Tag Archives: gibbs

Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning

Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning
Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning

Mount Gibbs, Frozen Pond, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. June 19, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dawn light on the snow-capped summit of Mount Gibbs above a frozen pond, Yosemite National Park.

This small pond is perhaps familiar to visitors to Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, though more likely with a different appearance. Here, early on a cold morning on the day after Tioga Pass opened for the season, the pond is still mostly frozen and it is surrounded by deep snow banks. The summit of Mount Gibbs is just touched by the first morning light as it passes through clouds over the Sierra crest.

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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.

Tuolumne Meadows, Stormy Evening

Tuolumne Meadows, Stormy Evening
Tuolumne Meadows, Stormy Evening

Tuolumne Meadows, Stormy Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. July 24, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening storm clouds over the Sierra crest beyond Tuolumne Meadows and Lembert Dome, Yosemite National Park, California.

Once I saw these clouds begin to gather above Mount Dana on the Sierra crest, I made it my goal to be in this particular spot along the banks of the Tuolumne River at sunset. Actually, I arrived and set up quite a bit before actual sunset, and I began shooting even a bit earlier than the time when this photograph was made. A large storm cell had parked itself over and just beyond 13,000’+ Mount Dana on the Sierra crest at Tioga Pass, and as the evening went on rain eventually began to fall from this cell.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: yosemite, national, park, california, usa, north america, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, crest, tuolumne, meadows, river, lembert, dome, mount, gibbs, dana, dog, brush, tree, forest, reflection, storm, clouds, sunset, evening, three, trees, bank, shoreline, landscape, nature, scenic, travel, sunset, stock, mount, dana

Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening

Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening
Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening

Flooded Tuolumne Meadow, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Evening. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light on snow-covered Mounts Dana and Gibbs reflected on the surface of the flooding Tuolumne River, Tuolumne Meadows.

Tioga Pass opened this year on June 5, a bit later than usual. The late opening was due to a slightly greater than average amount of precipitation this past winter and a cold and wet May. As a consequence, there was a lot of snow on opening day, and lots and lots of run-off water.

I made this photograph in the evening in Tuolumne Meadows as the late light was just leaving the tops of the trees below Lembert Dome and beginning to color the summits of Mounts Dana and Gibbs with warm “golden hour” light. The Tuolumne River was so full that it had flooded large sections of the meadow – parts looked more like “Tuolumne Lake” than Tuolumne Meadow. Because the meadow was still covered with snow, the surface of the flooded areas was full of ice and slush. The overall appearance was closer to that of a winter scene, even though the calendar said early June.

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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.

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Tuolumne Meadows – Flooding River and Spring Snow

Tuolumne Meadows - Flooding River and Spring Snow
Tuolumne Meadows - Flooding River and Spring Snow

Tuolumne Meadows – Flooding River and Spring Snow. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spring snow covers Tuolumne Meadows and the Tuolumne River overflows its banks withLembert Dome, Mounts Dana and Gibbs, and Kuna Crest on the skyline.

These were special conditions that I encountered in Tuolumne on the evening of June 5, the day that Tioga Pass opened for the 2010 season. Tuolumne Meadows was still almost completely covered in snow, except that the river was so full with meltwater that large sections of the meadow were flooded, making parts of it look more like a lake than a meadow. The watercourse in the foreground of this photograph will simply be a grass-covered meadow a few weeks from now, and soon after that will be a great place to look for wildflowers – but on this night it was a fast flowing and cold body of water containing floating bits of slushy ice.

The peaks on the horizon are “old friends” to those who frequently visit Tuolumne – from left to right they are Lembert Dome, Mount Dana, Mount Gibbs, and the end of Kuna Crest where it terminates at Mammoth Peak.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 105mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second

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