Transition

Yosemite Valley is undergoing transition between its two (maybe three) stages of fall color. 

Stage One is the peak of bigleaf maple, dogwood and alder in late October to early November. Stage Two is the peak of black oak and Fremont cottonwood from early November to Thanksgiving Day. The possible third stage is really only a single tree, the Pioneer Sugar Maple near the Yosemite Chapel which peaks in mid October.

Iconic stage one photographs are of Fern Spring, Southside Drive and the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia. The iconic images of stage two are of  Half Dome seen from Stoneman Meadow or Sentinel Bridge, black oak at the base of Yosemite Falls, and of  Yosemite Valley’s stone bridges.

Creating your own icon is the objective of photography. Take reality, interpret it and make it iconic in your own fashion. Photographer Steve Spiker of stealingbeautyphotography.com shared his visions this week.

Spike found a mix of bigleaf maple: a third peaking, a third past peak and a third patchy. Similarly, dogwood were “well into their pale pinks, many past peak but plenty still in yellows” … transition.

He added that stretches of color are visible from the lookouts, but he assesses the Valley to be a week to two from full peak. That would be for Stage Two, as Stage one will continue to diminish in vibrance.

Despite a dusting of snow and heavy frost last week, Spike noted that color was holding and Southside Drive was, in a word, “glorious.”