After phone calls and meetings yesterday the puppy and I were in great postion for scooting up Bishop Creek to scope some fall color. We were not disappointed. From all reports this has been a spectacular year and it is hard not to race around and try to hit all the hot spots. I doubt that I'll see Lundy Canyon or McGee Creek this fall, but I can pat myself on the back for making it up to Bishop Creek.
There were fishermen everywhere and it was a perfect fall day. Calm, in the eighties, brilliant blue sky. Everyone seemed so friendly and happy. Do yellow aspens emit some sort of calming energy?
We walked from one of the intakes above South Lake...
in the mid-afternoon...
on a nice little walk I often forget but would be good for visitors not wanting a hike but a walk. A stroll. Especially this time of year.
I became acquainted with this spot early summer when I helped at the Rotary aid station for one of those insanely lengthy mountain runs - I think it was a 50 miler. Or a hundred-miler. One where people running in are either super high on endorphins or dragging themselves along by sheer will.
The puppy goes just about everywhere with me now. She is instantly recognized as a heeler by people who have owned or know of someone who's had one and they'll say, "hey, is that a heeler?" And they generally have nothing but good things to say about how loyal and smart heelers are. Then there was the woman walking the Australian Shepard who said, "Oh, look, the same kind of dog!" and I was thinking, "really? Cause I'm pretty sure they are not" but I smiled and nodded and walked off with my heeler. Anyway, I'm certainly happy and in love with her. She's fun to take places cause she doesn't wander off, she's bouncy and happy and alert to everything around her, friendly (thanks to her time at the resort), and just generally a kick to have around.
I'm so glad I took the time to drive up - it was tempting to just go back home and work but that has been my downfall for the last few years, choosing to work or at least not pulling away for a few hours during these incredible moments. I used to be more adventurous and I used to always choose outside over inside. I'm not sure when that changed, it has kind of snuck up on me.
It is the lure of the computer, I tell you. More than anything else it has contributed to a more sedentary life. We're not that much for watching TV but almost any winter evening you can find us on our respective laptops... and I'm much worse than JC.
All these shots were taken with an iPhone camera. It is one less thing to carry. And it makes it tempting to get the 4S, with the 8 mega-pixel camera... but really, I mean really. Most of my photos go here - at 72 dpi and only 400 pixels wide. And I have a wonderful Canon SLR if I want high resolution. So here is me admonishing me: "Get real. You do not need the 4S".
Because who can complain about these fun photos taken with the Hipstamatic app?
Or Instagram?
Gorgeous. Today we drive north and I bet that Conway Summit is going to have a show to offer.... I'll see a little more of fall's amazing glory in the eastern Sierra. We are invited to a branding this weekend and the "real" camera will be charged up and ready to roll. Dust, cowboys and cowgirls, bawling calves, highly functioning horses... can't wait. Oh, and the food isn't bad at a branding either!
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