Tag Archives: minarets

Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Early Aspens, Sierra Dawn

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Early Aspens, Sierra Dawn
Sierra Nevada dawn and early season aspen color

Early Aspens, Sierra Dawn. East of the Sierra Nevada, California. September 17, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sierra Nevada dawn and early season aspen color

If you want expansive views of the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, head east of the range and up into the mountains. The White Mountains are renowned for providing such views, but there are many other ranges, too, and you can get some idea where to look for them by driving along US 395 and asking the question: “I wonder what is over there?” I ask that question from time to time, and it led me to this spot back in July, at which time I decided to return when the aspen color began. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting quite so much color, this still being mid-September — but I was pleasantly surprised.

This section of the crest features the prominent summits of Mounts Ritter and Banner — though technically these peaks are west of the crest and the lower and closer ridge is the actual crest. Further to the left of these peaks a bit of the Minarets is visible. The aspens in the foreground are the sort that seem to change colors early — relatively small trees in very high places and growing in drier areas. But even these small trees can produce intense color, especially when many of them carpet the mountainside. As a side note, I was exceptionally lucky to visit this place on this particular day. By the next morning smoke from a wildfire along the Owens River had socked in the whole eastern Sierra, and the view from this spot would have been, well, no view at all!

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: Sierra Nevada

Family, Sierra Meadow

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Family, Sierra Meadow
A mother and sons in a High Sierra meadow near the MInarets

Family, Sierra Meadow. Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. July 4, 2006.© Copyright 2006 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A mother and sons in a High Sierra meadow near the Minarets

For some reason that I cannot quite recall, not too long ago I took an excursion through some old photographs from about a decade ago, from a time just after I had made most of the transition from film to digital photography. (This past week a friend asked if i had photographs from a 2005 trip, so I’ve been digging into this old work even more.) Back in these days I was slightly past my “wonder if digital is all that?” stage, and I was moving resolutely away from film and toward digital technologies. The results were becoming quite usable, though I was still shooting landscapes with a cropped sensor camera!

On this trip I joined up with my brother, his wife, and their three young sons. Although I had taken all of my children into the backcountry when they were young, those days were largely behind my by this point and I had almost forgotten what it is like to backpack with children. And my many solo trips back in these days had made me perhaps hyper self-reliant, to the point that I tended to let everyone fend for himself or herself. I recall being reminded of this by my brother who was bit less than pleased when I crossed a creek flooding portions of the meadow in this photograph and then kept going! Look closely and you may be able to see some of the rest of my party down in that meadow as twilight falls.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner

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Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner
Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner

Sunrise, Ediza Lake, Minarets, and Mounts Ritter and Banner. Sierra Nevada, California. July 25, 2007. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

First sunrise light on the Minarets, Mount Ritter, and Banner Peak above Ediza Lake, Sierra Nevada, California.

I made this photograph during a long and leisurely pack trip into the Minarets area of the Sierra Nevada near Mammoth Lakes. It was leisurely because I accompanied my brother and his family – and the fact that some kids were on the trip contributed to the slower hiking pace… as did the fact that both he and I wanted to make photographs.

This is a popular and accessible area of the Sierra, and also one that is a bit unusual. Typically the highest peaks of the range are found on the actual crest, but here the Sierra crest is further to the east and rather low, being right about where the Mammoth Ski Area is located. Across an intervening valley – a valley that holds Devils Postpile National Monument – loom the high and jagged peaks of the Minarets, a series of impressive spires, and the summits of Mount Ritter and Banner Peak. While in most of the Sierra the areas to the east of the highest peaks descend rapidly to the high desert, here the areas below these peaks remain very high and provide a different view of the eastern faces of the peaks.

The photograph was made very early in the morning along the shoreline of Ediza Lake on a day when clouds were already starting to build even at this early hour. Yes, there was rain later on!

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Iceberg Lake, Minarets

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Iceberg Lake, Minarets
Iceberg Lake, Minarets

Iceberg Lake, Minarets. Sierra Nevada Mountains, California. July 27, 2007. © Copyright 2007  G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Submerged boulders along the rocky alpine shoreline of Iceberg Lake in front of the spires of the Minarets as afternoon thunderclouds begin to build.

This is an older photograph that I’ve been thinking of working on and posting for some time. Two summers ago in late July I was on a backpack trip into Ediza Lake and then on to Garnett and Thousand Island. We spent a few nights a beautiful Lake Ediza and on one of the layover mornings I decided to wander on up to Iceberg Lake. Iceberg Lake (along with Cecile Lake) is located along a high and almost cross-country route between Ediza and Minarets Lakes, and it passes very close beneath the east side of the imposing ridge of the Minarets. I made it as far as Iceberg when I noticed that that the thunderclouds were already building quickly at noon – so I stopped for a few photographs before high-tailing it back down to camp. (I almost made it back before the rain and hail started! :-)

My history with this lake goes back to some earlier trips as well. Many years ago I decided to do a sol0 backpack trip beneath the Minarets, comprising a loop up to Minaret Lake, then up into the rough country above the lake, across it, and down past Iceberg Lake to Ediza Lake. (I have been to the latter lake many times!) It was, as I recall, early in a season that was a reasonably snowy one. When I picked up my permit the range tried to warn me of the dangers of crossing while there was still a lot of snow in a few spots, but being younger than I am now and foolish in very different ways, I decided to ignore him. The climb above Minaret Lake went well, once I found a route through rocks that went up to the right. I had a small accident that left some scars that I still bear—I stepped into a hole between rocks and managed to bang up one leg a bit. I continued on and eventually found myself at the top of the saddle at the upper left corner of this photograph, looking down at a very steep slope that was covered with snow that dropped right into the lake. I was without any of the aids to mountain travelers that might have come in handy here such as trekking poles (didn’t use them back in those days), an ice ax, or crampons. I found a small piece of wood that I might use for an emergency self arrest—or so I imagined— and stepped gingerly down this slope.

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.