Tag Archives: camp

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

Pine Branches – Fletcher Lake

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Pine Branches - Fletcher Lake

Pine Branches – Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Close up photograph of pine branches in soft morning light at Fletcher Lake in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, California.

This is a portrait orientation version of a scene I photographed recently while on a backpack trip into the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp – Fletcher Lake area of the Yosemite National Park backcountry. I photographed these branches in morning light, and most of the light is filtering in from the other side of the tree and reflected from the sky and brightly illuminated rocks and lake.

keywords: pine, tree, branch, needle, close, macro, morning, light, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, camp, yosemite, national park, california, usa, back-country, backpack, hike, camp, nature, flora, foliage, outdoor, forest, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tarn on Lake Townsley Plateau

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Plateau Above Townsley Lake, Sunset

Tarn on Lake Townsley Plateau. Yosemite National Park, California. September 7, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on the meadow near a small alpine tarn on the plateau above Townsley Lake, with the ridge between Fletcher and Parson Peaks beyond.

This plateau is located just above Townsley Lake, near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp and Fletcher Lake. I have visited this spot many times on walks between Fletcher and Ireland Lakes, and I have wanted to photograph here at sunset for quite some time.

(I’ve written a bit about how I get to and across this plateau here.)

This tarn, dry at this late time in the season, sits near the edge of the plateau and catches the low angle sun just before sunset. The ridge beyond runs between Parsons and Fletcher Peaks. The water level is very low due to the lateness of the season – a month earlier this tarn was surrounded by green grasses and wildflowers.

keywords: sunset, evening, townsley, lake, plateau, parsons, fletcher, peak, lake, meadow, forest, grass, tree, peak, ridge, alpine, sun, light, yosemite, national park, california, usa, landscape, travel, scenic, hike, backpack, camp, outdoor, mountain

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dry Creek at Fletcher Lake

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Dry Creek at Fletcher Lake

Dry Creek at Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 7, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A dry creek surrounded by golden autumn meadow grasses and illuminated by early morning light winds through a clump of small trees near Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

The meadow around Fletcher Lake (the site of Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, one of the group of well-known high sierra camps in Yosemite) turns a beautiful golden brown in the late season and contrasts with the green of the small trees gradually taking over the meadow, especially when the grasses are backlit by the early morning light.

keywords: creek, dry, bed, meadow, grass, brown, golden, tree, forest, small, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, backpack, hike, landscape, nature, stock, california, usa, alpine, morning, rock, stone

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lakes Below Duck Pass, Afternoon Showers

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Lakes Below Duck Pass, Afternoon Showers
Lakes Below Duck Pass, Afternoon Showers

Lakes Below Duck Pass, Afternoon Showers. Sierra Nevada, California. August 5, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sun breaks through the clouds to illuminate lakes and surrounding meadows in the valley below Duck Pass near Mammoth Lakes, California.

This is an older shot that I recently realized has not yet been posted here. There is a bit of an ironic story behind getting this shot. A few days earlier some friends and I had started on a 14-day backpacking along a good size chunk of the John Muir Trail. (Including one short section that I have yet to hike!) After about four days on the trail we arrived an Purple Lake, a bit south of Mammoth, where I began to feel a bit “under the weather.” Because the next portion of the hike would travel across a section of the JMT that doesn’t provide many quick exits in case of emergency, I decided that I would evaluate my condition the next morning before heading on.

I still didn’t feel great when I awoke so, being cautious, I regretfully left the rest of my group and backtracked towards Duck Pass with a plan to exit to Mammoth Lakes and head home. So, it was an accident that found me descending this section below Duck Pass in this wonderful weather of mixed thundershowers alternating with bursts of sunlight – and which put me in the right place at the right time to see this beautiful scene as sunlight passed across this set of lakes.

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 and Amazon.

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