deli is right at the Tioga Pass turnoff from Hwy 395, I decided to do a quick exploratory trip up Tioga Pass. The road into Yosemite National Park was still closed at Tioga Pass, but the road up to the pass was free and clear. Keep in mind, this road trip was in late June 2017, but there was still so much snow, the lakes still partially frozen, and waterfalls from the snow melt all along the side of the Tioga Pass Road. Creeks were roaring rivers, and Tioga Pass Resort was flooded and had other snow damage. As of the writing of this blog, the Tioga Pass Resort is closed.

Ellery Lake (2017-06-24)

Back down from Tioga Pass, I decided to head south on Hwy 395 for a nighttime photography adventure in the “Land of the Ancient” in the White Mountains southeast of Bishop, CA.

High up in the White Mountains,  at about 9,000 ft to 11,000 ft (3350 m) above sea level, you can find an ancient grove of trees,  the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. These trees are the oldest recorded living thing on earth. Many are well over 2,000 years old, a millenium older than the Giant Sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park on the western side of the Sierra Nevada, and the “Methuselah” tree in Schulman Grove was already 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Edmund Schulman and Tom Harlan, with an estimated germination date of 2832 BC. The Methuselah tree is the oldest known living tree and non-clonal organism - 'non-clonal’ meaning that the trunk is the same age as the root system. 

Several walking trails depart from the Schulman Grove Visitor Center that allow the public to explore these ancient trees, but you will not find a marker for the Methusaleh tree. It’s a protective measure to save the tree from vandalism.

Patriarch Grove is about another 12 miles past the Shulman Grove,  but the road is a ‘very-tough-on-your-tires” dirt road.  Scared of the "tough-on-you-tires" aspect I had bailed on venturing to Patriarch Grove in the past, but I decided to give it a try with my new VW Golf, sporting brand new tires. Careful maneuvering and very slow driving got me there – almost. Just about a mile from the Patriarch Grove the road was still totally blocked by two major fields of snow..... and still was as of late July. 

Schulman Grove is magnificent, fascinating, impressive, but the area near Patriarch Grove is an otherworldly experience! Seeing these ancient trees grow on these steep outcrops of white dolomite makes you marvel at Mother Nature.

I have always been fascinated with gnarly coniferous trees, the kind you find at high altitudes. Bristlecone Pines skeletons, bleached by wind and weather, their twisted trunks and branches, are the most interesting tree sculptures to me. I cannot stop taking the portraits of these ancient dead.

The remote location with very little light pollution also makes Schulman Grove a prime location for astrophotography.  There is an easy-accessible, picturesque, gnarly old Bristlecone Pine skeleton, which is probably THE most photographed Bristlecone Pine - with and without Milky Way.

Heading out of the White Mountains, back down into the Owens Valley, letting country roads take me back to the Bay Area. The adventures and sights of Eastern California's back roads will be the topic of a future blog post.

If you enjoyed this road trip to the eastern parts of California, please follow BarbaraNusselPhotography on Facebook for further travel adventures – near and far.

"Old, Older, Ancient" - A California Road Trip (Part II)

Continuation of “Old, Older, Ancient” – A California Road Trip (Part I)

After wondering around Columbia for hours at 100F (=38°C), it was time to hit the road again and cool off in the High Sierra.

Donnell Vista Point, 15 miles east of Strawberry on Highway 108, is good place to stop for a bathroom break and stretch your legs. A short walk among beautiful, smooth granite boulders and gnarled pines and cedars takes you from the parking lot to the vista point with its sweeping views of the Donnell Reservoir and the Middle Fork Stanislaus River Canyon. This day the Stanislaus River was sending its roaring brown waters into the reservoir, which was not yet at capacity. The first of many more roaring rivers to see along this trip.

View across the Stanislaus River Canyon -- Spot light is on!

Continuing on Sonora Pass Highway (Hwy 108) up to Sonora Pass. The road was free of snow, the drive was scenic as always, just a minor issue with road flooding in the Kennedy Meadows area, as all the contributory creeks to the Stanislaus River were just gushing down the mountains, and one creek had chosen the shortest way - across Hwy 108. Sonora Pass was open, but the snow banks along the road were still massive, and there was plenty of snow all around. After baking at 100F in Columbia, 55F (=13°C) at Sonora Pass (9,624 ft = 2933m) was refreshingly cold.

Heading down the east side of Sonora Pass towards Hwy 395 and Bridgeport, CA there were waterfalls,  creeks that had turned into roaring rivers, and meadows which had turned into lakes just about everywhere.

The flooded meadows outside of Bridgeport made for lovely reflection shots though. And strolling through the small town of Bridgeport, you might discover some interesting old / older things - from the historic Court House, in continuous use since 1880, to the similar vintage Bodie Hotel ("only for the lover of quirky places"). Just keep your eyes open. 

