Snow In The Sierras From Fresno

Dale Matson

We appear to be having a winter with above average snow and rainfall. Fresno is transformed into another city in winter. Though we are considered a city in the Central part of California in the Central Valley, we are nearly up against the foothills of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

When a normal winter arrives, the golden hills become green; the air is cleansed by the rain and snow. The mountains appear as if out of nowhere. They are made visible above the foothills by the new snow and cleaner air. As one drives along some of our elevated expressways, Highway 41 towards Yosemite, Highway 168 towards Shaver Lake and Highway 180 towards Kings Canyon, the mountains form a beautiful ribbon stretching from north to south as we look to the east. One can see a view of the mountains looking east on many of Fresno’s city streets also. The cleaner air brings the mountains closer.

I went out yesterday with only “moderate” air quality and took some photographs from the eastern edge of Fresno and northeastern Fresno. There are intervening utility lines on many of the shots but once you are east far enough to be in the sparsely populated foothills, the mountains disappear. They reappear at about 4,000’ to the east of Highway 168 as you climb toward Shaver Lake.

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

 From Highway 168 Note The Brown Trees

This Shot Is From My Cabin Porch Looking SSE At 4,300'

Who would imagine Fresno as a gateway to the Sierra Nevada? Actually, Theodore Solomons, the visionary architect of the John Muir Trail imagined it from Fresno. Clarence King the first head of the USGS admired the mountains from the Fresno area also.

 Kaiser Peak (10,300')

 Shuteye Peak (8,358)

I used a Sony A7R2 with an adapted Sony A Mount 70-400mm lens. Most shots were from 90-400mm. Yes, I noticed the spots on the photograph and had my sensor cleaned at Horn Photo in Fresno. Thanks Aaron!