To my surprise, I’m back early from my Sierra backpack trip. It was supposed to last 14 days but I exited on day 5. The good news is that I had a chance to visit the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of eastern California and then to travel through Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite on an evening of stunningly beautiful light.
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On Vacation
Le Conte Canyon in Evening Light
Le Conte Canyon in Evening Light. Kings Canyon National Park. July 12, 2004. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
This is one of my favorite images but one that frustrates me a bit as well.
Last summer a group of us had just come over Bishop Pass and down from Dusy Basin, turning south on the Muir Trail near this point. It was late in the day – we would finally arrive at our campsite after sunset – and I paused briefly to grab a hand held shot here.
I love the form of the image, especially the pool of light in the foreground at the bottom of the frame. Unfortunately, the original image was underexposed and taken on a camera that does not deal well with low light levels. Consequently, I’ll never be able to get a print larger than 8 x 10 or so out of this image.
However, in about two weeks I should be within a very short distance of this very same spot. If conditions cooperate, I’ll leave camp at the turnoff to Dusy Basin and hike down here with a better camera, better lens, and tripod and see if I can get a technically better image.
Update: I was looking at maps last night and I think that this peak is called “The Citadel.”
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Melting Ice in Alpine Tarn
Melting Ice in Alpine Tarn. Yosemite National Park. July 8, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
This little tarn (a small alpine snowmelt pond) sits on a low ridge between Mono and Parker Passes in the Tioga Pass area of Yosemite National Park, very close to the eastern park boundary.
I happened upon this ice formation while walking cross-country between the two passes, and I stopped to take some pictures. I thought of getting out the tripod but was too lazy. That decision is usually a bad one, but not in this case. It turned out that the leftmost piece of ice fell over while I was taking the picture. It isn’t apparent here, but it an enlargement you can just see the blur as it starts to topple.