Tag Archives: glaciated

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

Glaciated Granite Landscape

October 7, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Looking through evening haze into the depths of a deep canyon of glaciated granite, Yosemite National Park

Near a lake in the Yosemite backcountry where we camped for five nights were many examples of the common Yosemite glacial granite slab terrain, with sparse trees and glacial erratic boulders on top of both broken granite and smooth glacial polish. The highest nearby area of this sort attracted us and we visited it many times in both morning and evening hours.

This area, which featured a couple of low domes separated by a saddle of broken granite, sat near the edge of a very large river canyon that leads away to the west. The photographic possibilities here could keep one busy for many days — even more than the 5 or so days we had to work here. In the evening the light of the setting sun shone up the length of the canyon, causing the atmosphere within to glow and lighting all sorts of domes and ridges within the canyon. Sitting at the edge of this huge open area we also had extensive views of further and higher mountains. On this evening I climbed to the top of one of the domes and pointed my camera down into the depths of this canyon, shooting across the top of a nearby ridge on which scattered trees were still in the last light.

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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite, Forest, and Lake

September 26, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

View of rugged northern Yosemite terrain of forest, lakes, and peaks, as seen from the top of a glaciated granite ridge

I went exploring on this evening, checking out the spine of this glaciated granite ridge above the lake where we were camped. It was only a short walk, first along the forested shore of the lake, then up the gradual incline of smooth granite benches and over a few bits or broken terrain to the top. This wasn’t the highest point around, but it was high enough, and it was full of trees that would catch the evening light as the day came to an end.

This is quintessential high Sierra scenery. Underfoot is glaciated granite, topped with glacial erratic rocks and boulders left behind when glaciers retreated from this area thousands of years ago. The granite has weathered, and where sand and plant material collect in pockets and cracks plants have managed to take hold, ranging from small grasses to rugged trees. Below the granite ridge the soil is thicker and forest trees grow around a subalpine lake. The terrain drops off into the canyon of the Tuolumne River on the other side of the lake and in the distance are the high, alpine peaks of the Cathedral Range.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Trees, Last Light

February 5, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Late afternoon light on small alpine trees growing in glaciated terrain, Kings Canyon National Park

This is a photograph from the latter portion of our nine-day photographic trip into the eastern High Sierra of Kings Canyon National Park last September. By the time I made this photograph I had been on the trail about a week, and we were nearing the end of our lengthy stay at our 11,000′ campground in the backcountry of Kings Canyon National Park. All such trips transition through a series of phases, and at this point I was in a phase of feeling more and more comfortable and familiar with these surroundings that we had explored so carefully – but I was also beginning to recognize that the end of this trip was not too far off.

Late on this afternoon I did one of my by-now-customary walks up the small, lake-filled valley ascending to the south from our camp. Because of very high ridges to our west, the sun was blocked from the valley terrain somewhat early in the day – late afternoon rather than evening. I reached the upper valley while there was still sun, but almost immediately the sun/shadow border began to move down into the valley and across the trees, rocks, and lake. I made a point of following this boundary, where the light can be at its most interesting at this time of day. Consequently I was moving almost constantly, generally moving west and north across and down the valley. In many cases I had only a brief moment to photograph whatever was being struck by the light at the edge of the moving shadow, so I was working each opportunity rather quickly. When I made this photograph the light had left the background talus fields and was still just striking this row of trees on top of a granite bench next to a small lake.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trees and Granite, Morning Light

January 29, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Brilliant morning light shines on subalpine trees and receding granite ridges, Kings Canyon National Park

Back in September of 2013 a group of four photographers headed off into the backcountry of the Kings Canyon National Park Sierra Nevada for nine days. (It occurred to me today that between the four of us, we have well over a century of experience in these mountains!) We crossed a Sierra crest pass at close to 12,000′ feet, another non-crest pass that was even higher, and then landed in a lake-filled basin where we set up camp at 11,000′ for most of a week. This basin is off the main through trails and the trails that do go here essentially dead-end, so there aren’t a lot of visitors here. Because we remained in one spot we were able to get to know the landscape more intimately, looking more closely at places we might have missed if we had just been passing by on the trail, and returning to photographic subjects more than once in changing conditions and light.

Up the valley from our camp was a series of sub-alpine lakes, surrounded by the quintessential High Sierra landscape of glaciated granite, tiny meadows, small trees, and ponds and lakes. I developed an almost daily loop up towards the upper lake, coming and going by different paths, and I began to get a better sense of the personality of this place. I made this photograph by climbing up a granite spine to a high point where the terrain flattened a bit and afforded a view of the surrounding valley. This photograph was made in the morning, when low angle light was streaming across the top of the farther ridge and backlighting the trees in front of me.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: glaciated

Glaciated Granite Landscape

Like this:

Granite, Forest, and Lake

Like this:

Alpine Trees, Last Light

Like this:

Trees and Granite, Morning Light

Like this:

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

Share this page:

Like this:

Share this page:

Like this:

Share this page:

Like this:

Share this page:

Like this:

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