Tag Archives: crest

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Forest, Peaks, And Snow

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Forest, Peaks, And Snow
Storm clears above snow-dusted peaks near Tuolumne Meadows.

Forest, Peaks, And Snow. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Storm clears above snow-dusted peaks near Tuolumne Meadows.

I suspect that most Sierra visitors and residents have certain special places that have long-time associations, certain views that we almost always must stop for, no matter how many times we have seen them. Since the first high country experiences I can recall were in and around Tuolumne Meadows, it is probably no surprise that it is the location of several of those places for me. I have collected these spots for years — decades, actually — and they range from a particular rock outcropping — I stop to visit at the beginning and end of every season — to bigger and more familiar views. I understand that I’m not the only person who counts the first view of Tuolumne Meadows and surrounding peaks, seen along the road at the west end, as one of these places.

Tioga Pass Road opened for the season this past week. I missed opening day, but I did manage a long up-and-back one-day drive a couple of days later. Tuolumne looks quite different at this time of the season, especially if your main experience is limited to the short alpine summer when the snow is mostly gone and the meadow is mostly green. At this early date the meadow is brown (though you can see first shoots of new growth if you look closely), the river is flooding over its banks, and a lot of snow is still on the high peaks. In fact, new snow had just fallen above 11,000′ or so. This photograph does not show the whole view, instead focusing on a bit of meadow, a lot of forest, snow-capped peaks, and the clouds at the tail end of a spring storm

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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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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains

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Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains
A partially melted lake and snow-covered mountains near the Sierra Nevada crest.

Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A partially melted lake and snow-covered mountains near the Sierra Nevada crest.

For many of us the annual re-opening of Tioga Pass Road through the Yosemite high country marks the beginning of the “summer” season, even though it often takes place in late spring. (And, “the season” typically extends into autumn, too.) Whenever I can, I try to be there on the day the road opens. For those familiar with the route from more typical summer visits, the conditions can be a real surprise, especially in years of heavy snowfall and late melts. In the big years there is water everywhere — waterfalls flowing, creeks and rivers are filled to (and beyond) their banks, meadows are flooded, and sometimes the creeks flow right across the roadway. Conditions beyond the road can be quite difficult, approaching impossible at times. (I recall one very early season hike to Parker Pass, when creek crossings were surprisingly challenging and some high elevation areas that are dry in summer were too wet to walk through.)

I decided not to go on the first open day this year, mostly due to weather issues, instead postponing my visit for a couple of days. I did go, and it turned into one of my epic one-day-up-and-back trips. I was on the road shortly after 4:00 AM, went as far as Panum Crater (which I climbed) near Mono Lake, and didn’t get back home until well after midnight. In some ways, this isn’t the ideal time for photography — that can be more interesting later on when the meadows have turned green. Honestly, it is more about kicking off the new season. Late in the day, I headed back up from Lee Vining to cross Tioga Pass and stopped briefly to photograph this familiar lake just the pass, with its remarkable pattern of melting ice and the distance peaks of Kuna Crest still fully covered in snow.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Groves, Sierra Crest

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Aspen Groves, Sierra Crest
Aspen groves follow the contours of foothills rising toward the Sierra Nevada crest.

Aspen Groves, Sierra Crest. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen groves follow the contours of foothills rising toward the Sierra Nevada crest.

Just for fun… a fall color photography in black and white! I have the greatest respect for our photographer predecessors who set about photographing the beauty of fall color with only monochromatic shades to work with. It can be done, but it isn’t quite as straightforward as photographing fall color with today’s capable digital cameras. It is all too easy to let those colorful leaves end up having monochromatic tones that aren’t that much different from the same trees in the green season! Light helps, as does some selective use of filters — glass filters in the old days and post-processing analogs applied to digital files today.

I made this photograph close to a rather popular fall color photography location, though the exact location isn’t quite in the usual spot. It presented a challenge or two that I won’t describe here. The light was, to use the old euphemism, “interesting” at this point. The late afternoon light was coming in at a low angle and lighting up the trees nicely, but the sky was a bit tricky. Some high clouds were floating over the Sierra crest peaks, and their brightness posed a dynamic range challenge while their shadows fell across the peaks. There are many things I like about this scene — the way the curving forms of the groves lead away and up toward the Sierra crest peak, the long shadows, the alternation of sunlit ridge and darker valleys, and those distant peaks with a bit of autumn snow dusting their summits.

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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Photographs: Nevada, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Tarn, Ridge

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Alpine Tarn, Ridge
A Sierra crest ridge reflected by the surface of a small alpine tarn in early evening light

Alpine Tarn, Ridge. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra crest ridge reflected by the surface of a small alpine tarn in early evening light

This photograph came near the end of a special day on our weeklong (and then some) backcountry photography visit to the John Muir Wilderness area. From our campsite in the trees on a moraine near a lower-elevation lake we took off in various groups to explore higher country. Above us was a large alpine basin that rose gradually to the head of the canyon at just above 12,000′ of elevation, with higher peaks on all sides. As we walked we left the forest behind and entered the landscape of rock and sparse trees. Some headed toward a higher lake; I struck off by myself to arrive at the top of a gentle ridge of glaciated granite slabs, from which I could see further up there valley and down into some rock-bound lakes.

Eventually it was time to leave since the sun was dropping behind peaks to the west. I worked my way back down the slabs, eventually spotting Patty coming across from a different portion of the ridge. We joined forces and continued our descent to the creek at the bottom of the valley, making a small tarn our target destination. I had the idea that I might get there just in time to make a few photographs before the shadows reached the lake. As it turned out, I cut the timing a bit close, and almost as soon as we arrived the first shadows approached the left side of the lake. I had to work quickly, so I found a composition that included the jagged rocks half-submerged along the shoreline, the lake itself, and the reflection of the 12,000′-plus ridge still in full sun.

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