Lake, Trees, and Mountains at Dawn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.
A quiet morning at a High Sierra backcountry lake in Sequoia National Park.
As is often the case, one thing leads to another, and I sometimes end up in a place I did not anticipate. I saw a question online about a particular sort of landscape subject, and I immediately thought of a photograph of mine that was related to that discussion. But after finding my photograph and thinking how it might inform that discussion… I decided not to share it. But looking for that photograph sent me back into an archive of photographs from a wonderful trans-Sierra pack trip I made almost fifteen years ago — and that’s where I found this photograph. (Perhaps not surprisingly, I’m now revisiting that entire archive!)
That trip was a wonderful one. A small group of friends(1) spent almost two weeks on the trail, crossing the range from west to east. On such a long trip some days are devoted to just moving onward toward the eventual goal, and this was one of those days. We selected this camp location because it was conveniently located along our route. This lake is not what I regard as an alpine spectacle — instead it is a quiet place, and a fine spot to just slow down for a moment. I was up early the next day to photograph the first light on nearby peaks in the morning quiet.
1 — Bonus photo! Here’s a picture of our little gang on the summit of Mount Whitney near the end of the trip.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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This was the sort of place that grows in my memory of it. At the time, it seemed somewhat less monumental by comparison to some of the other locations on this trip, which included crossing two very high and dramatic passes, climbing Mt. Whitney, and walking up the impressive Kern River Canyon. This lake was quiet. The peaks were off in the far distance. The surroundings were flat and mostly covered by trees. But now the quiet and peacefulness of that place and the camaraderie of my fellow backcountry hikers comes back to me.
That’s nice you can re-capture the feeling. This photograph does have a very real sense to it, you do feel like you’re there looking at it, even for me!
Both photos great! I’m saving the main one so I can look at it closely in the photo app! Love the colors, the water, trees, the lighting, everything!