Tag Archives: crest

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Early Season Alpine Terrain

August 1, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A lakeside meadow begins its short summer period of growth as snowpack melts along the Sierra Nevada crest

I think I can use this photograph to tell a story or two. In late July of this much wetter than normal year, I visited the Sierra in the area roughly between Tuolumne Meadows and Lundy Canyon over a period of four days. After five years of California drought, the balance tipped the opposite direction this past winter, and did so with a vengeance. Many areas got as much a twice the normal amount of precipitation this season. Many areas opened late, lots of facilities were damaged, and a number of places (such as Tuolumne Meadows campground) were still not open when I visited. But I managed to find a high elevation campsite just outside the park, and I decided to mix a little hiking with my photography.

This lake is perhaps a couple of miles from a trailhead that offers two relatively easy ways to get there. I took a familiar one along a north-facing slope above the shoreline of a big lake, because it is shorter than the alternative and in some ways easier. Or so I thought. It turned out that the snow from this big winter is still thick in areas above 10,000′ of elevation — like this one — and more than half of my little hike turned out to be on snow. There was also water everywhere — waterfalls and cascades visible high up on mountain slopes, streams dashing madly down below, flooded meadows, and more. My second challenge turned out to be this water — and I finally came up against a creek that I wasn’t willing to try crossing while hiking solo — a bit too dangerous. The lake in this photograph lies in a subalpine basin below peaks on the Sierra crest. The snow had just (for the most part) melted out of this sodden meadow near the lake’s outlet stream, so I decided to make a few photographs that included the large blocks of granite standing in the meadow along with the very tall alpine ridge in the background.

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

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

Moonrise, Sierra Wave Cloud

June 7, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A Sierra wave cloud stretches south along the Sierra Nevada crest as the moon rises.

Spend a bit of time — or a few decades — in and around the Sierra and you begin to be able to anticipate certain events. Nothing is a sure bet when it comes to predicting spectacular visual conditions, but some signs make it very likely that your efforts may be rewarded. The “Sierra Wave” cloud phenomenon is one such condition — common, easy to spot once you recognize the signs, and having the potential to produce very special photographic opportunities.

As on this evening, it often begins subtly. The line of clouds is produced over the crest or on its leeward side as moisture-laden air passes above the crest. The clouds can extend many miles north and south and sometimes stack up in layers. During the day they are impressive, but it is at dusk (or, rarely, at dawn) that they excel. After the last direct sunlight has risen above the highest peaks and the sun has set, brilliant red light may illuminate the clouds from the west, producing an almost unbelievable intensity of color. On this evening I saw the potential as I came over Tioga Pass from the east, and I quickly found a place to stop and watch the show develop. The moon above Kuna Crest was an added bonus!

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Eastern Sierra Ridges

October 24, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A seemingly endless series of ridges rises toward the crest of the Sierra Nevada in early evening light

The east side of the Sierra Nevada — the “eastern escarpment” — provides an often impressive and quite varied landscape. In places the terrain at the base of the mountains may be in the 4000′ elevation range, which in others the “lowlands” to the east may lie at 8000′ or higher. The mountains may erupt from this lower landscape in a sudden upward burst of granite and cliffs, or they may rise more gradually along mountain valleys that extend well into the range. In places the summit peaks are visible, while in some areas they are hidden behind lower peaks east of the crest. In one spot in the middle of the range the crest is actually lower than peaks to the west.

In this area along the western boundary of Yosemite the Sierra rises somewhat gradually from the high desert sagebrush country. The emptiness of this high desert gives way to a band of coniferous forest and is then replaced by the rugged granite high country. Here the sagebrush highlands rise, ridge upon ridge, toward the peaks of the crest, with the golden colors of early fall becoming muted by atmospheric haze in the distance.

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

Evening Shadows, Sierra Crest

October 7, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Mountain shadows on the Sierra Crest at sunset, Yosemite National Park

Earlier I had photographed in the large meadows along the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne, just below Tioga Pass, continuing to work until the sun dropped behind the long and tall ridge to the west. As I walked back toward my vehicle through the soft light of the shadows, the surrounding peaks were still in full sun. I started thinking about putting a very long lens on the camera and photographing the last light when if finally got to these peaks and ridges.

It took a while! This meadow area loses the light early, so even though I lingered there after the direct sun was gone, I still had quite a while to wait before sunset. The intense coloration of the arctic zone peaks comes from two sources. This section of the Sierra is topped by much older rocks — not granite but very reddish-brownish rocks. By the time I made this photograph the sun was very close to the horizon and the color of the light had warmed considerable, adding even more intense color to the rocks. (Inspecting the image file very closely I learned something new — there is a faint trail traversing the upper slopes of the ridge at the left!)

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: crest

Early Season Alpine Terrain

Eastern Sierra Ridges

Evening Shadows, Sierra Crest

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