Tag Archives: meadow

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

Timberline Lake, Rugged Ridges

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Timberline Lake, Rugged Ridges
A small timberline lake sits on a bench in front of rugged summits of the Great Western Divide

Timberline Lake, Rugged Ridges. Sequoia National Park. August 2, 2010.© Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small timberline lake sits on a bench in front of rugged summits of the Great Western Divide

This is yet another in series of photographs from a 2010 backpack trip into the far reaches of the Kern River drainage in Sequoia National Park. For reasons that I’m not certain that I can identify, last week I decided to go back and take a look at these old photographs, few of which have not previously shared. They exemplify one of the reasons that I rarely delete old raw files, even if they don’t look all that interesting at the time — too often I return to the photographs months or even years later and find things that make me glad I kept them. Sometimes I find photographs that I simply passed over or didn’t understand at the time, and other times I simply have the joy of reliving an experience that had largely slipped from my mind.

On this trip a group of close friends with whom I have backpacked for years were on yet another summer adventure, this time into the remote backcountry of Sequoia National Park. We traveled a popular but long trail over several very high passes to get to the general area, and then we left that trail and headed west to a place that is visited much less frequently, a location tucked back up beneath the Great Western Divide. I had touched the edges of this area a few times before but never had gone straight there — and now I wish that I had visited earlier, as we found an infrequently visited region of monumental mountains and valleys and a stupendous alpine setting. This photograph overlooks a lake on a bench in an area where we camped, and the view extends westward toward the crest of the divide.

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

Late Season Shoreline

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Late Season Shoreline
“Late Season Shoreline” — Brilliant late-season red bilberry carpets shoreline meadows around a Sierra Nevada lake, Yosemite National Park

As I have written elsewhere on more than one occasion, every August I begin to pay attention to hints that summer will end and that autumn is on its way. Early in the high country summer everything is in a state of rapid change — plants are in a hurry to take advantage of a short growing season and the availability of runoff water, and that water itself flows everywhere. After the explosion of early season growth and the production of flowers and cones things slow down, and at some point in August a feeling of quiet and stability begins to take hold.

The hints of change that I look for range from almost immaterial — a feeling about the sound of wind or the angle of light — to quite objective. In the latter category are changes that occur in the cycles of plant life. Corn lily plants change from green to yellow and gold and then to brown, and topple over. A few yellow leaves begin to appear on willows and even the aspens. But one of the strongest signs for me is the appearance of the red bilberry leaves in clear areas in the forest and near the edges of lakes. While the autumn bilberry leaves do not appear to be all that colorful in regular light, when backlit they turn the ground a gaudy range of colors from yellow and gold to bright red.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Morning Musings, News, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow Fire Smoke Plume – Morning Musings for 9/13/14

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Meadow Fire Smoke Plume
Meadow Fire Smoke Plume

Meadow Fire Smoke Plume. Yosemite National Park, California. September 7, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Thick smoke from the September 2014 Yosemite National Park Meadow Fire drifts over the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, blotting out the afternoon sun.

Today’s “Morning Musing” post will take the form of a second “photo of the day,” but with a bit of back-story about what you are seeing.

Last weekend a wildfire suddenly appeared in a popular area of the Yosemite backcountry along the Merced River drainage above Yosemite Valley, roughly between Half Dome, Clouds Rest, and Mount Starr King. I was not in the area of the fire, but further north in a different backcountry area, where our group of photographers had been camped for several days on a high ridge area. On this morning we did see a small “puff” of smoke coming from over the shoulder of Clouds Rest, but it was no larger than other fires that, as is typical this time of year, were burning in various areas of the backcountry.

Our plan was to pack up camp and follow a more-or-less cross-country route into a canyon and on to a new camp that night. We loaded up and set out, and by the time we were half way to our goal the smoke plume has begun to stretch across the sky above our position, thought it was still quite diluted. However, very soon the winds whipped up to a surprising degree and the smoke suddenly became a lot thicker and began to blot out the sun and drop ash on us. By this time we were in a valley and could no longer see the location of the fire, but it was plainly apparent that this fire was roaring and likely to become a very serious matter.

This photograph has not been color corrected at all. This is, in fact, what the atmosphere in and above the canyon looked like! Fortuitously, later that evening as we sat around in camp, we saw a flash in the sky and heard thunder… and before long light rains arrived and continued into the next afternoon.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

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

Oak Trees, Winter Fog

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Oak Trees, Winter Fog
Oak Trees, Winter Fog

Oak Trees, Winter Fog. Yosemite Valley, California. March 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter fog drifts through a meadow to obscure oak trees, Yosemite Valley

The oak trees of Yosemite Valley always have a strong presence in my thoughts of the place. While coniferous trees are undoubtedly far more common, the individual oaks seem to have more character, and this character is strongly influenced by the changing seasons, weather, and light in their typical environments in and around the Valley’s meadows. In the spring they produce a brilliant green color, especially when lit from behind. In the fall their colors, while not as vivid as those of maples, bring a warm golden/brown color. In winter, as the leaves fall away, the structure of the trunks and branches becomes more visible.

In late winter I was in the Valley for a few days in conjunction with the opening of the Yosemite Renaissance exhibit. Often in the winter the Valley’s meadows will fill with ground fog, especially in the mornings, producing all sorts of photographable beauty. This fog is almost alive, often changing suddenly as barely felt breeze moves it to and fro and cause it to thicken and thin. When we arrived to photograph this meadow the fog was very shallow, but it silently thickened and before we knew it the trees were almost obscured, allowing me time for a “barely there” photograph of oak trees with a few leaves still remaining from the previous season — and just as quickly the fog dissipated.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email 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.