Tag Archives: conness

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

Mount Conness, Early Evening Thunderstorms

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Mount Conness, Early Evening Thunderstorms

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

Early evening thunderstorms above Mount Connesss, as seen from near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite National Park, California.

As most of California was heading back home on Labor Day, I was heading to the Sierra Nevada for a late-season four-day pack trip into the Yosemite National Park back-country around the Fletcher Lake/Vogelsang High Sierra Camp area. I got off to a very late start and didn’t get on the trail up Lyell Canyon until nearly 5:00 p.m., so it was dark when I finally arrived at the Ireland Lake trail junction to make camp and fix dinner – and, a bit later, to be serenaded by coyotes.

The next day I headed up the Ireland Lake trail to spend a night at Evelyn Lake and then move the following day to Fletcher Lake, the location of the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. The situation at Fletcher Lake exemplifies much of what I love about late-season Sierra backpacking. During the high season this is a very popular place: a few dozen people stay at the facilities of the high sierra camp and many more backpackers camp nearby – it can be a very busy place! But the high sierra camp shuts down after Labor Day (they were dismantling the tents when I arrived) and the number of backpackers drops dramatically.

But for a photographer, many other special things happen at this time of year as well. While some may lament the passing of the rich green plants of these meadows, I love the golden color that lasts for a few weeks between early September and the coming of the first snow only weeks later – and the spots of green you do find are even more special. The weather cools and there is something special about the light that I can’t quite define – perhaps it is the lower angle of the sun or maybe some change in the weather conditions.

This photograph was made in the early evening on the day I arrived at Fletcher Lake. My usual practice is to set up camp and have an early dinner and then grab the camera equipment as “golden hour” approaches and go to work. I had been focused on the camp chores and hadn’t noticed these clouds until I picked up the camera! Here two large cells, perhaps beginning to dissipate as the day ended, were towering above Mount Conness and the Sierra crest.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: mount, conness, johnson, peak, early, evening, late, afternoon, thunderstorm, cloud, towering, blue, sky, rain, virga, light, fletcher, lake, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, range, mountains, alpine, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, nature, meadow, brown, gold, lodgepole, tamarack, pine, forest, rock, ridge, backpack, camp, fall, autumn, color, season, stock, september, boulder

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

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

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Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Conness and the shoreline meadow of Lower Young Lake at sunset.

The thin smoke from a wildfire some miles away along the Tuolumne River added some color to the sunset light on the distant ridge whose highest point is Mt. Conness, the tallest peak in along the Yosemite Park border north and west of Tioga Pass. I’ve shot from this spot along the upper shoreline of Lower Young Lake before, in fact the rock along the shoreline was the center point of another photograph I made one misty autumn evening. But this was a different evening; not only because of the somewhat unusual color of the light but also because the small inlet stream was still flowing through the shoreline meadows that still held wildflowers.

On my way back to my tent as darkness fell, I had one of those wonderful serendipitous experiences that happens with surprising frequency in the Sierra. Walking back I happened to take a different route further from the shoreline since that area was quite marshy. As I wandered through a more forested section that I had not been in for a couple years I passed very close to someone’s campsite, and I soon saw two people ahead sitting on a large boulder. I stopped to say “hi” and the older of the two asked, “Are you a photographer?” I offered one of my all-too-frequent wise guy responses, something along the lines of “No, I just like to carry this stuff around so that I look like one.” He looked a bit perplexed, at which point the younger of the two spoke up and said, “Well, he is.”

Turns out that he was photographer Leonard Sussman, and we ended up talking for a good amount of time as the light continued to fade. Leonard is a really interesting fellow, and I was surprised to find out that a “New York photographer” actually came more or less from my stomping grounds in northern California.

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.

keywords: mount, conness, mountain, peak, ridge, young, lake, lower, sierra, nevada, range, evening, dusk, sunset, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, nature, rock, tree, stream, reflection, forest, boulder, shoreline

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Evening, Tenaya Lake, From Near Olmsted Point

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Evening, Tenaya Lake, From Near Olmsted Point

Evening, Tenaya Lake, From Near Olmsted Point. Yosemite National Park, California. September 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of early evening light on Tenaya Lake and surrounding valley and peaks as viewed from near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, California.

On this late summer evening I had just hiked out from a three-day backcountry photography pack trip, driven over Tioga Pass to grab a bit at Tioga Pass Resort, and was starting my drive home from the park. I happened to pass by Olmsted Point (where I don’t stop all that often these days) just as the sun was getting read to drop behind the ridge to the west of the point. To my mind, this is just about the most beautiful time of day at this spot, especially as the low angle sun illuminates rocks in the Olmsted Point area and begins to leave the valley holding Tenaya Lake. To make a long story short, I spent 30-45 minutes photographing here before heading home, and I make a few exposures of Tenaya just as the last light was hitting some of the nearby trees in the foreground.

keywords: black and white, early, evening, afternoon, tenaya, lake, olmsted, point, yosemite, national park, california, usa, tree, rock, forest, boulder, dome, peak, mountain, ridge, cloud, conness, tioga, road, pass, tuolumne, meadows, scenic, landscape, travel, stock, shadow