Tag Archives: cliff

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River

November 16, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Fall foliage of cottonwood and box elder trees at the base of a cliff along the Escalante River, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This portion of the Escalante River treated us in two very different ways during our late-October visit. Early in the trip, we were anxious to explore this section of the river, where fall colors of cottonwood and box elder trees and more were arriving and where the river continuously twists and turns among sandstone cliffs. In the morning we drove out to our trailhead, noticing two things about the weather – it was cold and there was a lot of the thing that no one wanted to mention but which we might refer to as “W”. (Hint, it moves the branches and leaves a lot!) Undeterred, we entered the canyon and encountered very beautiful conditions, especially when it came to autumn foliage color. However, the “morning breezes” turned into a midday gale, at times forcing us to stop moving as strong gusts momentarily pinned us down. Some clouds began to move overhead. Low light and screaming winds in a deep canyon make for challenging foliage photography, to say the least! By the time we finally left the canyon, it was trying to rain, and across the valley we could see snow falling on higher peaks.

With that first visit in mind, near the end of our trip we found ourselves with time to go back to this canyon. The “I’ve already been there” thoughts were overwhelmed by the “maybe this time we can actually make photographs” thoughts, and so we re-entered this location. On this morning, there was no “W” and it was a few degrees warmer. As we continued up the canyon, the colors were just as beautiful as before, with blown-down leaves having been replaced in many locations by leaves that had more recently changed colors. The light was gorgeous, and we shot almost continuously as we walked downstream, only turning around reluctantly when we ran out of time and energy, though we did get a bit further down-canyon this time. The scale of this photograph may be difficult to understand in this small web jpg, but the trees are good-sized cottonwoods at the base of a giant cliff of light-colored sandstone that towers overhead at a bend in the river.

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: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Autumn Foliage and Sandstone

November 11, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

At the suggestion of another photographer, near the end of our trip we decided to investigate the canyon in which I photographed this tree. The canyon begins in an inauspicious manner, in a shallow wash at the bottom of a slight canyon – the sort of place you could easily drive through and not particularly notice it. There is no sign to mark the route. Following the wash downstream across the flats, another wash joins from the right and soon the sandy bottom becomes rocky as the route meets the top of a sandstone layer. This layer gradually tilts higher and begins to form low walls, and almost before you know it you are inside the beginning of the canyon. A very narrow slot with a large drop-off interrupts the passage and the route detours around it before dropping back into the bottom of the canyon.

Before long, and almost before you know it, the sandstone walls of the canyon become hundreds of feet tall and even begin to overhang the canyon in places, and it is now clear that you have entered the alternate and isolated universe of a deep canyon. At first the canyon is rather barren, but after some distance there are more trees as the route turns and twists downward. As always, surprises appear continually. In this case of this photograph, a simple little bush happened to appear in front of an s-curve marking the edge of a joint in the sandstone where rock had fallen away, and the light reflected among the canyon walls colored the sandstone red.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Granite and Snow

October 16, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early autumn snowfall on ledges of a cracked granite wall near North Lake.

This was a cold photograph! After the 2011 early October sequence of surprise snow storms, I headed up to the North Lake area as soon as the road was (barely) passable, arriving to find nearly a foot of snow in some places. Needless to say, the series of storms had not been kind to the aspen color – many of the most colorful leaves had been blown down, others had turned black, and much of what remained was inaccessible or caked with snow.

I initially thought about taking advantage of the relatively small number of photographers who had shown up and photographing the classic view from near the outlet, but I decided that it would be more interesting to take advantage of the unusual snow conditions. With that in mind, I set out to walk the road alongside the lake. Next to this road the hillside rises and eventually becomes quite rocky, in places starting to seem almost like cliffs. In one of these areas I came across this bit of cracked and shattered granite, sparsely covered with lichen and with new snow resting on small ledges.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Fall Color, Parker Bench and Parker Canyon

October 10, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Fall color from aspens, brush, and lowland trees on Parker Bench below Parker Canyon, eastern Sierra Nevada.

Parker Bench is an area above the northern portion of the June Lakes Loop, lying below Parker Lake and the canyon topping out at Parker Pass. The area is visible from highway 395, though driving up closer reveals a lot more details. The canyon itself appears to be very rugged, and I’m not even certain that a trail climbs it to the pass. I do know that the main route over the pass does not descend the canyon, instead turning south and climbing higher after it crosses the pass to exit Yosemite National Park. I’ve hiked to the pass quite a few times, and explored the country on the Yosemite side of the pass extensively.

This can be a good area to view almost the full transition of aspen color as it moves gradually downward from the highest elevations and out into Owens Valley and similar sage brush country areas. In this photograph extensive groves of aspens in full seasonal color are visible on the slopes to the right of the creek draining the canyon, and in a location that is not far from Parker Lake. When this photograph was made in mid-October of 2011, the color had worked its way down below the forest and out into the relatively low areas along the creeks descending from the higher peaks. Right in front of the camera there are bright colors from brush and a few aspens. Also note the unusually heavy snow up near the pass. October 2011 was an unusual month in that it started with a series of three relatively strong winter-type storms sweeping across the Sierra, closing a number of passes and dropping a foot or more of snow in places.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: cliff

Cliff, Fall Color, Escalante River

Autumn Foliage and Sandstone

Granite and Snow

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