Tag Archives: hike

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

Granite, Meadow, and Trees – Fletcher Lake

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Granite, Meadow, and Trees - Fletcher Lake

Granite, Meadow, and Trees – Fletcher Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 10, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn colors and morning light on glaciated granite, late-season meadow grasses, and trees near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

Technically this was shot near the end of summer, not in early autumn… but in the high country the observable change of seasons comes before the autumnal equinox, so it often really feels much more like autumn that summer by the second week of September. Many streams a low or dry, virtually all of the grasses have gone dormant and taken on the brown/gold color, the high country animals are clearly engaged in preparation for winter, and the number of human visitors greatly diminishes. (And at Fletcher Lake, employees are starting to dismantle the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp for the season.)

Fletcher Lake is a very familiar location for me. I go there at least once every year, sometimes more, and I almost always visit near the very end of the season. Because I know the area and its surroundings so well by now, I think that I see it in a very different way than I used to. I still notice the most striking features – the tremendous view toward Mount Conness, the impressive, fractured face of Fletcher Peak (the base of which is in the background of this photograph), the height of Vogelsang Peak. But more and more I look for the effect of warm late-season light on granite, meadow, and trees.

This photograph was made in the early morning. The very first light is blocked by a ridge to the east and by Fletcher Peak, but soon the light begins to come around the shoulder of Fletcher and light up the meadow grasses and trees, yet it leaves the face of Fletcher Peak in shadow.

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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keywords: granite, glacial, polish, boulder, erratic, rock, smooth, meadow, grass, brown, late, season, fall, autumn, pine, tree, grove, forest, mountain, cliff, fletcher, lake, peak, vogelsang, high, sierra, nevada, camp, range, snow, patch, talus, camp, backpack, hike, landscape, nature, shadow, morning, early, light, travel, scenic, stock

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

Shoreline Trees in Morning Light, Upper Cathedral Lake

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Shoreline Trees in Morning Light, Upper Cathedral Lake

Shoreline Trees in Morning Light, Upper Cathedral Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 27, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light illuminates a row of shoreline trees and autumn meadow with granite slopes beyond at Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

During the final weekend of September I briefly joined five other photographers (and a painter) at Upper Cathedral Lake in the Yosemite National Park back-country near Tuolumne Meadows. (The rest of this group was there for a full week, and I only joined them for two days.)

For a location so close to “civilization” (the trailhead in Tuolumne Meadows is only 3.5 miles away) the Cathedral Lakes area provides an astonishing wealth of photographic subjects. There are two lakes, and the pointed summit of Cathedral Peak looms nearby. But beyond that the lakes are surrounded by huge masses of glaciated granite slabs, domes, and peaks. There are beautiful meadows and surrounding forest. A short climb away are the alpine peaks of the Cathedral Range.

While the other photographers ventured further from the base camp at Upper Cathedral, I chose to work closer to camp. On the first evening I wandered up a nearby rocky gully, shooting fall foliage and granite formations. I eventually topped out and climbed out onto the smooth dome-like glaciated surface overlooking the upper lake and with a clear view of Cathedral Peak. Very early the next morning I was up and starting a 3 hour circumnavigation of this small lake, photographing the water, the shoreline rocks, the meadows, the surrounding peaks, and in this photo the forest and groves of trees than surround the lake.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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keywords: morning, light, backlight, forest, grove, tree, pine, large, small, meadow, brown, golden, dry, beach, sand, shore, shoreline, rock, boulder, bowl, shadow, reflection, water, lake, surface, fall, autumn, season, high, sierra, nevada, mountains, range, california, usa, yosemite, national, park, backpack, hike, camp, scenic, landscape, nature, stock, upper, cathedral, lake

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Late-Season Corn Lilies and White Flowers

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Late-Season Corn Lilies

Late-Season Corn Lilies and White Flowers. Yosemite National Park, California. August 24, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Golden late-season corn lily plants at Half Moon Meadow, Yosemite National Park, California.

The summer goes so quickly in the High Sierra! It was barely a month ago that I was in the Young Lakes region for a few days and the wildflowers were just starting to come into form, and only a couple weeks ago when I encountered peak condition wildflowers above 10,000′ in the upper Sabrina Basin. While you can still find wildflowers – including in this photograph! – if you know where to look in the Sierra, the signs of the coming autumn are beginning to appear throughout the high country, as they do every year at about this time.

Every year, there seems to be a day during the second half of August when I’m in the Sierra and I get a very clear and distinct impression of a change. In many cases I’m hard pressed to identify exactly what it is, but I know it is there. It might be something about the changing angle and quality of the light. Sometimes I think changing air movement and wind patterns may play a part. Perhaps it is the end of the lush moisture from melting snow. In other cases it is more obvious – like when I begin to see these late-season corn lily plants begin their transition: first they are thick and green; then a bit of  brown begins to appear at the tips of the leaves; soon the veined pattern of the leaves begins to pick up brown and yellow streaks; before long some of the plants turn wild yellow and gold colors and their stems begin to weaken; and in a short time they fall over and taken on the texture and color of old corn stalks.

I photographed these brightly colored leaves at the edge of Half Moon Meadow in Yosemite during the last week of August while on a three-day pack trip into the Ten Lakes Basin.

(If anyone can identify the small white flowers in this photo I would be very grateful. And, no, the flowers are not growing from the bright yellow corn lily plants! 10/11/09 – I think we have  a winner. It looks like it might be a plant called gray’s lovage.)

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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keywords: corn, lily, plant, flora, yellow, golden, brown, late, season, fall, autumn, summer, leaf, stalk, half, moon, meadow, white, flower, stem, green, curve, texture, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, ten, lakes, basin, trail, august, hike, camp, backpack, wildflower, light, nature, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Yosemite

Two Trees Against Boulder, Ten Lakes Basin

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Two Trees Against Boulder, Ten Lakes Basin

Two Trees Against Boulder, Ten Lakes Basin. Yosemite National Park, California. August 25, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two small trees growing against the face of a large boulder in the Ten Lakes Basin, Yosemite National Park, California.

Earlier in the day I had wandered down from “lake three” to “lake two” in Ten Lakes Basin (where there are apparently actually seven lakes – go figure!). My goal was partly just to see one more of the lakes, but I also wanted to scope out some photographic possibilities during the day so that when I returned later in the evening I would be able to get to work more quickly. This pair of trees was on my “maybe” list, so when I returned in the evening I photographed the subjects on the “definite” list first and then turned my attention to a group of trees growing closely around a large glacial (I assume) boulder.

Whatever the aesthetic result, this was not an easy photo to do on a technical basis. Since it was late and the lake was in deep shade behind a large mountain ridge to the west there was not a lot of light to work with, and what light there was trended a bit strongly toward blue. On top of that the wind was blowing like crazy, making camera stability a bit of an issue – not to mention the problem of shooting waving tree branches with the long exposures the conditions required. In the end I resorted to a regular strategy that included making quite a few exposures, trying to time them for brief pauses in the wind, and being willing to accept a small amount of motion blur.

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.

Web: G Dan Mitchell Photography
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