Tag Archives: dusting

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lone Tree, Autumn Snow

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Lone Tree, Autumn Snow
Lone Tree, Autumn Snow

Lone Tree, Autumn Snow. Bishop Creek Area, California. October 8, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun shines on a lone tree on a rocky ridge after early autumn snow storm dusted the upper reaches of Bishop Creek Canyon, California.

This was the first clear morning after several days of early season snow in the Sierra Nevada. Earlier that morning I had driven the still unplowed road up to North Lake and photographed there for several (very cold!) hours, starting before sunrise. As the sun rose higher and I decided to drive back down the road, possibly to some lower elevation groves that are first hit by morning sun at a later hour. The road leaves North Lake and makes a few twists as it descends toward a long traverse of the hillside above the valley holding the town of Aspendell.

As I crossed this section of the road, two things happened. First, and somewhat oddly for a semi-isolated gravel road on a snowy day, a number of vehicles came up the road at about this time. This forced me to pull out alongside the narrow road and allow them to pass – after which I watched several of them get stuck on the slippery road just above my pull-out point. This, of course, brought the traffic to a dead stop while the flat-landers figured out how to drive their fancy AWD (!) vehicle on snow. Second, as I stopped here I caught sight of this interesting tree slightly below and off to the side of the traverse, on a hill still covered with fresh snow and backed by the shaded talus slope on the other side of the valley. Being stuck for a few minutes anyway, it seemed like a fine idea to take the camera and tripod out again and photograph the tree while waiting!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Owens Valley, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

McGee Creek Pack Station, Autumn Snow Storm

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McGee Creek Pack Station, Autumn Snow Storm

McGee Creek Pack Station, Autumn Snow Storm. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Snow flurries from an early autumn storm mask the high peaks above the McGee Creek Pack Station in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California.

When I’m driving back from the Bishop area I often make a few odd stops at special little places along highway 395 at which I think I might find something special, and the McGee Creek Canyon is one of these places. The canyon is just a short drive above the north-south highway, and in the right conditions it can provide really wonderful scenes – the aspens that grow along the road to the canyon, the views back into and across the valley to peaks beyond, intimate scenes of high desert rocks and vegetation, and from the road end up the steep-sided canyon toward the alpine headwalls of the canyon.

On this early October 2009 day I was returning from shooting near Bishop Creek in light snow and thought I might get some interesting views of aspen color (which didn’t really happen) and the view up McGee Canyon, so I turned off of 395 and headed on up. From previous visits I knew of this specific view from along the gravel road right above the pack station, so I already had it in mind as I arrived. When I saw the cloud-shrouded peaks at the end of the canyon and the foreground light I quickly stopped and set up. The cloud shadows were moving quickly and, unfortunately, heading my direction so I had to work very quickly – and I had just enough time to make this one exposure with the light on the area around the pack station before the light was gone.

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

Early Autumn Snow, Conway Summit

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Early Autumn Snow, Conway Summit

Early Autumn Snow, Conway Summit. Sierra Nevada, California. October 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Aspen trees begin to change color after an early autumn snow storm at Conway Summit, Sierra Nevada, California.

Back in September I began making plans to visit the eastern Sierra near the end of the month and during early October, and based on previous experience with fall Sierra aspen color I made some assumptions about when and where the color might be at its peak. This year has not evolved according to expectations. I would have expected the huge aspen groves below highway 395 at Conway Summit to be nearing or at peak color during the first weekend of October… but instead the trees here were largely still green with only a few spots of real color. It seems like the low and middle elevation aspens are behind schedule this year.

However, as if to temper the slight disappointment about the lack of brilliant colors, I did get to visit during an early fall cold snap and storm passage that dropped anywhere from a trace to a few inches of snow over a good portion of the Sierra – including the peaks above Conway Summit.

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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Commentary, Locations

More Eastern Sierra Aspen Color Conditions

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I returned very late last night (Sunday, 10/4/ 2009) from a weekend trip to the eastern Sierra to photograph fall aspen colors. It was, as they say, an “interesting” experience – in many ways not quite typical but in others not totally surprising either.  On Saturday I posted “Bishop Creek Aspen Conditions – 10/3/09”  in the early afternoon, so this report takes up where that one left off.

After posting that first report from Starbucks in Bishop I drove back up into the Bishop Creek drainage. After getting a camp site at the Four Jeffrey campground (now a surprising $21/night!) I headed up the road toward South Lake to do some late afternoon and evening photography. The weather was not fully cooperative, to say the least! The predicted high winds were arriving in the eastern Sierra, and I think that anyone can understand the “perfect storm” of low light, high winds, and fluttering aspen leaves! I was still able to work with the conditions and get some interesting stuff, though it was a real challenge. To avoid writing the same thing twice, I’ll hold off on the description of the aspen conditions and cover that below as I describe Sunday shooting.

My final stop on Saturday night before putting the camera away for the day was at South Lake, where the wind was howling and the light was fading fast and the temperature was dropping. As I arrived two rather cold-looking backpackers flagged me down and asked, with a certain amount of intensity, if I would drive them down to Bishop. It turned out that they had just finished a 22 mile day, coming from just below Mather Pass, and were exhausted. Realizing that it was time to recharge my own supply of backpacker hitchhiking karma (e.g. – sometimes I need a ride back to my car!) I agreed to squeeze them into the car and drive them down to Bishop. Continue reading More Eastern Sierra Aspen Color Conditions →