Tag Archives: crest

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Southern California

From The Panamints to the Sierra

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From The Panamints to the Sierra
The distant Sierra Nevada peaks are visible from the crest of the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park.

From The Panamints to the Sierra. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The distant Sierra Nevada peaks are visible from the crest of the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park.

There is a misconception out there that “you can see the highest point in the 48 states from the lowest point in the 48 states” if you visit Death Valley. This is sometimes shortened: “You can see Mount Whitney from Death Valley.” Sorry to say, but that isn’t quite true. However the truth is pretty impressive nonetheless — from elevated locations in Death Valley National Park you can see both the lowest and highest spots.

I made this photograph early in the morning from one such location. Death Valley itself lay behind my camera position, many thousands of feet below this high ridge. And there in the distance are the peaks of the southern Sierra Nevada, along the eastern edge of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks. Between these points is a remarkable stretch of very rugged and dry landscape with only a few easy access points to most of it.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest

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Evening Storm, Sierra Crest
An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

Evening Storm, Sierra Crest. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An evening thunderstorm dissipates over the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern Yosemite.

The Sierra Nevada crest runs just northwest of this area in northern Yosemite National Park, and the mountains here rise to rugged, rocky heights, in places high enough to be topped by the older geological layers that were lifted up on top of the material that produced the range. This is alpine country — in places it is easy to travel since the landscape is so open, but eventually you’ll run up against these jagged peaks.

On this evening I had ascended some gentler — though still quite rocky — terrain not far from our camp, originally with the idea of photographing a large valley to our west and the peaks beyond it. Just before sunset I started to descend, coming back around the shoulder of “my” ridge and turning toward this line of peaks to the east and the remnants of a huge dissipating thunderhead on the other side of the crest.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke

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Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens

Autumn Aspens, Lake, Wildfire Smoke. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Wildfire smoke drifts over the Sierra Nevada crest above a lake surrounded by autumn aspens

This is one of several photographs I made of this Eastern Sierra lake near the peak of autumn color this fall. I photographed it from two perspectives, both of which I had decided on ahead of time. The first was from a slightly elevated position at a somewhat different location, a spot that provided an interesting view of some iconic aspen trees. This was the second position, along a shoreline of the lake where aspens grow and there is a view toward higher peaks along the Sierra crest. Because this was a somewhat special color year, I particularly wanted to include the foreground trees with red and orange leaves.

This particular composition reveals more clearly that the others I have shared that there was wildfire smoke in the air. The distance peaks of the Sierra crest are far enough away to be somewhat muted by it and their coloration is affected by the brown smoke, too. On the previous evening, after a day of fairly good conditions, thick smoke from a fire on the west side of the range had drifted over the crest and then descended into the valleys. I was quite awful, and it wasn’t entirely gone the next morning, though the brighter light of the rising sun cut through it a bit.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills

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Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills
Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

Mount Tom, Tungsten Hills. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mt. Tom and the Tungsten Hills along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.

This photograph memorializes one of a series of very dry winters in California, a period many of us remember as the great drought. For five years little rain fell in most of the state and in other parts of the West. The Sierra Nevada snowpack suffered, and consequently the forests were decimated and water shortages were a very real concern everywhere.

The view of the Sierra seen here is what you might typically see at some point in June or even a bit later, when the winter snow pack has diminished to the point that high country travel starts to become easier. But this was early January! I passed through here on my way home from Death Valley and recall being shocked at the bare peaks on the east side of the range.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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