Colorful aspens carpet McGee Creek Canyon
A lot has happened so far in 2018, but very little of it had to do with photography. At the end of last year we decided to relocate from Geneva, NY to Reno, NV. The intervening months have been dominated by moving activities — buying and selling houses, packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in to our new home. (The “settling in” part is a work in progress…)
Finally last month we had the chance to begin exploring our new surroundings, camping for four nights at Convict Lake, a few hours south of Reno on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. From there we explored several of the canyons that lead up toward the towering peaks of the Sierra range.
Convict Lake sunrise
The Brave Little Toaster, our home base at Convict Lake.
There were two real highlights of this trip for me. The first was the ready access to high alpine scenery. The hike through Little Lakes Valley along Rock Creek, beginning at an elevation of 10,250 feet (!), led to pristine alpine meadows and lakes framed by mountain peaks. I want to return next summer when the wildflowers are in bloom!
Carol gets the shot (above Heart lake, Little Lakes Valley)
Box Lake (Little Lakes Valley)
The second highlight for me was the fall color display of the aspen trees that grow along creeks and other natural drainages We had hoped that our trip would coincide with the fall color, and we were not disappointed. The images at the top of this post and below give a sense of the color show in McGee Creek Canyon.
Fall color along McGee Creek
We grew up in Northern California and have spent considerable time on the western slope of the Sierras, but the eastern side is completely new to us. This trip barely scratched the surface, and we will be going back.
You can find a new gallery with more eastern Sierra photos here.