Tag Archives: lake

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Subalpine Lakes, Afternoon Showers

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“Subalpine Lakes, Afternoon Showers” — Sun breaks through the clouds to illuminate lakes and surrounding meadows in a valley near Mammoth Lakes, California

This is an older shot that I recently realized has not yet been posted here. There is a bit of an ironic story behind it. A few days earlier some friends and I had started on a 14-day backpack trip along a long section of the John Muir Trail. (It included the one remaining short section that I have not hiked!) After about four days on the trail we arrived at Purple Lake, a bit south of Mammoth, where I began to feel a bit under the weather. Because the next portion of the hike was across a section of the JMT that doesn’t provide many quick exits in case of emergency, I decided that I would evaluate my condition the next morning before continuing.

I still didn’t feel great when I awoke so I regretfully left my group and backtracked towards Duck Pass to exit to Mammoth Lakes and head home. It was only due to this situation I found myself descending this trail below Duck Pass in wonderful weather of mixed thundershowers alternating with bursts of sunlight — which put me in the right place at the right time to see this beautiful scene as sunlight and rain alternately swept across these lakes.

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: Sierra Nevada

Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape

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Precipice Lake - Imaginary Landscape
Precipice Lake – Imaginary Landscape. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very subjective view of Precipice Lake, Sequoia National Park, California.

Another take on Precipice Lake, this one is not intended to be a literal depiction of the scene. The image has been manipulated in several ways such that it perhaps belongs in the same category with some of my other photos that I describe as “imaginary landscapes.” Part of the “game” with this one was to reduce saturation to the point where it may seem almost but not quite like a black and white image. I like to think of it as being “subjectively true” without being objectively accurate. (Though, frankly, you can say that about essentially any photograph – I suppose this one may just be a bit further from the objective reality that some others I’ve done.)

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.

keywords: predicipice, lake, cliff, water, snow, rock, pattern, reflection, kaweah, gap, high, sierra, trail, nevada, california, usa, imaginary, landscape, altered, processed, subjective, ansel adams, sequoia, national park, mountain, alpine, talus, pattern

Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake

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Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake
Evening and Shoreline Trees, Moraine Lake. Sequoia National Park, California. August 7 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening along the tree-lined shore of Moraine Lake in Sequoia National Park, California.

Moraine Lake is located on the Chagoopa Plateau in the Sierra Nevada backcountry of Sequoia National Park, between Big Arroyo and the deep trench of Kern Canyon. Aside from being a bit windy when I’ve been there, it is a very peaceful spot – and a good warm place (relatively speaking) to swim. No surprise given its name, the opposite shore is formed by a lateral moraine that must have come from a glacier traveling down Big Arroyo, and there are lots of rocks everywhere. In fact, along the near shoreline they form a couple of little peninsulas that enclose shallows cut off from the main lake and which support a few trees like those in this photograph.

Most recently I was here in in early August of 2008, when I and a group of friends camped for a night on our trip from Crescent Meadow to Whitney Portal via the High Sierra Trail. Technically (OK, literally), Moraine Lake is not “on” the High Sierra Trail, being instead on a lateral loop that leaves the HS Trail on the Chagoopa Plateau to drop down to the lake, and which then continues to the loop to rejoin a few miles later. Oddly, it seems to me that most people who hike through here probably do take the alternative route past Moraine, with the exception of some hard-core hikers who walk far enough in a day to not need to camp on the Plateau.

keywords: evening, shore, shoreline, trees, moraine, lake, high, sierra, trail, nevada, backpack, hike, camp, clouds, reflection, rock, mountain, alpine, great western divide, peak, forest, grass, quiet, landscape, california, usa, sequoia, national park, stock, blue, sky

Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Steve at Upper Hamilton Lake

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Steve at Upper Hamilton Lake

Steve at Upper Hamilton Lake. Sequoia National Park, California. August 5, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserve

Steve wades into Upper Hamilton Lake below Kaweah Gap – High Sierra Trail, Sequoia National Park, California.

Upper Hamilton Lake was our goal on the second night of our August 2008 9-day trans-Sierra backpack trip from Crescent Meadow in Sequoia National Park to Whitney Portal. This beautiful (and popular) lake is set in a deep bowl below Kaweah Gap, the pass across the Great Western Divide that we would cross the next morning.

keywords: steve, ratcliff, man, person, wade, stand, water, lake, shallow, alpine, mountain, kaweah, gap, great western divide, high, sierra, trail, nevada, sequoia, national park, california, usa, sky, cloud, reflection, ripple, hat, hike, packpack, camp, outdoor, stock, camp, ridge, peak