Sierra Fall Colors and Torched Tree Tour

[CAJW]

The Mrs. and I took about 300+ mile spin Sunday to see the Sierra fall colors before the passes close for the season. They'd already been temporarily closed once this year and one good dumping of the white stuff and 2 wheeled crossings will be done for the season. We saw, yellows, oranges, black&white, reds, some blue and still a lot of green. Routing was Eastbound over Sonora Pass then south on 395 to June Lake, reverse course to 120 and Westbound over Tioga pass. The colors in the June lake area are probably a couple of weeks or so from the peak, but we still saw some nice hues of yellow & orange. Tioga pass road, west of Olmsted point started to reveal portions of the Rim Fire that has torched over 250K acres including the Cherry Lake and Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite National Park. The air got more acrid the closer we got to the western park exit on 120 and then we really started to see the damage. Sad to see what one out of control campfire can do and it'll be years before we can go camping in the Cherry Lake area without seeing burnt trees. It was a nice, but blustery day and reminded us of what a great area we live in, burnt trees and all.

https://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=326215

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Nice pictures!!But it is very sad to see all these burnt trees...

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[TomInPA]

Sonora Pass usually wins the color contest over Tioga, even if there hasn't been a fire. Ebbetts is a close runner-up. Nice pictures that remind me how much I miss the Sierra.

 

[Fred W]

Very nice pictures!! Must have been a fine ride. The geologically young western mountain ranges are so much more magnificent than our tired old, low altitude Appalacians here in the east. But I think we pretty much kill you on the fall foliage colors over this way.

One little photo tip for you: Turn off the date/time mark on your camera. You can get that information from the image's file properties should you need it later, and it doesn't spoil the (otherwise great) photos if you decide to print one and hang it on the wall as a reminder of the day.

 

[beemerdons]

Nice Ride Report and Photographs John, Thank You!

 

[GeorgiaRoller]

Nice! Gotta love it!

 

[marcusorelius]

Duchess & I ride the tioga pass today!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Nice pictures!!But it is very sad to see all these burnt trees...Thanks for sharing!!

+1

 

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks for the photos JW. I like the fancy time stamp on the photos...makes it easier to know when I was in the area.

I was wondering during the fire how you were doing. Hopefully wifey and I can do a fly and ride out there sometime and meet up with you guys.

 

[ahchiu]

Great RR and pictures John, thanks for sharing.

 

[DrWing]

Very nice indeed. I don't miss living in the "Evil Empire" but I sure miss riding in the Sierra's That's for sure.

Thanks for the RR.

H

 

[puppychow]

Nice pics John! Glad you and the Mrs. had some fun! Thanks for sharing, so I can ride along with you vicariously!

 

[rogdeb]

Nice camera work John, thanks for sharing

 

[UberKul]

Nice report and pics John (Kathy). I was through there the day before, 4 over, 120 back. You can't post that CHP shot without an explanation.

 

[CAJW]

Thanks for the photos JW. I like the fancy time stamp on the photos...makes it easier to know when I was in the area.
I was wondering during the fire how you were doing. Hopefully wifey and I can do a fly and ride out there sometime and meet up with you guys.

Mark, the offer I make previously doesn't have an expiration date, so let us know when you're coming out. The camera work is all her and yes, she likes having the dates handy. I don't tell her what to do with her Nikon and she doesn't tell me what to do with my FJR. Regarding the Rim Fire, we saw the glow over the ridges at night and smelled the smoke, but didn't have any concerns like our friends at higher elevations did.

Nice camera work John, thanks for sharing

Thanks Rog, but that credit goes to the Mrs. That way, I get to see what we saw when I get home.

Nice report and pics John (Kathy). I was through there the day before, 4 over, 120 back. You can't post that CHP shot without an explanation.

Not tellin' all the details, but it was a friendly visit.

 

[TomInPA]

Hopefully you didn't misplace your wallet on this trip.

 

[Bugnatr]

You didn't get a ticket?? Lord knows you deserve one......

Nice pictures John. Thanks

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice pics and RR John, thanks for taking us along!

Too bad about the fires, lots of damage done to a very scenic area.

--G

 

[dcarver]

Way Coolio.

On my last ride in northern CA, I was insulted with the mass acreage of dead trees, 85 - 90% dead, and very few living trees..