Tag Archives: clouds

Commentary, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Gates of the Valley

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Gates of the Valley

Gates of the Valley. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Gates of the Valley and the Merced River, Autumn – Yosemite Valley, California.

I made my annual fall color pilgrimage to Yosemite Valley this past weekend and since I had a few extra minutes while going from point A to point B I decided to stop at this over-photographed location and try a long exposure using a 9-stop neutral density filter, thus the effect you see on the surface of the Merced River in the foreground.

The trip was not quite what I anticipated. The fall colors were quite good, with lots of bright yellow maples, my favorite yellow and brown oaks, golden meadow grasses, and more.
But it rained. A lot.

It started almost as soon as I arrived on Saturday morning, got worse as the day wore on, poured overnight, and rained off and on most of the day on Sunday. Even this shot in seemingly clearing weather was taken as a light mist fell.

keywords: yosemite, valley, national park, el capitan, three brothers, merced, river, reflection, plant, tree, grass, meadow, forest, fall, autumn, color, clouds, fog, blue, sky, time, exposure, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, california, usa, stock, ripple

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

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Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow

Clouds Rest and Fog, Alpenglow. Yosemite National Park, California. October 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Alpenglow illuminates fog in the valleys below Clouds Rest at twilight. Yosemite National Park.

Luck was with me on my drive back from Aspen hunting in the eastern Sierra during the first weekend of October 2008. Although I originally planned to return to the Bay Area via Monitor Pass, I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to instead return over Tioga Pass. After passing through Tuolumne Meadows a half hour before sunset, I continued on and near Tenaya Lake I noticed that fog was forming in the aftermath of the weather front that had come through a day before.

When I arrived at Olmsted Point and its famous view of Tenaya Lake and Half Dome, the fog had completely blocked the view. I wasn’t really planning on shooting here so I continued on. A few seconds later after rounding a bend in the road I saw that the fog was barely blocking the light of the setting sun, and that rocks and trees were being gently illuminated through the fog. I’ll post that photo later along with a bit more information about the scene.

In any case, I finally got back to my car and began what I thought would be a direct drive home, since the light was now fading quickly. I drove on for a few more minutes, came around a bend at the top of a rise, and saw this stunning scene of Clouds Rest rising above the valley fog and illuminated by alpenglow. Not willing to pass this up I stopped again and set up the tripod/camera and made a few exposures of this incredible and rare view.

keywords: clouds, rest, mountain, ridge, fog, mist, evening, twilight, alpenglow, forest, tree, cliff, snow, fall, autumn, tioga, road, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, night, sierra, nevada, stock

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake

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Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake
Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake. Sequoia National Park, California. August 7 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening along the tree-lined shore of Moraine Lake in Sequoia National Park, California.

Moraine Lake is located on the Chagoopa Plateau in the Sierra Nevada backcountry of Sequoia National Park, between Big Arroyo and the deep trench of Kern Canyon. Aside from being a bit windy when I’ve been there, it is a very peaceful spot – and a good warm place (relatively speaking) to swim. No surprise given its name, the opposite shore is formed by a lateral moraine that must have come from a glacier traveling down Big Arroyo, and there are lots of rocks everywhere. In fact, along the near shoreline they form a couple of little peninsulas that enclose shallows cut off from the main lake and which support a few trees like those in this photograph.

Most recently I was here in in early August of 2008, when I and a group of friends camped for a night on our trip from Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal via the High Sierra Trail. Technically (OK, literally), Moraine Lake is not “on” the High Sierra Trail, being instead on a lateral loop that leaves the HS Trail on the Chagoopa Plateau to drop down to the lake, and which then continues to the loop to rejoin a few miles later. Oddly, it seems to me that most people who hike through here probably do take the alternative route past Moraine, with the exception of some hard-core hikers who walk far enough in a day to not need to camp on the Plateau.

keywords: evening, shore, shoreline, trees, moraine, lake, high, sierra, trail, nevada, backpack, hike, camp, clouds, reflection, rock, mountain, alpine, great western divide, peak, forest, grass, quiet, landscape, california, usa, sequoia, national park, stock, blue, sky

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap

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Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap
Evening, Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of Upper Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap as evening sun strikes peaks around the upper basin – Sequoia National Park, California.

Upper Hamilton Lake is located on the High Sierra Trail in Sequoia National Park, and is the traditional camping spot before climbing over Kaweah Gap on the ridge in this photograph. I arrived there on August 6, 2008 on the second day of nine-day trans-Sierra backpacking trip from Crescent Meadow to Whitney portal, and we left the next morning to climb the Gap and head to points east.

This photograph was made in the evening as the sun set, sending its light through the narrow opening of the canyon to the west toward the wall at the upper end of the lake – while the high ridge is still in sunlight the lake and surrounding slopes are already in shadow. The photograph was made from a position not more than ten or twelve feet from my campsite.

keywords: landscape, upper, hamilton, lake, kaweah, gap, great western, divide, ridge, mountain, pass, basin, cirque, water, reflection, evening, sunset, golden hour, blue, sky, clouds, forest, tree, brush, rock, talus, peak, alpine, sequoia, national park, california, usa, stock, backpack, hike, camp