Notes To My Mother

  I have titled the above image "The Window".  It was taken from a dirt road on the way to Buttermilk Boulders east of Bishop.  Bishop is out of sight below the horizon in the middle of the image.  The distant mountains are the White Mountains to the East of Bishop.  This is illustrative of how the storm was all around bishop with Bishop remaining in sunshine. Bishop Ponds were especially attractive in the late afternoon light as the sages seemed to glow. The early morning light in Pleasant Valley with the storm seeming to clear.  For the time being. 30 miles north of this 395 was still closed due to the storm.  This is a popular trout fishing area blessed by the Owens River.

In the fall of 2023 I became aware of a composition I wanted to capture in the Eastern Sierras.  The problem was not knowing exactly were it was.  I had seen a picture of it and knew it was in the Bishop area due to the particular mountains in the scene. I was pretty sure it was taken from Table Lands north of Bishop.   I started searching, driving around, walking to the edge of Table Lands with no luck.   I was able to rule out a number of locations.   Then I resorted to Google Earth and, finally after much exploring, figured out what I thought was at least the approximate location.  I had found a dirt road and knew I could continue my quest on that road and get fairly close to where I thought I should be.  I began planning a trip to the Bishop area but what I needed for success was a good storm to bring the snow down the eastern faces of the Sierra mountains.  Finally, a good storm was predicted for early March 2024.    ...