Thanks for the update, Preston. I'm looking forward to going to the
Eastern Sierra soon. Living in Merced, it's less time consuming for
me to cross on Ebbet's Pass, Sonora Pass, or Tioga, when it opens,
rather than having to travel all the way up to the Tahoe area or south
to Bakersfield. Plus the passes are so scenic.
My wife and I wandered up to Sonora Pass on Tuesday. It was cloudy, chilly, and rather windy, but none the less, it was a beautiful day!
The creeks and the Stanisluas River are running quite high and very cold. The real melt-off is only just beginning. The snow cover was quite extensive from about 8,000 feet, all the way to the summit at 9,600'. On the East side of the pass, the snow coverage stopped at about 8,800 feet. South facing slopes have much less snow than the north faces, which look very alpine. Snow depth at the pass was about 6 feet, with some very deep drifts. At 8,000 feet, it was about 3 feet, on average. By comparison, there was very little snow at 8,000 feet this time last year.
From a photography standpoint, any sunlit snow was brilliant white (EV 17 on my spot meter), and the contrast was extreme, even under cloud cover. Some of the still-naked aspens and junipers looked pretty nice, but I couldn't see a comp that rocked my boat. Therefore, except for one shot of a waterfall with 4x5, we just wandered around and feasted our eyes!
Note: Tioga Pass will open this Saturday, June 5 at 8:00 AM. The NPS is saying there is a great deal of snow, and all the Tuolumne Meadows High Country facilities are still closed.
Thanks for the report Preston. Agreed on axis snow like whitewater can be an impossibly contrasty subject. Having to compensate for something at EV17 is futile. However off axis snow slopes late and early and dusk and dawn can work. I'm packed up to escape from work today to ply the Hetch Hetchy area again this weekend and might just drive up SR120 late afternoon to maybe the Olmsted area and try for a dusk light pic with one of those nice Sierra junipers within snow above the road.
Discussion
4 repliesI will likely head up to Sonora Pass either tomorrow (5/30) or early this coming week. I'll report back, if I do.
Boy, will it be great to get up into the mountains; it's been a long winter! WaHoo!
On a safety note: The creeks will be running very high, and very cold. Please exercise extreme caution!
Tioga Pass is still closed, but should open soon.
--P
Eastern Sierra soon. Living in Merced, it's less time consuming for
me to cross on Ebbet's Pass, Sonora Pass, or Tioga, when it opens,
rather than having to travel all the way up to the Tahoe area or south
to Bakersfield. Plus the passes are so scenic.
My wife and I wandered up to Sonora Pass on Tuesday. It was cloudy, chilly, and rather windy, but none the less, it was a beautiful day!
The creeks and the Stanisluas River are running quite high and very cold. The real melt-off is only just beginning. The snow cover was quite extensive from about 8,000 feet, all the way to the summit at 9,600'. On the East side of the pass, the snow coverage stopped at about 8,800 feet. South facing slopes have much less snow than the north faces, which look very alpine. Snow depth at the pass was about 6 feet, with some very deep drifts. At 8,000 feet, it was about 3 feet, on average. By comparison, there was very little snow at 8,000 feet this time last year.
From a photography standpoint, any sunlit snow was brilliant white (EV 17 on my spot meter), and the contrast was extreme, even under cloud cover. Some of the still-naked aspens and junipers looked pretty nice, but I couldn't see a comp that rocked my boat. Therefore, except for one shot of a waterfall with 4x5, we just wandered around and feasted our eyes!
Note: Tioga Pass will open this Saturday, June 5 at 8:00 AM. The NPS is saying there is a great deal of snow, and all the Tuolumne Meadows High Country facilities are still closed.
--P