Tag Archives: alpine

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Alps, Berechtesgaden National Park

May 25, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park — A trail passes through the Bavarian Alps of Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

A trail passes through the Bavarian Alps of Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

This was a special day on our three-week 2013 trip to England, Germany and a bit of Austria. Most of the trip, not surprisingly, was a rather urban experience. (I like those, too!) Particularly in London, the least urbanized part of the experience were brief visits to urban parks. Heidelberg perhaps had a less intensely urban feeling, though it still is very definitely a town/city environment for the most part. When we got off the train in Salzburg we were most certainly in another urbanized place, and even the beautiful area where we stayed in a Bavarian farmhouse was quite civilized — a town was a short distance away and we could walk to bakeries and even a restaurant. From the yard of the farmhouse we could look up to the alpine heights of the Watzmann, a truly alpine peak and the second highest in Germany, but it was something to look towards rather than a place to be.

This day started in a similar civilized manner: a drive to a large parking lot, purchasing tickets, and then getting on the Jennerbahn tram. The tram ride was, of course, spectacular as it took us up to a mountaintop lodge. But when we stepped out of that lodge and onto a system of trails that took us across a high ridge with views of spectacular alpine terrain and then dropped us into the top of a long high valley, this Sierra Nevada guy felt the familiar pull of mountains.

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.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Timberline Creek and Mesa, Evening

December 31, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light on high ridges and timberline creek in the upper reaches of the Kern River drainage, Sierra Nevada

This is a favorite location in the southern Sierra, where the John Muir Trail finally arrives at a creek and small trees after crossing over a very high pass perhaps four miles to the north — and thus at the end of what is typically an entire day spent near or above timberline. I love that very high country, but after working my way over a very high pass and doing a long walk, there is almost nothing as pleasing as coming to a camp with green meadows and trees and a gently flowing stream.

Because this spot is on the JMT, it isn’t surprising that I’ve been there a few times, on various trips that have taken me across this section of the Sierra backcountry. In fact, I’ve been there enough times to now remember specific camp sites and to even know where to wander off to find a good view in the evening. The massive peak in this photograph is an iconic sight in this area. High above plateaus that are at or above 11,000′, it is topped by a huge plateau at an even higher elevation, an unusual feature at an elevation where things are more typically rugged, rocky, and perhaps nearly inaccessible.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Reflection, Granite Ridge

December 11, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Morning light on shattered granite ridge reflected in a subalpine Lake

This is another older photograph, made on a late-season solo backpacking trip into the Yosemite backcountry back in 2010 for the purpose of making photographs. This time of year is my favorite in the High Sierra — beautiful weather, fewer visitors, no mosquitos, lovely light. In addition, and perhaps related to some of those other factors, this time of year seems slower and more relaxed.

I hiked in to this group of lakes on the first day, setting up camp late in the day. Over the course of several days I explored this lake carefully and also visited two higher lakes in this group, along with some surrounding high country. I’ve been to this place enough times now that I’ve begun to know its ins and outs, including alternate routes between places, the best times for particular sorts of light and so forth. I made this photograph in the early morning, while on a walk around the edge of the lake. The light was softened by some high clouds, and the surface of the lake was still mirror smooth.

Equipment, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake and Shoreline, Evening

December 11, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light comes to a remote alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada backcountry.

I made this photograph from more or less our campsite on a backpacking trip to this remote area of the upper Kern River drainage in the southern Sierra Nevada back in 2010. It was a trip that combined the familiar and the new, that took me to a spot that I had first thought of visiting decades before, and which provided some surprises. The first few days of the trip covered familiar ground over a couple of high passes and dropped us into the upper Kern on the John Muir Trail. At this point we left the JMT and followed less traveled routes for the remainder of our visit.

Our first departure from the JMT was to head south of northwest into the upper Kern’s more remote areas. We were not so far out on the fringe that there were no trails, but the trails were clearly not well used and we saw very few people. The area is not easy to get to nor is it really on the route between other major points, so those that go there pretty much just go there. Eventually we worked our way over towards the foot of the Great Western Divide, to an area full of intimate meadow/rock landscapes and small lakes. Here we found a beautiful campsite that gave no hints that it had been occupied before. I’m sure it had been, but it is unusual to find such a place in the Sierra that is visited so infrequently that there are not obvious signs of the previous visitors. We set up camp, engaged in warfare with marauding mosquitos, wandered about a bit, and settled in to watch the day come to an end.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: alpine

Alps, Berechtesgaden National Park

Timberline Creek and Mesa, Evening

Morning Reflection, Granite Ridge

Lake and Shoreline, Evening

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.