I need the solace of wild places.
At a time when we seem to be polarized and life spins at a dizzying pace, I need the temples of nature where I can quiet my mind and renew my heart.
Thank goodness for the seasons. There is change in the air. Days are getting shorter and perhaps the pulse of life will slow a bit. Even nature seems a little weary as there are signs of seasonal change earlier than normal this year.
As I mentioned in my last column, the hooded orioles that bring color and joy to our Mt. Whoville garden feeders all summer seem to have migrated south a few weeks earlier than normal.
A note last week from a friend in the High Sierra community of Bishop mentioned that large patches of aspens at higher elevations have already begun to take on the golden hues of autumn. This is also earlier than normal.
For me the arrival of fall colors is a seasonal call that I’ve answered many times. This is a time of transition in the high country where the struggle between ebbing summer and coming winter dazzles you with beauty.
The towering granite spires, meandering trails and crystal waters of the Sierra call me with a louder volume this time of the year.
Autumn in the Sierra is a magnified showcase of nature where visitors encounter the not-so-subtle changes in weather, wildlife, vegetation color, daylight and creek flows.
For me, this seasonal call is far more.
Seasons are subtle here in Southern California, but in the clouded elevations of the High Sierra, just a few hundred miles north, seasons come like a puffing steam engine.
But fall in particular is my time to reflect, shed, examine priorities and prepare for personal renewal. I can’t think of a better place that the high country.
As September arrives, the most obvious bellwether of seasonal change is the coming of spectacular color that paints the aspen groves spilling down of the rugged canyons like a molten lava flow.
At the higher elevations of 9,000 feet or more they will begin to shed their summer green, taking on hues of lime, yellow, gold and red. Higher peaks will be dusted with early snow.
This beautiful show will seem to glow in early morning and late afternoon sunlight until the storms of late October have blown the last leaves from the trees. For a brief time, a golden carpet on the forest floor will linger as a reminder of this season of beauty.
Color is everywhere in the fall. The intense hue of a blue jay contrasts sharply with the aspen yellows as the birds chatter noisily while feeding. There’s an extra thrill for the angler connecting with a brook trout that has taken on the intense spawning colors of autumn.
I can’t begin to describe the feeling of walking beneath a canopy of aspens in full fall glory. The light takes on a warm, artificial glow that seems somehow embracing and comforting.
Following the trail into a sunlit meadow is almost shocking as you are greeted with an intensely blue sky and the mountain mosaic of gray granite, dark green pines and groves of aspen in full glory.
Fall color comes fully to the Sierra in late September, but generally peaks between the first and second weeks of October then slowly fading, depending on storms, into late October.
Perhaps we don’t have the vast acres of maples and oaks that create the famous fall colors of the East Coast, but California’s High Sierra has an annual show that will not fail to touch the very core of your soul.
On a late October day a few years ago, I set out under stormy skies with a flyrod in hand and no particular destination. Most of the fall color was gone, but a few brilliant dots of round aspen leaves still fluttered at the end of crooked branches.
For several hours I was lost in the massive embrace of these mountains. A few eager trout had gulped the flies I tossed into gin-clear water.
A snowflake landed and quickly dissolved on the lake surface, followed by more. It was time to leave.
Arriving back at the trailhead it was snowing softly, but steadily. Winter was near, and I mentally turned out the lights as I left the trail for another season.
Some of the most beautiful Sierra color displays can be seen in Bishop Creek Canyon, Rock Creek Canyon, June Lake Loop, Lundy Canyon, Virginia Lakes Basin, and areas around Bridgeport.
For the latest Eastern Sierra fall color information, visit www.bishopvisitor.com
Contact Ernie at Packtrain.com or follow http://erniesoutdoors.
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