Hope From the Heart
Out the door at 5:30 a.m. to catch a 7 a.m. sunrise at Caples Lake, I’d awoken two hours earlier, my mind already preparing camera settings and questioning whether this early October trip to the Hope Valley was too early. “You’ve got to have heart,” I thought.
Then my heart sank as I crossed south from US 50 to CA 88 along the Mormon Immigrant Trail. First light revealed a blackened forest.
I’d not traveled this short cut to the Hope Valley since last year’s Caldor Fire; the scene is heartbreaking. A road that previously had little fall color, now has none.
Much of the forest on either side of this 20-mile-long corridor has been incinerated. Crews have cleared broad verges to each side of the highway. Mountainsides have been denuded of charcoal black trunks. Thousands of stumps dot the slopes, each a tombstone. Huge decks of logs wait beside the road to be transported to mills.
Only a few miles of unburned forest along the road remain of what was previously a dense wood that edged the highway. While occasional sprouts of purple lupine and sky-blue aster give painful hope the forest is eternal, nearby Misery Springs where, in 1848, the advance party of a Mormon wagon train was murdered coldheartedly, reminds travelers that the area has long had reason for sorrow.
Continuing toward Hope Valley on CA 88, Vermilion Grove, a stand of orange-red aspen on the far side of Caples Lake beyond the dam, had not yet developed its trademark hue. Aspen on the east slope were Just Starting to slightly Patchy, as well.
At Carson Pass, there was only the slightest hint of yellow to be seen in the valley below, but after descending, Patchy groves of aspen glowed orangey-yellow in exhuberant displays. Still, a photographer at the turnout to Red Lake Creek Cabin grumbled, “two weeks early.”
A favorite stop is the Wylder Resort where guests were readying to go into the dining room (uncrowded before 8 a.m. in early autumn). Groves at the resort vary from Just Starting to Patchy, the same across the highway.
To the east, toward Woodfords, little color had yet developed, but to the west between Wylders and Pickett’s Junction (CA 88 & CA 89) the woods were was lush and vibrant with orange-yellow leaves.
Groves above and behind Wylders appeared to be in a hearty mood, seemingly shouting, “hike up here to see us!” There is lots of color to photograph, and it should last for two or more weeks.
A trio of ladies hailed me, as I walked back to my car after having taken shots near the Wylder Resort (formerly Sorenson’s). They asked if I’d take their picture. Their camera phone had Spanish instructions, so they helped translate which controls to use for a portrait (“Retrato” means Portrait).
I asked what prompted their trip, since few other color spotters were out that early, and they replied that they’d come from Sonoma County and were heading to Mammoth Lakes. Sandra, the organizer of the trip, loves autumn leaves, indicating so by placing both hands over her heart.
So, I tore a page from my photo journal and penciled directions to the Virginia Lakes, Sagehen Summit and Rock Creek Canyon. They left with even bigger smiles than in their portrait.
UPDATE 10/6
Passing through the Hope Valley over CA 89, the groves surrounding Wylders have lost luster and leaves. About a third of the trees there have now dropped leaves. Particularly hard hit were the groves up and behind the Wylder Resort.
- Mormon Immigrant Trail (6,500′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.’
- Vermilion Grove, Caples Lake (7,800′) – Patchy (10-50%)
- Carson Pass (8,652′) – Just Starting (0-10%)
- Red Lake (7.861′) – Just Starting (0-10%)
- Red Lake Creek Cabin (7,600′) – Patchy (10-50%)
- Blue Lakes Rd Pasture (7,550′) – Patchy (10-50%)
- Pickett’s Junction, CA 88 & CA 89 – Patchy (10-50%)
- Wylder’s Resort (7,000′) – Patchy (10-50%)
- Woodfords Canyon (6,900′) – Just Starting (0-10%)
