37.4

June Lake Loop never ceases to amaze with brilliant colors. Just as soon as you round the turn over to Grant Lake this amazing red orange grove of Aspens appears on the ridge down towards the lake. Probably the most colorful grove we spotted on the entire trip. Nearly every single car slams on its brakes as the grove appears then begin searching for the few limited spots to pull off the road. The hill was extremely steep and covered in tall thickets of thorny bushes.

I knew the real shot was down alongside the grove and not from the road. The first trick, find a place to pull off the road as nearly every spot was taken. To do so I drove quite a ways and past another grove of aspen that went all the way down to the lake. There I spotted a small deer trail and proceeded down a steep incline. I was able to crawl my way though the first aspen grove which was still fairly green, over a number of downed logs, branches, thorn bushes and across a small creek that fed the grove and just then, the stunning orange red grove was laid out before me in this perfect shot.

I was able to get the lake, canyon and some other color in the shot and the and the extra effort paid off. People above me on the road looked down looking for a way to join me but thought better of heading down and eventually settled for shooting alongside the road. Still, the hardest part remained, climbing back up to the truck. In the end, it wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be and I was glad I made the extra effort.

© Darvin Atkeson
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