OK, I am posting this “morning musing” in the afternoon, following last night’s late night return from a ten-day photographic adventure in the back county of Yosemite National Park, where I joined six other photographer friends to photograph some of our favorite subjects: rocks, trees, water, clouds, peaks, and that Sierra light. (All of the blog posts you might have seen from me since about September 1 have been “canned,” queued up in advance for automatic posting. I may not have acknowledged all comments that were left here while I was away… and I now have a thousand or more emails staring menacingly in my direction, demanding attention!)

The trip was wonderful — for the beauties to be photographed, of course, but at least as much for the company. Thank you Charlie, Karl, Mike, Keith, Scot, and Annette for being such great — and humorous — trail and photography friends and partners.

We were in the back county of the northern portion of Yosemite National Park. And, yes, we did encounter the effects of the fire still burning behind Half Dome and Clouds Rest, though from a relatively safe distance in our case. We were nowhere close to being evacuated, unlike those folks who were along the Merced River drainage in and above Little Yosemite Valley, some of whom were airlifted out ahead of the fire.

From our distant location we did see the fire begin on Sunday morning, when we saw a small bit of smoke that looked much like the many other small, seasonal fires that are common at this time of year. By midday the smoke had grown and was blowing our direction as the winds began to pick up. Late in the afternoon we encountered very strong winds and worried more about how they would affect this fire. The magnitude of that effect soon became clear, as within an hour of so a very thick smoke plume crossed over us, muting the sun and turning it a strange yellow-pink color, and soon began to see ash falling from the sky.

But we are all back, safe and sound, and with many images to review and begin to work on. Stay tuned!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist 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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