Laura
freespirittraveler
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
- Messages
- 961
I just got back from an intentionally mellow trip with Stan and wasn't planning on a trip report, but I got some cool shots and the Bishop area doesn't get much attention here so I decided to write this up in the photography section. I'm sure Nick will move this if it's not in the right place 
Anyway, as you may have seen in the news, Southern California got snow down to 1200 feet just before New Year's Eve. We assumed that the mountains would have snow as well, so we rented snowshoes and headed to Bishop, CA. A little background: Bishop is at the north end of the Owens Valley and is an outdoor hub. If anyone isn't familiar with the Owens Valley, it's the deepest valley in the U.S., surrounded on one side by the White Mountains, the Sierra Nevada on the other. It is also heavily litigated. In 1913 the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power realized that Los Angeles did not have the water needed for the expanding population, so they spread a rumor in the Owens Valley that their water supply was going to run out and make their properties worthless. They generously offered to buy the water rights before this happened. Well, that wasn't true, and after they bought all the water rights the city drained the Owens Valley, eliminating Owens Lake, which once was so large steamers went across it. It's now a barren wash. A lawsuit was initiated, which went on for 75 years or so, with Los Angeles repeatedly losing. In about 2012 or so L.A. was fined $5,000 day for each day they didn't divert some water back to the Owens Valley, and now some of the water is being restored. A large portion of the Owens Valley is still owned by the LADWP, and locals talk like this all happened yesterday. I don't blame them.
Stan and I get to Bishop and the first thing we notice is that all the snow SoCal got seemed to miss the Sierra Nevada. We set about looking for snow, but we had to go to 8500 feet to find any, and it was pretty thin. We ditched the snowshoes and went for a snow hike instead. Even in the harsh midday light, the Eastern Sierra is still gorgeous.
Snow hiking isn't likely to become the Next Big Thing, so after a lot of slipping and sliding we decided to explore the Volcanic Tablelands. This is an old lava flow that has formed a cliff overlooking the north end of the Owens Valley. It's the perfect place to drink a beer in the afternoon, as Stan demonstrates:
The next day we decided to explore the Tablelands further. This is also supposed to be the world's best bouldering area. We ascended a steep trail and found bouldering Disneyland. It was awesome-there were multiple groups doing some amazing climbing. We had to laugh as we were at least 25 years older than anyone there. The people there were really friendly to us-we figured they thought we were law enforcement officers checking to make sure no rules were being broken. There are a lot of campsites in the area and it's very social, with people climbing during the day, then all gathering around a communal fire in the evening. One guy I photographed was from Ohio, about 24 years old, and was just traveling around various sites in the U.S. and meeting different people. Man, I wish I'd done that when I was 24!
Even though the skies were clear all day, I decided to try for some dawn shots. Stan wanted to come with me. This time he made coffee beforehand, and we went in the 16 degree dawn to see if anything was worth shooting. He stood by patiently as I shot, all the while feeling like intimate parts of his body were going to freeze off. Here's what he froze for:
So on the last morning, when I told him I was going to go back at dawn again and asked if he wanted to go, he apologetically said he didn't. The forecast called for increasing clouds (and 21 degree weather) so I gave it another shot. At the last minute, as I was driving out I remembered a spot that David Muench had taken me to in a workshop. It was a little far so I drove like Mario Andretti on winding, washboardy dirt roads, sliding out a few times and recovering (man, was that fun!) anxiously watching the light and being glad Stan wasn't there to see me drive like that. I got to the spot and quickly set up. As the light began to dawn I saw clouds! The blue hour in the Owens Valley is spectacular, almost violet. Maybe because the sun doesn't crest the White Mountains until about an hour after the skies light up. In any case, no color exaggeration to this whatsoever.
BTW, all around this area are notices that it's owned by the City of Los Angeles. I want to tell them to f themselves. This is the river they've been draining.
Then the clouds lit up and it was beyond epic. I used Adobe Standard for my camera calibration on this, as everything else was too exaggerated. Yes, this is just about straight out of the camera:
Sunrise on the Owens River
There were so many comps I kept running back and forth along the bank, shooting like a madwoman. As I was shooting my camera, I could hear gunshots in the distance-someone was hunting. I should have worn bright orange. I kept on shooting!
After the colors started to fade, the sunlight crept down across the Sierra Nevada.
Close up of Mt. Tom
Sunlight on the Sierra Nevada
It sure was hard to wake up and go to work this morning, as this is where I was yesterday. I feel like I'm just discovering this place, even though I've been coming here for over 20 years. I have a winter photo trip next month and was planning on going to Utah, but I just may go back to the Owens Valley instead.
