The most famous Tufa Rock is found around Mono Lake in California. It is a popular destination for photographers. I have not made my way down there yet though I may soon as this type of landscape photography is of interest to me. We have the same type of Tufa rock formations in and around Pyramid Lake. When we have cloudy days, and I have time I try to get out there to photograph the rocks. Last week the clouds and my schedule aligned so I was able to get a few shots that I liked.
Month: October 2013
Taylor Creek Bears
Every October a little bit of Alaska can be found at Taylor Creek. Taylor creek is a small creek on the south end of Lake Tahoe. It only runs a few miles between Fallen Leaf Lake and Tahoe but this time of year you can find a lot of action there.
Back in the 1940’s the non native Kokanee Salmon were introduced to Lake Tahoe and they thrived. Each autumn thousands of the bright red fish make their way up Taylor Creek to spawn and die. The native black bears, always a resourceful animal, have made eating the fish an important part of their preparation for their long winter sleep.
The bears are concentrating on fattening up and pay little attention to the people that gather to watch them. I made my first trip up there today and was lucky to have the opportunity to photograph this big mama bear and her cub.
I am aware of bear safety. These photos were taken with a telephoto lens from a safe distance. It was amazing to watch the bears fishing, foraging and going about their day as if they had the forest to themselves.
I think I will go back up next week. I heard that as the fish start to die in large numbers even more bears are apt to show up.
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Feeling Abandoned?
I know it has been a long time since my last post. I had a lot going on with family visiting and traveling to visit family. In addition to that, we suffered for weeks here with the smoke from the Yosemite fires. For a month it was impossible and considered very unhealthy to go outside. The ugly smoke hung on our side of the Sierra’s like a dirty blanket for a month. I escaped for a week to visit my sister in Alaska and hoped to get photos up there but it rained everyday I was there. I hope this does not sound too whiney. 🙂 Anyway, I traveled back to Ash Creek this week and the animals were not cooperating. The deer and antelope were playing but way too far away for good photographs. I took landscape shots of the old barns and an abandoned homestead I saw on the drive up. I caught a glimpse of this house through the trees and hiked quite a ways from the road to photograph it. I think these places are a little spooky. While walking around the house a breeze kicked up and a door creaked on it’s hinges loudly in the house and banged against something inside. I would have liked to look around inside but frankly I got the willies. There was a small band of wild horses hanging in the meadow close to the house. I found their presence calming. They would not have been there if a monster was in the house right? 😉
Northern Desert Photography 