Tag Archives: east

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Across Owens Valley

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Across Owens Valley
Look across Owens Valey from a perch high in and Eastern Sierra canyon

Across Owens Valley. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Look across Owens Valey from a perch high in and Eastern Sierra canyon.

The east side entries to the Sierra Nevada high country bring all sorts of associations for me. My earliest experience with the range was always on the west side, coming across the great Central Valley, rising into the foothills, entering the great forests, and much later finally getting in sight of the highest, rocky peaks. My first trip to the east side, at least the first one I can recall, came much later. A friend roused me from my comfortable west-side stupor. He had gone to grad school at UCLA, and thus his orientation to the range was to drive up through the desert, parallel the immense eastern escarpment for miles, and then ascent abruptly into the range. After going into the range that way once… I was hooked.

Almost any east side entrance or exit will also produce long views into the depths of Owens Valley, and across that dry valley to the Inyo and White Mountains. These comprise quite a mighty range on their own, and the many are often surprised by their first view, when they discovered the there are peaks to the east and are just as high as those of the Sierra. I made this photograph near a trailhead in one of the east side canyons. We were just heading out for a week of backcountry photography in Sequoia-Kings Canyon, and as we started up the trail I paused to look back to the east.

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

Autumn, Eastern California Mountains

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Autumn, Eastern California Mountains
Early autumn color in mountains east of the Sierra Nevada

Autumn, Eastern California Mountains. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early autumn color in mountains east of the Sierra Nevada.

This was a wonderful day in many ways — as a mountain experience, as photography, and as an exploration. I was in the Eastern Sierra Nevada in mid-September, that post-Labor Day period when the crowds diminish and the weather starts to change convincingly in the direction of autumn, but still with warm and sunny days. On this day I woke very early and decided to head east of the Sierra. I was on the road before dawn, and I ended up exploring an area that was mostly new to me.

I was surprised by the number of aspen trees out here that had already changed colors. In the locations I frequent in the Sierra the change was mostly still a week or two away, but here many trees were already showing peak color. As I explored I found a high overlook — the summit of a low peak — where there were expansive views across layers of receding forested mountain ranges.

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: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature

First Autumn Color

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First Autumn Color
Early season fall color comes to aspen-covered mountains east of the Sierra Nevada

First Autumn Color. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early season fall color comes to aspen-covered mountains east of the Sierra Nevada.

Sometimes heading away from the sure thing reveals wonderful surprises. Sometimes following up on previous explorations works, too. Occasionally the two align. A year to two earlier we had taken a long drive east of the Sierra Nevada on a fall day. We had been photographing autumn color on the east side of the range, and one morning we simply decided to try something different, so we went the opposite direction, ultimately ending up along the Nevada border. On a long, looping drive back toward the Sierra we drove down a long valley where we “discovered” a single, marvelous grove of aspens. We kept going, reaching a junction, and after exploring a bit more took a turn that headed back toward the area near Yosemite. Driving up a long, dry valley I looked west toward a range that stood between us and the Sierra and saw that there were aspens up high on its flanks.

On the trip when I made this photograph I really didn’t think I was likely to find aspens, and my plan was to head out here — again to the east of the Sierra — to do a bit of reconnaissance in preparation for returning a few weeks later during the normal peak of the fall color season. One thing led to another, and I ended up on some backroads passing through the very mountains that I had looked at on that previous visit, and much to my surprise there were already vast groves of aspens that had turned. To make this photograph I drove up to a rather high spot — 4WD was my friend on this little detour — from which I could look down at the forest and across to the highest peaks above them, past the still-green heart-shaped grove in the foreground.

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.

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

Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

Rising Sun, Wildfire Smoke

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Rising Sun, Wildfire Smoke
Morning sun rising through a pall of wildfire smoke, east of the Sierra Nevada

Rising Sun, Wildfire Smoke. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning sun rising through a pall of wildfire smoke, east of the Sierra Nevada,

This was one of the most eerie days I have experienced in the Sierra. While it wasn’t the first of last time I’ve encountered the effects of wildfire there, this was quite different. The previous evening I had seen a bit of smoke far to the south, but didn’t think too much of it, as this was the wildfire season and such things aren’t unusual. I was camped in a deep east side valley that did not afford a distant view, so it wasn’t until I left that valley in the early morning and headed out on the east side fo the range that I saw what was happening.

I arrived at the junction of US 395 and Tioga Pass Road before dawn and found a high spot to photograph Mono Lake. It was immediately clear that a very active wildfire was building to the south and that the smoke was drifting north. It was still mostly clear above the lake, but not for long. Soon the smoke nearly obscured the view, though I continued photographing. I thought that heading north might get me away from the smoke, but now it was spreading fast and I couldn’t escape it. I made a few photographs from a high location that featured the smoke-filled Mono Basin, and then I started toward the southern Sierra. Passing again by Mono Lake I encountered some of the thickest wildfire smoke I have seen. This photograph was made under that pall, which was so dark that it barely seemed like twilight and the light of the sun was almost blocked.

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.

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