Hope Valley Comparison

Philip Reedy’s text that he was in the Hope Valley arrived as I was on the road to South Lake Tahoe, yesterday morning.

I’d be returning that afternoon and wanted to see the valley, but also wanted to compare the lovely morning light he was reporting to what I might find when I returned that afternoon.

The above shows two images of Red Lake Creek Cabin, the first taken by Phil at 8:48 a.m., the second by me at 3:28 p.m. We stood at the same location at a turnout beside CA-88, using a pine to obscure a cabin with a blue roof at left. Aside from the exposure differences (Phil’s – 1/20 @ f16 – ISO 64 | John’s – 1/250 @ f.8 – ISO 250) and that I was handholding my shot in order to move along more quickly, the environmental differences are striking (click to enlarge).

Phil had the advantage of soft morning light (not the golden hour, but still sweet) and a clearer, more textured sky, while the light was more muted in my frame and haze is more evident. Haze lingers over the area. It is from fires elsewhere, though it diminishes the scene’s beauty nonetheless.

Also affecting the color is the staggered way groves are turning in the Hope Valley. Some are green, while others are tinged with yellow and still others are at full peak, while others have dropped their leaves. There is an element of beauty in this, though it can also be discouraging, as there’s no clear peak to the color. So, treat it as peaking and GO NOW!

On my morning drive east up the American River Canyon (US 50), I noticed that from 3,500 to 4,000′ bigleaf maple have browned quickly. They are edged with russet. I had to look twice. “Are those Western sycamore?” I thought to myself. “No, they’re bigleafs!”

Something unusual is happening. Perhaps it’s the environmental stress of so much bad air or perhaps it’s the lack of water (it hasn’t rained in months) or perhaps it’s disease. So many questions, so few answers.

Later, in the Hope Valley, aspen displayed varying amounts of ink spots on them. Some, just a touch, others fully black. There isn’t enough of this to ruin the scene, but it’s noticeable and short of perfection.

Red and orange colors the aspen more strongly this year than has been seen in the past. That makes for beautiful images, as seen in those taken this past week at North Lake (Bishop Creek Canyon), but it also can create a sameness that is overpowering.

Combined with haze, the orange struggles to reflect sunlight as intensely as yellow does. So, unless the sun is unobstructed, its rays don’t bring out the deeper color as strongly. Sunday is predicted to be the first unclouded day we’ve had in some time. So, the Hope Valley is likely gonna be at its best for this autumn.

To illustrate the photo location (on the dam) of what I’m calling “Vermillion Grove” (because it is a distinctive swath of vermillion above Caples Lake), I took these two images, the first at 70 mm (cropped), the second at 42 mm.

Vermillion grove only appears at the beginning of peak, then its redheads drop their tresses and disappear into the pine forest surrounding them. That’s when the blonder aspen, below, attract attention.

Seen here is more of what Reedy captured on his morning visit to the Hope Valley. See you there, Sunday morning.

• Hope Valley – Near Peak to Peak (50-100%) GO NOW!