Mile-High Idyllwild

While taking a week in Palm Desert to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary, my wife and I drove up the "Pines-to-Palm" highway to Idyllwild, a small "artists" community located on the backside of Mt San Jacinto in the San Bernardino Nat'l Forest, elevation just above 5,000'. The day we drove to Idyllwild was beautiful in the desert, about 80 with calm winds. Idyllwild was just that, wild, temps in high 40's low 50's, some showers and windy as heck. However, the colors in the area where beautiful, soft yellow grasses, rust colored vegetation, pale yellow and green tips on the brush, manzanita I suppose. We passed this stand of pines and colorful grasses on the way in and planned to return and take some pics on the way out, which I did. It was difficult to get a decent comp because of the barbed wire fence along the roadside and the constant 10-15 mph winds, as well as the very cold temps.
D700
70-200

Reno, a nice rendition from this area. I know the area fairly well and spent many days and nights up there as a kid, mostly fishing and hiking. The area has grown tremendously since those days. The trip up there from Palm Desert was worth the drive time no doubt. I recall one Sunday my wife and I stopped to watch the hang glider folks taking off on the backside of the mountain range near Palm Desert area when actor Telly Savalas stopped and spoke with us for awhile. Truly seems like a life time ago now.
Congratulations to you and your wife on celebrating number 41. Enjoy all your future ones together as well.

That's some interesting colors. Nice!!!

- Dan.

Thanks Reno, for the trip down memory lane, also.
Are those grasses suppose to be Coral in color? WOW.....
Guess I never went this late in the year...
I have been also up there since my stepdad had a place in Rancho MIrage
in fact, I have a little sage from up there, but that also was long ago...
Sheez...Telly Savalas? Did he have his lollipop?
I don't think the wind or cold should have effected your composition
but I can see if you were limited in lens choices how that would.
Just curious...did you do a Vertical of this location?
Thanks for sharing...

Idyllwild, I love that little town... reminds of being in the Sierra's. I like the mixture of high desert and mountains captured here. I might favor a slight boost of cyan to bring out the rust color and detail of the fg grasses (not to the top half though). Other than that, this more than works for me.