Lundy Sunday

Sunburst over Lundy Canyon (10/10/21) Steve Arita

Sunday was sunny and time for a marathon. Not the running kind. The color-spotting kind.

Steve Arita looked to the skies and didn’t see a cloud in them. Normal people would be happy. Photographers aren’t. They want clouds. Not overcast, clouds. The kind that add texture and interest to the sky, that allow colors to get reflected from their misty forms.

On Sunday, Steve would drive from his home near Sacramento to the east side and back, including a rigorous hike up an alpine canyon. I’d call that a marathon. For his effort, he returned with gold. Not a medal, but lots of gold fall color.

Lundy Canyon, Mono County (10/10/21) Steve Arita

*Lundy Falls, Lundy Canyon (10/10/21) Steve Arita*

Lundy Falls, Lundy Canyon (10/10/21) Steve Arita

At Lundy Canyon, Steve found the falls running at a good clip, given the recent storm, and leaves throughout the canyon were still pretty intact, other than over the first quarter mile or so up from the trailhead whose aspen had lost their heads.

Beaver Pond, Lundy Canyon (10/10/21) Steve Arita

As he began his climb up into the canyon, he passed a lot of lime green trees that kept company with others dressed in bright yellow and orange. Steve conjectures that over the coming week those limeys will turn and it should all be dazzling by the weekend.

Hiking early on a Sunday morning meant that Steve was the only person in the parking lot and canyon, and it wasn’t until 7:45 a.m. or so before he saw another hiker overtaking him. “Kinda weird,” he wrote, “no one else along the road or in the parking lot.” Though by the time he returned to his car at half past noon, the area was packed.

June Lake Loop (10/10/21) Steve Arita

Steve drove the June lake loop from the back side next and is the first to report that, “the colors are coming out fast with lots of trees close to peaking, although many others are still lime green.”

He hiked about a mile along Rush Creek, where some of the colors are close to peak, figuring them to be “about 75% or a little more with areas that were already in full fall color mode.”

Steve hiked along the creek to Silver Lake before turning around and heading home. Many of the trees he photographed are mostly green intermixed with bright yellow. He estimates the June Lake loop will be fully peaking this weekend.

What he saw was beautiful, “especially given the clear, sunny day. While not as intense as seen in past years, it was still great to drive through and walk among these groves.”

June Lake Loop, Looking Toward Mono Lake (10/10/21) Steve Arita

A day later, the scenes Steve captured were blanketed with a wet snow.

To the south in Mammoth Lakes that day, Angie Plaisted hiked along the Multiuse path at Snowcreek Meadow where she captured these images. The snow has melted since, though the vibrance of the color contrasting with the snow was intense.