Rock Islands, Alpine Lake

Rock Islands, Alpine Lake
Boulders form small islands near the shoreline of a Sierra Nevada alpine lake.

Rock Islands, Alpine Lake. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Boulders form small islands near the shoreline of a Sierra Nevada alpine lake.

I made this photograph on a beautiful evening in a favorite Yosemite backcountry location featuring a small string of three sub-alpine lakes. The lowest is surrounded by forest, but this upper lake sits in a wide-open bowl at timberline and facing the western sky. This makes it a place of astonishingly colorful evening and sunset light when the conditions align.

As is my usual pattern, I had camped at the lower lake before wandering to the upper lake late in the day, planning to photograph along the shoreline. In fact I had in mind a particular treat that I wanted as my subject. After making a few pictures of it I headed out around the lake, where I made this photograph of “boulder islands” along the shoreline just as golden hour was beginning.


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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