California pics, part 5

[Wicked Dark]

On the other side of Mono Lake is Black Point, a volcanic remnant with very dark pumice sand. We climbed it in the morning and there are some great views of the lake. Jackrabbits nearly scared the hell out of me on the way up - they burst out of the sagebrush and take off all crazy. Big suckers.

From the top of Black Point -



The view halfway down to the car. It was so much fun coming down. The sand is really soft and you can almost run, weaving in and around the sagebrush. This shot shows most of one island and part of another that are on one side of the lake. Yes, it really is that color.



and a b&w image because the texture & tonality is so great -



This is a shot of Hot Creek which feeds into the Owens River. At this location there is a vent from a volcano which is still active. I think people used to be able to take a dip in it, but recently it's become much more active and so is fenced off. The wind was like hell through here - gusts so powerful they'd push you along. We wanted to go into the gorge which is a popular fishing spot, but the wind was too much. Grit flying everywhere.



This is the Owens river, one of the major waterways in the area and almost completely wrecked by the Los Angeles water department. There have been tons of law suits about it over the decades and some water has been restored to the valley, but a lot of it is diverted and piped down to that wretched city. Can you tell I hate LA?



Going up from north Lake Tahoe to Reno on the Mt. Rose Highway, we got into a surprise snow squall. It blew in like a fury and standing in the wind was tough, I braced myself against the car to get this. The strange thing is that someone was cross country skiing just below the trees in a field. There are mountains behind those clouds.



Stragglers aside, that's about it for the California trip. There's more on flickr and smugmug if you're so inclined.

[Marko]

Lovely set WD!!!
I LOVE the rich blues here - love em!
My faves in order are 2, 5, 4

[asnow]

Another beautiful set WD. That last picture almost seems out of place, I thought "is this the same trip". The other pictures seem to be quite warm and then all of a sudden there is winter scene. I guess that's what you get in the mountains. Actually I remember cross country skiing in Lake Tahoe in April many years ago. It was an el nino year so ther must have been 10 ft of snow and yet the temperature was in the over 50F. People were skiing in shorts and t-shirts.

My favs are #2 and 5.

[Wicked Dark]

Thanks peeps. Yeah, that last one was a surprise. We didn't expect snow, but now that I'm reviewing my shots I seem to have been standing in gale force winds the whole time. Extremes in weather out there for sure. next time I'll have to find a heavier tripod. And the snow was eye-opening as well. At Mammoth mountain the places they put the snow off the parking lot are at least twice as tall as any SUV or minivan. 55 feet fell in Mammoth Lakes this season. Same at Tahoe. Makes me happy my New England winters aren't nearly so long-lived.