Leon Turnbull Photography

This past weekend I made a very quick and very long trip over to the Eastern Sierra. The weather had significantly cooled, and storms were on the forecast for the Sierras. It was my kind of day, and I was ready for some hiking. Especially since it would likely be my last hike for the summer, with minor surgery scheduled for the next week, and recovery time needed afterwards.

So with absolutely zero sleep (I can never sleep the night before I am trying to get up early), I got up at 2AM and headed out on the long drive over to Lee Vining. While driving over Monitor Pass, I was greeted by a pack of coyotes along the road. I do not think I have ever seen a pack of coyotes before. I always see them only one at a time. They were rather curious, and watched me from the side of the road as I drove slowly by them. So this was definitely kinda neat, and I took it as a good omen for the day (whether it was or not, is another question). There were about 7 or 8 of them, and they all seemed to be rather small. (unlike the huge one my wife and I saw once on Ice House Road – that one was as big as a wolf). Perhaps these ones were just pups, but if so, I didn’t see mom or dad.

My plan for the day was variable. If it looked like it would be a spectacular sunrise, I was going to Mono Lake. I arrived in the area well before sunrise, and although there were some clouds over Mono Lake, it definitely was not going to be spectacular. So I headed up Lee Vining Creek to the powerhouse at the end of the road. There is supposed to be a trail from here going up the canyon to a waterfall. Well, I could find no such trail. I looked and looked, and wasted a lot of time trying to find it. The powerhouse area is closed to the public, and I could not find a way around it. Well as it turned out, the creek was not flowing very well above the powerhouse anyway, so the waterfall would be just trickling. My next destination of the day was Lundy Canyon.

It was of course well after sunrise by the time I got to Lundy Canyon. But the light was off and on all morning. There were plenty of clouds and they were moving in and out from in front of the sun, so although the light was bad at times, I just had to wait a few minutes and it would be cloudy again. I was hoping it would be a lot more overcast, but this was all right. I took a lot of photos in Lundy Canyon and this one was my favourite of the day. There are 6 significant waterfalls along Lundy Canyon Creek (including a 500+ footer). This one (30 ft.) is the smallest, but it is also arguably the prettiest. The 500 footer was pretty spectacular as well. This was the main reason I wanted to go back into Lundy Canyon as I had not been to the big waterfall before, but it was a bit difficult to photograph (it is posted on my main website). Anyway, it was quite a tough hike up Lundy Canyon, and I was quite tired afterwards (especially from the high elevation), but it was certainly a fabulous morning in the Eastern Sierra.