Yosemite Fall Colors!

Even a die hard gardener has to leave the flowers, veggies and chickens behind for a weekend now and then. Noticing a Facebook post about the fabulous fall colors in the high Sierras around Mono County and Yosemite National Park we took off early on Saturday morning and just five hours from home found ourselves in one of the most beautiful places on earth!

Just inside the park we spotted our first brilliant yellow foliage:

I was so excited to see this….it’s kind of laughable when you see what follows…to think I was excited about this little bush.Heading over Tioga Pass,  next up was Tenaya Lake. One of my favorite places. No color here but it’s beautiful and it was fun to watch the wind surfers!

As we headed down after driving over the Pass and  through Tuolumne Meadows color started popping up in the canyon!

And as we came down the pass, almost to the end, shortly before the turn to Lee Vining…oh did we find color! Just off the side of the road on the way to some campgrounds stood the most amazing group of Aspen trees…mixed with pines and all with a stream running by…oh my!

From Hwy 120 where it ends at Lee Vining we turned right to Hwy 395 looking for the turn to Hwy 158 where we would enter the June Lake Loop.  We didn’t travel far on Hwy158 when we saw Grant lake….a severe reminder that we are definitely in a drought. Seeing this made me glad I turned the sprinklers off before we left!

Once we began to travel around the loop we couldn’t go very far at all without stopping to photograph color…color….and more color!

After driving from 7 a.m. until about 5 p.m., photographing all along the way, we ended up in the town of June Lake where we found a room at the Boulder Lodge and rested up for an early start  to catch the color in the early morning light.  If there is anything that can improve gorgeous fall color, it’s gorgeous fall color in the right light! Back around the loop we re-photographed Silver Lake to get better light (I really want to go back and stay in one of their quaint cabins this summer!) and to capture more color in different light along the way:

Leaving the June Lake Loop, we drove back along Hwy. 395, back over Tioga Pass, along Hwy 120 and ended up back in Yosemite National Park were we decided to drive down to photograph the Yosemite Valley (not the best time of day for good light but it’s so beautiful there anyway):

After two hours on the Valley Floor we decided to head home by way of our favorite gold country stop: Jamestown. With at least six antique stores on Main Street it’s a fun stop and not far out of the way driving back to Sonoma County.

And speaking of Sonoma, dinner at Mary’s Pizza on the Sonoma Square is a perfect way to end a perfect weekend. After all, you have to go out to dinner when you’re celebrating your 30th wedding anniversary….right? This spontaneous trip was a wonderful way to celebrate! If you have a free weekend, Yosemite is a relaxing and beautiful place to spend it! We’re already planning a trip for next October’s spectacular color display!