Yosemite, Mono, Bodie in October

We may be heading to the Yosemite area the second week in October. The streams and waterfalls will be minimum...but so too would be the crowds. We want to drive over the pass and shoot the Aspens on east side along with Mono Lake and Bodie. Any hints or suggestions for an October visit? Any hotel recommendations on the west or east sides of the park?

EDIT: WOW! This turned out to be long. Sorry!

Well, hopefully Tioga Pass doesn't close for the winter before your trip. If you look at the history since the 80's, it almost always closes later. You can always check the current road conditions to be sure, though.

Check that same website for current weather, or even look at webcams. There's also a phone # listed that has up-to-date recordings on road conditions. If it snowed at all, even with roads open, they may say you need to bring snow chains/tires, and may ask you at the entrance.

You can reserve hotels/cabins/camping spots inside Yosemite HERE; probably wouldn't be too hard finding availability that time of the year. Another option is Yosemite Scenic Wonders, a rental community inside the park near the base of Glacier Point Road. A good option to rent a full cabin if you've got a big group, as opposed to hotel rooms. It's inside the park, but not inside the valley, like most of the locations at the first link. That means maybe 15-20 minutes to get to the valley, which may be a factor if you're getting up early for sunrise shots, or staying late for sunset ones.

As far as Mono Lake/Bodie, the closed to Mono Lake would be in Lee Vining, right at the edge of the lake. Don't expect 4 or 5 star hotels, but they're certainly adequate. I've stayed several times at Yosemite Gateway Motel. Certainly not a nice new hotel, but none there are, the manager was really friendly and understanding, and it's facing the lake, so you can just look outside your window and check weather, light, etc.

I'd suggest spending time at the South Tufa area, not really the north or east shores. There's a Mono Lake Committee which runs events like bird watching, photo walks, kayaking etc. I've never joined any of those though. They also have a little visitor center in town across the street from the hotel I mentioned; I think it may be more popular than the 'official' Mono Lake Visitor Center, north of town.

I'd also suggest hitting Navy Beach for one reason: sand tufas, not the normal tufas most people go to visit. From the parking lot, head down towards the shore (50 or so feet away) and then head east. You'll quickly find some cool tufas on the hillside, you can't miss them. These go for a short distance. After you reach the end of those, around where the beach curves our towards the lake and there's a few 'normal' tufas, then head up the hill, and then east, maybe 50-100 yards. You'll find more sand tufas, some ranging from inches to maybe 4' or so. As I understand it, there used to be more, but

On the road between 395 and the South Tufas are craters, but I've never checked them out. I also found the burned southern side of the road to be good subject matter; barren land, with tough scrub brush still surviving...the name escapes me at the moment. Not sure what it looks like now, but I took some surreal shots there last year...wish I had stuck around longer and shot more.

Oh, and I highly suggest stopping at the Whoa Nellie Deli inside the Tioga Gas Mart for food...I know, I know, crazy talk! But they serve things like buffalo, swordfish, lobster, etc. (check Yelp), along with more standard fare like sandwiches and burgers. I almost always get the smoked trout bagel!

The road to Bodie is pretty rough so be prepared for a bumpy ride. They probably put down gravel or level it periodically, but my one trip as very rough! Also, you can sign up for 2 free tours of the old mine. I don't recall the exact times, but they're early...I think you need to sign up by 11 at the latest? Or the 2nd tour is at 11? But they also have a limit of 20 or so, so you can still get there early enough to sign up and it could be full.

If you can work it out, I'd suggest scheduling an extra day or two in the area; weather could be an issue, so the more chances you get to shoot, the better. Plus Bodie closes when there's bad weather.

a couple of years ago, I moved to about 60 miles away from Yosemite for work, and have visited maybe 10+ times since, and Mono Lake 3-4 times. I'm no expert, but feel free to ask here, or PM me, with more questions.

Much thanks for the excellent info!

No problem! I noticed I forgot to complete a sentence up there...I was jumping back and forth with the links, sorry! What I was going to say was that you should google 'sand tufas' to see how they differ from the normal tufas. And, unfortunately, some are so fragile they're collapsing, so eventually many will be gone. In between a trip last fall/winter and one this spring, I noticed a LOT of them had collapsed. So many, that I'm still not sure some jerk didn't go out there and knock them over, since some looked pretty sturdy. Hopefully there'll still be a lot to see when you go up there.

Oh, and I heard Bodie has special photography days...not sure what those are, but that's probably worth checking into.

I'd also suggest heading down south on 395 for about 10 - 15 minutes and do June Lake Loop. It has several lakes, i.e. June Lake, Silver Lake, Grant lake, with a gorgeous background of Carson and Banner Peak. You can also stop by and eat at Silver Lake Cafe after getting some nice shore pictures.

Excellent info Cali_PH! Thanks for being such a great contributor to POTN!

Bryan

In addition to all that, there are numerous spots along US 395 worth doing. There are several craters to visit, Hot Creek, an arch, Mammoth Mountain, Rainbow Falls, Devil's Post Pile. and almost every road off 395 leads to an interesting/colorful canyon. I'm especially fond of Alabama Hills (several arches there) and Mount Whitney Portal, but most have lakes and streams worth shooting. The Japanese Internment camp is worth visiting, and the Bristlecone Pines in the White Mountains are good. There are also several locations where petroglyphs can be found east of 395.

bps wrote in post #14478408
Excellent info Cali_PH! Thanks for being such a great contributor to POTN!

Bryan

Glad to be of help!

Someday I need to go down 395 and hit those other stops Josue DG & sparker1 mention...I just cant' help stopping in Yosemite and Mono Lake though.

dont be a sucker like me and try the Monocone at Mono Lake. its just mcdonalds machine softserve for $6-7.