A useful book covering the Eastern Sierra area is the 'Photographers Guide to the Eastern Sierra ' by Carol Leigh -details on her web site http://www.calphoto.com.
There you will also find details of the Fall hotline and web page.

Timing a visit to this area to catch the best of the autumn colours is a bit tricky and I was about a week early. The colours vary according to the weather conditions and height above sea level. I did manage a fair number of reasonable images of the colourful aspens two of which are above. Two good areas to explore near Lee Vining are Lundy Canyon and the Juno Lake.

The dawn panorama of Mono lake was made up from 7 individual images and pasted together in Photoshop

The arrows on the picture on the telephoto shot on the right pick out the climbers.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the beauty of the valley. The Yosemite Falls was quite disappointing due to a lack of much water. Sunset at Tunnel View and then back to Mariposa. Yosemite is a very popular place and motels etc. then those 50 miles away get booked up well in advance so book early.

DAY 6

Early start again from the motel en route to Lee Vining via the Tioga Pass. Note that snow often blocks this route which is the quickest from Yosemite to the Eastern Sierras. From October to June check the road conditions.
If you are traveling in the States and need to know the road conditions ring 
                                         
1-800-427-7623  
Allow plenty of time as the route is very photogenic especially the area around Tuolimne Meadows  -  below

I got to Lee Vining earlier than expected so there was time to spend a few hours at Bodie, a great ghost town an hour or so north of lee Vining. The road is not good and may well be impassible at times. The late afternoon light was excellent and brought warmth to the old timber buildings. Some shots look just as attractive in black and white and the transfer in Photoshop is easy

I had visited Bodie back in 1982 and I wondered whether much had changed. On checking some of the old images I noticed many similarities even in the interiors. Check out the two shots below and note the folds in the table cloth

Not much had changed after 17 years. Anyway the lighting was so good I stayed far too long and missed the sunset at Mono lake

DAY 7

Up early again and departure before 6-30 from Maripusa for dawn shots at Tunnel View. Plenty of tripods in evidence as photographers of different nationalities gathered to capture the early morning light. I later watched and caught on film the group of climbers attempting the near vertical face of El capitan --and they do it for fun!

DAY 5

The picture on the left was taken just before one reaches the pine. The sky which was added later in photoshop was shot earlier that day. Heading back to the car into the dying sun I missed the trail and got lost for an hour. Fortunately I didn't bump into a grizzly or bigfoot!!

Early start again and a longish journey to Yosemite. Because of road construction work on the El Portel route the road was closed to all traffic during the day so from Mariposa where I was staying I had to enter the Park via the southern entrance on route 41. Just before the entrance is the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine railroad. Worth a visit for some pictures of the steam loco.You may require RealPlayerG2- http://www.real.com for the video clip.
Next stop was the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias which is about 35 miles from Yosemite Valley. I spent an hour so taking pictures here before moving towards Glacier Point. At marker G8 on Glacier point road is the parking place for the mile walk to see the famous Jeffrey Pine at Sentinel Dome. Time was getting on and I managed to get some pictures before the sun finally went down.

Day 4

 

All photo images are the copyright of RICHARD TUCKER

High res versions are available for prints etc.

 

 As you will see from the above map it was quite a long trip lasting three weeks with quite a few highs and a few lows. The flight via Newark from Manchester ( UK ) to SF was delayed quite a bit so combined with a wait for my hire car I set off to my first motel quite late. Luckily it turned out to be only a block away so my driving skills were not to be tested that first evening. The changeover in Newark was an opportunity for a few pictures and as you can see below you get a view of the New York skyline from Newark airport.