Christian Gehrke
LINE OF SIGHTThe quarterly of the patient aerial
The Blue Hour Issue

Real video A frosty morning flying over a meadow.

How I Got the Shot

Seventeen degrees and wild mustangs

Two days of drone flying in early November: a snowy meadow near Blue Lakes, California, at 17°F, still open but soon to close for the season, and a hillside on the outskirts of Carson City, Nevada, where wild mustangs grazed. The meadow's frosted pines and winding creek open the Note.

By StarLee, Aerial Desk

Real photographs and video Every picture in this Note is real.

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Listen · 2:10Seventeen degrees

November 4 and 5 were two days of flying my drone in two very different places, on two mornings at about the same time.

Frosty Meadow

Flying over a meadow on the way to Blue Lakes, CA.
Frosty flight over the snowy meadow near Blue Lakes, CA.
Low and slow over the frost and snow.
Launch up and over the frosty meadow near Blue Lakes.
Frosty flight over the frosty creek in a meadow near Blue Lakes, CA.
A frosty morning flying over a meadow.

Seventeen degrees at Blue Lakes

The first, on November 4, was a meadow near Blue Lakes, California, on public land. It's still open for now, but it will close soon for the snow. It was 17°F while I was flying. At 7:31 in the morning the sky was a deep, clean blue, the ridgeline was white end to end, and every pine around the meadow was frosted. From above, the creek is the thing that holds the picture together: one dark line curling through the snow and brush, with the forest climbing toward the peaks on the right.

Meadow Photos

7:31 a.m. Snow on the peaks, frost on the pines, and a creek winding through the meadow below.
7:31 a.m. Snow on the peaks, frost on the pines, and a creek winding through the meadow below.
7:32 a.m. The creek bends through the snowy meadow, frosted pines on the right and white peaks behind.
7:32 a.m. The creek bends through the snowy meadow, frosted pines on the right and white peaks behind.
7:54 a.m. The sun clears the ridge, and the creek loops across the frosted meadow floor.
7:54 a.m. The sun clears the ridge, and the creek loops across the frosted meadow floor.

I'm glad I went when I did. A place like this only gives you a short window before the snow shuts it until spring, and that morning felt like the last good look at it for a while.

From above, the creek is the thing that holds the picture together: one dark line curling through the snow and brush, with the forest climbing toward the peaks on the right.

Mustangs in the Morning

Wild mustangs on the mountains
Wild mustangs on the mountains with fall trees in the background.
Wild mustangs on the mountains. Pulling back away.
Wild mustangs on the mountains. Pushing in closer.

Mustangs outside Carson City

The second location, the next morning, November 5, was near Carson City, Nevada, where wild mustangs live on the hillsides on the outskirts of the city. Same season, same cold, but a completely different subject: open desert slopes and horses instead of a frozen creek and pines. I kept a comfortable distance from the horses the whole time, far enough that they didn't react. I pushed in a little, then pulled back away and left them to it.

Mustang Photos

9:29 a.m. Wild mustangs grazing in the sagebrush, a river and yellow fall trees below, mountains across the valley.
9:29 a.m. Wild mustangs grazing in the sagebrush, a river and yellow fall trees below, mountains across the valley.
9:32 a.m. Long morning shadows on the slope as the band grazes.
9:32 a.m. Long morning shadows on the slope as the band grazes.
9:30 a.m. The band grazing above the river as it bends past the yellow trees.
9:30 a.m. The band grazing above the river as it bends past the yellow trees.
9:35 a.m. Yellow fall trees along a rushing river beneath a dark ridge.
9:35 a.m. Yellow fall trees along a rushing river beneath a dark ridge.
9:29 a.m. A small band of mustangs spread out through the sagebrush.
9:29 a.m. A small band of mustangs spread out through the sagebrush.
9:31 a.m. Pulled back: the horses small on the long sagebrush slope.
9:31 a.m. Pulled back: the horses small on the long sagebrush slope.
9:30 a.m. Heads down in the brush.
9:30 a.m. Heads down in the brush.
9:38 a.m. Down the river valley: fall color along the water and steam rising from an industrial site beyond.
9:38 a.m. Down the river valley: fall color along the water and steam rising from an industrial site beyond.
9:32 a.m. Mustangs grazing across a steep hillside above the river.
9:32 a.m. Mustangs grazing across a steep hillside above the river.

Everything here was flown where it's allowed and done by the rules.

Go now

What I learned: when a place is about to close for the season, go now. The cold is part of the picture.