November 2020 Fall Color, Crane Valley |
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| Known as "Crane Valley" to the local Mono tribes. | |
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| It's known today as "Bass Lake". | |
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| We saw no cranes, just a single Great Egret. Perhaps Sandhill Cranes once paused to forage in this valley during their seasonal migration. |
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| We'd come to enjoy the area's fall color. | |
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| Of which there was an abundance. | |
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| Black Oak sapling supported by branches of a manzanita. | |
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| Season quickly advancing from Autumn to Winter. | |
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| Contrast between dark tree bark and bright colored leaves. | |
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| Splashes of blood-red color stains some leaves. | |
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| A collection of leaves with almost "candy like" color. | |
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| "Wishon Point" Once, a very long time ago, two young people unrolled their sleeping bags here on a sandy beach and fell asleep watching the stars, meterorites and satellites sweep by overhead. |
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| Forty years have passed and together, we still enjoy the pagentry of the night sky. | |
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| A single Black Oak leaf resting lightly. | |
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| Manzanita, also known as "Bear Berry", is edible and a rich source of vitamin C. Yes, we saw bear tracks at the lake shore and scat near a thicket of Manzanita. |
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| Nearly all the berries had been stripped from this thicket of manzanita. | |
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| Colors vivid as wildfire. | |
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| Drawing closer, half expected their glow to warm me. | |
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| But within days, these colors will fade away. | |
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| Black Oak, Valley Oak and small groves of Manzanita grow near the lake shore. | |
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| Willow Creek on east side of Bass Lake. A hiking trail climbs to the ridge and beyond. | |
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| Historically, very important to the Mono, then to early settliers and the logging industry. | |
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| Local Mono tribe women pounded seeds and acorns at this "kitchen rock" for hundreds of years. |
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| View from "kitchen rock" very different today. | |
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| Stopped to photograph this unique "lending library" and chat with the owner of the cottage-in-the-woods. |
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| Near Oakhurst is historical "Fresno Flats" remnants of an pioneer village. | |
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| A charming relic of the past. The grounds of Fresno Flats. | |
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