On Golden Ponds
If there’s a benefit to the haze that has smothered the Eastern Sierra this autumn, it is that it has transformed Bishop’s Buckley Ponds to golden ponds, as seen in Gary Young’s photographs.
Patchy color is transitioning to Near Peak there, as cottonwood, rabbitbrush, cattails and willows are similarly gilded.
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young
Water fowl and raptors offer entertaining distractions to a Buckley Ponds visit. Location of Buckley Ponds is found on the California Fall Color Map (at right).
Coots, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Coots, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young 
Red-tailed Hawk, Buckley Ponds, Bishop (10/25/20) Gary Young
Two days earlier, Wally Tran found the following glimpses of final color along South Lake Road in Bishop Creek Canyon. The color has definitely dropped out of the canyon to lower elevations, though the images remain beautiful, as seen in Mark Harding’s images taken today.
S. Fork Bishop Creek, Inyo County (10/23/20) Wally Tran 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/23/20) Wally Tran 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding 
South Lake Rd, Bishop Creek Canyon (10/26/20) Mark Harding
- Buckley Ponds, Bishop (4,150′) – Patchy to Near Peak (10-75%) – Go Now.
- Bishop Creek Canyon (below 8,000′) – Peak to Past Peak, GO NOW, You Almost Missed It.