Featured image for home page:
Anyway, as you may have seen in the news, Southern California got snow down to 1200 feet just before New Year's Eve. We assumed that the mountains would have snow as well, so we rented snowshoes and headed to Bishop, CA. A little background: Bishop is at the north end of the Owens Valley and is an outdoor hub. If anyone isn't familiar with the Owens Valley, it's the deepest valley in the U.S., surrounded on one side by the White Mountains, the Sierra Nevada on the other. It is also heavily litigated. In 1913 the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power realized that Los Angeles did not have the water needed for the expanding population, so they spread a rumor in the Owens Valley that their water supply was going to run out and make their properties worthless. They generously offered to buy the water rights before this happened. Well, that wasn't true, and after they bought all the water rights the city drained the Owens Valley, eliminating Owens Lake, which once was so large steamers went across it. It's now a barren wash. A lawsuit was initiated, which went on for 75 years or so, with Los Angeles repeatedly losing. In about 2012 or so L.A. was fined $5,000 day for each day they didn't divert some water back to the Owens Valley, and now some of the water is being restored. A large portion of the Owens Valley is still owned by the LADWP, and locals talk like this all happened yesterday. I don't blame them.
Stan and I get to Bishop and the first thing we notice is that all the snow SoCal got seemed to miss the Sierra Nevada. We set about looking for snow, but we had to go to 8500 feet to find any, and it was pretty thin. We ditched the snowshoes and went for a snow hike instead. Even in the harsh midday light, the Eastern Sierra is still gorgeous.
Snow hiking isn't likely to become the Next Big Thing, so after a lot of slipping and sliding we decided to explore the Volcanic Tablelands. This is an old lava flow that has formed a cliff overlooking the north end of the Owens Valley. It's the perfect place to drink a beer in the afternoon, as Stan demonstrates:
The next day we decided to explore the Tablelands further. This is also supposed to be the world's best bouldering area. We ascended a steep trail and found bouldering Disneyland. It was awesome-there were multiple groups doing some amazing climbing. We had to laugh as we were at least 25 years older than anyone there. The people there were really friendly to us-we figured they thought we were law enforcement officers checking to make sure no rules were being broken. There are a lot of campsites in the area and it's very social, with people climbing during the day, then all gathering around a communal fire in the evening. One guy I photographed was from Ohio, about 24 years old, and was just traveling around various sites in the U.S. and meeting different people. Man, I wish I'd done that when I was 24!
Even though the skies were clear all day, I decided to try for some dawn shots. Stan wanted to come with me. This time he made coffee beforehand, and we went in the 16 degree dawn to see if anything was worth shooting. He stood by patiently as I shot, all the while feeling like intimate parts of his body were going to freeze off. Here's what he froze for:
So on the last morning, when I told him I was going to go back at dawn again and asked if he wanted to go, he apologetically said he didn't.
The forecast called for increasing clouds (and 21 degree weather) so I gave it another shot. At the last minute, as I was driving out I remembered a spot that David Muench had taken me to in a workshop. It was a little far so I drove like Mario Andretti on winding, washboardy dirt roads, sliding out a few times and recovering (man, was that fun!) anxiously watching the light and being glad Stan wasn't there to see me drive like that. I got to the spot and quickly set up. As the light began to dawn I saw clouds! The blue hour in the Owens Valley is spectacular, almost violet. Maybe because the sun doesn't crest the White Mountains until about an hour after the skies light up. In any case, no color exaggeration to this whatsoever.BTW, all around this area are notices that it's owned by the City of Los Angeles. I want to tell them to f themselves. This is the river they've been draining.
Then the clouds lit up and it was beyond epic. I used Adobe Standard for my camera calibration on this, as everything else was too exaggerated. Yes, this is just about straight out of the camera:
Sunrise on the Owens River
There were so many comps I kept running back and forth along the bank, shooting like a madwoman. As I was shooting my camera, I could hear gunshots in the distance-someone was hunting. I should have worn bright orange. I kept on shooting!
After the colors started to fade, the sunlight crept down across the Sierra Nevada.
Close up of Mt. Tom
Sunlight on the Sierra Nevada
It sure was hard to wake up and go to work this morning, as this is where I was yesterday. I feel like I'm just discovering this place, even though I've been coming here for over 20 years. I have a winter photo trip next month and was planning on going to Utah, but I just may go back to the Owens Valley instead.
Featured image for home page:
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