Collection: Eastern Sierra 2025
Some bucket-list dreams take decades to fulfill, no matter how often life brings you within arm’s reach. For me, a road trip through the Eastern Sierra was one of those lingering aspirations. Though I’d visited both Death Valley and Yosemite many times, the legendary stretch of Highway 395 always eluded me.
The Eastern Sierra lies along California’s eastern Sierra Nevada, its spine defined by U.S. Route 395 and its towns—Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Bishop, Lone Pine, and others—scattered like small outposts between vast landscapes. It’s a region of striking contrasts: ancient bristlecone pines, stark desert plains, granite peaks, and remarkable natural landmarks such as Mono Lake, Bodie, Mammoth Lakes, Mount Whitney, and several famed national parks.
At last, this August, I made the journey. Few drives have ever captivated me the way 395 did; its scale and beauty are almost impossible to translate into photograph or prose. I left Portland on August 21, stopped in Mt. Shasta for the night, and reached Lee Vining the next afternoon.
I spent my first day at Mono Lake simply watching—studying the light, walking the shoreline, imagining compositions. Sunrise, I knew, would offer the perfect conditions—calm water, no wind, and the tufas glowing in morning light. The next two mornings proved me right.
By late morning on August 23, I arrived in Lone Pine, greeted by stormy clouds that felt like a personal blessing. The Alabama Hills unfolded in an almost cinematic way—no wonder filmmakers have long been drawn to them.
The Eastern Sierra has left its mark on me. I’m already looking forward to my next return.
