Tag Archives: backpack

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Yosemite

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

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Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall. Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry corn lily leaves and plants as Sierra Nevada summer plants go dormant at the beginning of the fall season – Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

On the first evening of my brief two-day visit to Upper Cathedral Lake, I wandered up a narrow ravine near where we were camped, hoping to eventually get up high for some photographs of dome-like formations and the lake and Cathedral Peak beyond. But almost immediately I became distracted by much more intimate subjects closer at hand in the shaded and diffused light of the gully. Near the top of a narrow section I came across a large bed of old corn lily plants that had reached the end of their short summer-season lives and had fallen over in interesting and complex patterns.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: corn, lily, plant, wild, flora, foliage, brown, tan, dead, dry, leaf, stem, branch, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, summer, fall, dormant, season, change, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, upper, cathedral, lake, camp, hike, backpack, tuolumne, meadows, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, texture, pattern, needle, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake

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Granite Cliff and Ledge - Upper Cathedral Lake

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fractured cliff face and bench with colorful lichens and trees near Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

During the last week of September I managed to squeeze in a very shot pack trip to Upper Cathedral Lakes, just out of Tuolumne Meadows in the Yosemite National Park high country, where I met five outstanding Yosemite photographers who were there for a week of shooting. Although I was only at the lake for perhaps 24 hours, I tried to make the best of it and I shot early and late all around the upper lake.

On the first evening I decided to explore some rocky gullies ascending above the lake on the side opposite from Cathedral Peak. The first gully I followed was very narrow and quite deep – I had to climb a good distance to finally find a spot where I could climb out of it onto the glacier-smoother dome-like formations above the lake. This photograph shows a tremendously fractured section of the wall of this gully, with the bases of a few trees included for scale.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: cliff, granite, rock, face, crack, fracture, pattern, bench, ledge, lichen, brown, green, black, gray, grass, tree, pine, trunk, branch, rock, boulder, snag, root, stain, cathedral, lake, upper, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, nature, wilderness, hike, backpack, camp, tuolumne, meadows, geology, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Sunset Virga, Mount Conness

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Sunset Virga, Mount Conness

Sunset Virga, Mount Conness. Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Viewed from Fletcher Lake, virga illuminated by sunset light falls over the Sierra Nevada crest near Mount Conness – Yosemite National Park, California.

I’ve had this one sitting on my (computer) desktop for the past couple of weeks, so I think it is time to post it. On this late summer evening that in many ways felt more like early fall, a surprise thunderhead rose up above Mount Conness in the late afternoon, dropping rain for a while and continuing to drop virga as dusk came on. (“Virga” is the precipitation that falls from high clouds but evaporates before reaching the ground.)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: rain, virga, cloud, dissipate, sky, evening, sunset, dusk, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, mount, conness, forest, tree, rock, boulder, bench, meadow, grass, rock, late, summer, dry, brown, golden, red, ridge, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, backpack, camp, hike, nature, alpenglow, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite, Meadow, and Trees – Fletcher Lake

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Granite, Meadow, and Trees - Fletcher Lake

Granite, Meadow, and Trees – Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors and morning light on glaciated granite, late-season meadow grasses, and trees near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

Technically this was shot near the end of summer, not in early autumn… but in the high country the observable change of seasons comes before the autumnal equinox, so it often really feels much more like autumn that summer by the second week of September. Many streams a low or dry, virtually all of the grasses have gone dormant and taken on the brown/gold color, the high country animals are clearly engaged in preparation for winter, and the number of human visitors greatly diminishes. (And at Fletcher Lake, employees are starting to dismantle the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp for the season.)

Fletcher Lake is a very familiar location for me. I go there at least once every year, sometimes more, and I almost always visit near the very end of the season. Because I know the area and its surroundings so well by now, I think that I see it in a very different way than I used to. I still notice the most striking features – the tremendous view toward Mount Conness, the impressive, fractured face of Fletcher Peak (the base of which is in the background of this photograph), the height of Vogelsang Peak. But more and more I look for the effect of warm late-season light on granite, meadow, and trees.

This photograph was made in the early morning. The very first light is blocked by a ridge to the east and by Fletcher Peak, but soon the light begins to come around the shoulder of Fletcher and light up the meadow grasses and trees, yet it leaves the face of Fletcher Peak in shadow.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: granite, glacial, polish, boulder, erratic, rock, smooth, meadow, grass, brown, late, season, fall, autumn, pine, tree, grove, forest, mountain, cliff, fletcher, lake, peak, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, range, snow, patch, talus, camp, backpack, hike, landscape, nature, shadow, morning, early, light, travel, scenic, stock