Tag Archives: meadows

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

Marmot and Rocks

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Marmot and Rocks
Marmot and Rocks

Marmot and Rocks. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A marmot with a quizzical expression emerges from rocks at Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, California.

Since it is a busy week and I have this photo sitting here on the computer, I have declared it another “furry mammal photograph day.” This is the third, and perhaps the last for now, of the marmot photographs I made at Olmsted Point on my early June trip over Tioga Pass Road. The marmots at Olmsted are quite used to human presence – and they better be since they live in rocks right below a very popular overlook and parking area. Although it wasn’t that busy on this day when the road first opened for the season, a month or two from now this will be a very popular place with Yosemite tourists.

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 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 400mm
ISO 200, f/8, 1/125 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, marmot, mammal, fur, alpine, animal, wildlife, nature, creature, face, quizzical, expression, eye, olmsted, point, tioga, pass, road, highway, 120, tuolumne, meadows, california, usa, north america, stock

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

Tuolumne Meadows – Flooding River and Spring Snow

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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. 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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, tuolumne, meadows, river, snow, pack, overflow, flood, flow, lembert, dome, mount, dana, gibbs, kuna, crest, ridge, peak, forest, sunset, evening, light, reflection, landscape, nature, california, usa, north america, sky, stock

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

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

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Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall

Corn Lily Leaves, Early Fall. Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dry corn lily leaves and plants as Sierra Nevada summer plants go dormant at the beginning of the fall season – Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

On the first evening of my brief two-day visit to Upper Cathedral Lake, I wandered up a narrow ravine near where we were camped, hoping to eventually get up high for some photographs of dome-like formations and the lake and Cathedral Peak beyond. But almost immediately I became distracted by much more intimate subjects closer at hand in the shaded and diffused light of the gully. Near the top of a narrow section I came across a large bed of old corn lily plants that had reached the end of their short summer-season lives and had fallen over in interesting and complex patterns.

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, wild, flora, foliage, brown, tan, dead, dry, leaf, stem, branch, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, summer, fall, dormant, season, change, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, upper, cathedral, lake, camp, hike, backpack, tuolumne, meadows, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, texture, pattern, needle, stock

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

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake

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Granite Cliff and Ledge - Upper Cathedral Lake

Granite Cliff and Ledge – Upper Cathedral Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 26, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fractured cliff face and bench with colorful lichens and trees near Upper Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

During the last week of September I managed to squeeze in a very shot pack trip to Upper Cathedral Lakes, just out of Tuolumne Meadows in the Yosemite National Park high country, where I met five outstanding Yosemite photographers who were there for a week of shooting. Although I was only at the lake for perhaps 24 hours, I tried to make the best of it and I shot early and late all around the upper lake.

On the first evening I decided to explore some rocky gullies ascending above the lake on the side opposite from Cathedral Peak. The first gully I followed was very narrow and quite deep – I had to climb a good distance to finally find a spot where I could climb out of it onto the glacier-smoother dome-like formations above the lake. This photograph shows a tremendously fractured section of the wall of this gully, with the bases of a few trees included for scale.

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
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gdanmitchell
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keywords: cliff, granite, rock, face, crack, fracture, pattern, bench, ledge, lichen, brown, green, black, gray, grass, tree, pine, trunk, branch, rock, boulder, snag, root, stain, cathedral, lake, upper, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, nature, wilderness, hike, backpack, camp, tuolumne, meadows, geology, stock