After a quiet night in the historic Bridgeport Inn and some more pictures of the flooded meadows, it was time for a quick exploration of Virginia Lake. Virginia Lakes is located a few miles off U.S. Highway 395 at Conway Summit, roughly halfway between Bridgeport to the north and Lee Vining to the south. The Virginia Lakes Resort was just coming back to life. The parking lot was still walled in by massive snow banks, but anglers were anxious to start the fishing season, even if it meant crossing snowfields or standing on snow banks. Virginia Creek was roaring - both into and out of Virginia Lake.

Flooded meadows outside of Bridgeport, CA with beautiful, snow-covered eastern Sierra Nevada as a backdrop

Roaring Virginia Creek - June 23, 2017

Soon it was time to get ready for one of the highlights of this road trip – an after-hours photo shoot at the ghost town of Bodie. Bodie State Historic Park closes to the public at 6 pm, and after-hour access is only possible when the Bodie Foundation has special events, or if you have managed to obtain a special permit. I have found it most convenient to just sign up for one of Jeff Sullivan Photography’s workshop, in order to have after-hour’s access in a small group setting.

In late December 2016 a series of earthquakes (5.7 on the Richter scale) with an epicenter near Hawthorne, NV, had caused some damage in Bodie, which is located about 80 miles from Hawthorne. The Park Service subsequently closed Bodie so they could assess the damage, and shortly after it was buried under a lot of snow. So I was curious to see the state of affairs at Bodie, as the road had still been closed during my earlier road trip. in April 2017

The Dechambeau Hotel (the brick building) had some obvious earthquake damage

Golden hour at Bodie, with the wild irises in bloom made for some nice photo opportunities.

With clear skies, no light pollution, and many interesting foreground subjects for your composition, Bodie is also a wonderful place for nighttime Milky Way photography. Doing nighttime photography at Bodie you have to be prepared with warm clothes, even in the summer time.  With Bodie being at an elevation of 8,379 ft (2554 m), it can get pretty cold at nighttime. I learnt this lesson the hard way during a night photography workshop in July of 2016.

Standard Stamp Mill and Milky Way with reflections

Excited, but cold and tired after your nighttime photo shoot, the closest place to stay and eat when visiting Bodie, is at the historic Virginia Creek Settlement. They have motel rooms, cabins, and if you’re looking for a real Wild West adventure, you can book one of their two Covered Wagons for accommodation.

To see more pictures of this road trip, please follow me on Facebook. Curious about the continuation of this road trip? Stay tuned for Part III , it will come up soon!

"Old, Older, Ancient" - A California Road Trip (Part I)

Are you ready for another California road trip? Then let’s go! Follow me on my “Old, Older, Ancient” road trip.

We will explore old towns in the rolling hills of the western Sierra Nevada, California’s Gold Country, before crossing over still snow-covered Sonora Pass. In the Eastern Sierra we will connect to our previous road trip and explore some of the older, some of the ancient sites, which we by-passed on our earlier road trip. 

Heading east on Hwy 120, the covered bridge at Knights Ferry is a good first stop. It’s a popular recreation area on the Stanislaus River and can get quite busy, and, unfortunately, trashed, on holiday weekends. But stop here during the week, and you might enjoy a quiet sunset along the river. After the very rainy winter of 2016/17, the water level of the Stanislaus River was high, and gave an appreciation of how the original toll bridge, built in 1852 to replace the ferry, was destroyed by the “Great Flood of 1862”. A new covered bridge was built at a higher level than the previous one, and it’s the one which still stands today. The covered bridge at Knights Ferry is the longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi at 330 feet (100 m) in length. It was open for car traffic until 1985.

From Knights Ferry it’s only a short drive to the historic town of Sonora. Having explored this charming town in the past, I just passed through on my way to Columbia, another old gold rush era town along Hwy 49.  Columbia was once known as the "Gem of the Southern Mines." Between the 1850s and 1870s over one billion dollars in gold (at today's value) was mined in the area. For a time, Columbia was the second largest city in California. Like many of these old mining towns, Columbia was devastated by fire a number of times. After a fire in 1854 destroyed most of it's central business district, the buildings were rebuilt using brick and iron doors and shutters for additional fire protection. Another fire three years later destroyed more wood frame buildings. The town's decline started in the 1860's when the easily mined placer gold was gone, but unlike many other settlements that disappeared due to fire, vandalism and time, Columbia survived. It was never completely deserted. In 1945 the State Legislature made the site a State Historic Park (SHP) in order to preserve a typical Gold Rush town. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Wandering around downtown Columbia, I couldn’t help but think that it would make for a perfect movie set. And, indeed, Columbia State Historic Park has been used as a shooting location for movies. The classic Western “High Noon”, starring Gary Cooper, includes scenes filmed in 1952 in and around Columbia.

To be continued in Part II of “Old, Older, Ancient” – A California Road Trip