Spring Flood, Tuolumne River. Yosemite National Park, California. January 19, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
The Tuolumne River floods during the spring runoff, Yosemite National Park.
The 2010-11 winter brought above average or record snowfall to the Sierra Nevada, and the Tioga Pass Road through Yosemite National Park opened later than usual. Many of us who were feeling the pent-up need to see the high country headed up there as soon as the road opened. I spent a weekend in the Tioga Pass area and got in two days of early season high Sierra photography.
Those who have only seen this area during the more usual summer season in July and August might be very surprised by what it looks like when the road first opens. At and below the nearly 10,000′ elevation of the pass there was still a lot of snow, and lakes were frozen even down at the 8000′ level. Trail hiking, as appealing as it might sound, is quite difficult as you have to cross a lot of snow, cross very fast-moving and cold streams, and negotiate lots of flooded and muddy areas. This spot is a wonderful case in point. A few weeks later you would find people hiking and lounging about it meadow grasses where the water is seen in this photograph. The early season Tuolumne River was so full that it left its banks in many areas, finding new paths through the forests and flooding many meadows which took on more of the appearance of lakes. (Large sections of the main Tuolumne Meadow were also completely submerged at this point.) It is a wonderful time in the Sierra – still with a bit of the feeling of winter, but also with the promise of summer everywhere.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.