Tag Archives: Mountain

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

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

January 8, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

Autumn snow blankets a grove of nearly bare aspen trees

We began this year’s main eastern Sierra “aspen chasing” trip on a day when an early season snow storm closed all of the passes that are not designated at being “all-season,” so Tioga, Sonora, and Ebbetts were all closed. Our best alternative was to cross on highway 88 over Carson Pass. Not that this is a bad thing! Carson features large stands of aspens on the west side of the pass and then the descent through aspen-filled Hope Valley on the east side. From there we headed down through Markleeville and up over Monitor Pass, which also has large aspen stands near its summit. After descending, we headed south on highway 395 toward Bishop, with light rain or snow falling all day – in my view, perfect conditions for autumn photography!

Along the way we made plenty of stops and a few side excursions to explore various side canyons, many of which I know fairly well from past visits. This photograph was made on one of those side roads, and this particular stand of aspen trees is one that I know very well. I’ve stopped here every year for some time now, in conditions ranging from almost fully green trees (too early!) to bare trees (too late!), and in sun and clouds and wind and snow. This time we found that the little grove was close to the highest elevation of the remaining colorful trees, so we stopped and I spent a little time photographing inside the grove… in lightly falling snow and a very cold wind.

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: Sierra Nevada

Decaying Tree

December 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The decaying stump of an ancient sub-alpine Sierra Nevada tree

I came upon this jumble of the remains of a very old and large tree while walking about on our first full morning camped at the spot where we would remain for six nights in the Kings Canyon National Park high-country. From our camp at about the 11,000′ level I walked uphill, intending to investigate a dome on the ridge behind us and to see if I could find anything to photograph around a small lake that I could see on our maps.

As I walked up the hill I passed through small meadows and by dried-up tarns with their barren rocks and the branches of various fallen trees. As I approached the location of the lake I had to find a route between rocks and various small but thick groves of trees. As I passed one of these spots I noticed this old tree in the (long) process of disintegrating. The boundary between these ancient and rugged living thing and rock has sometimes seemed fuzzy to me. While I understand that the rocks are far, far older than any tree, these trees grow so slowly, are often so twisted and gnarled, wind so intimately among the rocks and boulders, and are of a color that looks more like rock than wood.

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

Yosemite Autumn Foliage 2013

December 4, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have had a few final photographs of this season’s autumn color in Yosemite Valley sitting on my computer for several weeks now, waiting their place in the queue of photographs for the blog. That queue had become quite long, what with the overlap of remaining photographs from last summer, lots of other autumn color photographs, and now the onset of winter subjects such as migratory birds and so forth. Since these photos have been bumped to the back of the line too many times already, I have decided to simply share them as a group today.

Autumn Meadow and Cottonwood Trees. Yosemite Valley, California. October 30, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – Afternoon light on cottonwood trees with fall foliage in a Yosemite Valley meadow, backed by the lower face of Cathedral Rocks.

Autumn Maple Leaves, Forest. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – A final burst of autumn big leaf maple color in a Yosemite Valley forest

Riverbank Cottonwood Trees, Autumn. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. – Trees with golden autumn leaves grow among evergreens along the bank of the Merced River

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

Riverbank, Cottonwood Trees

December 1, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cottonwood trees with fall foliage reflected in the calm surface of the Merced River in late afternoon light

It is barely a month after I made this photograph, and the feeling is now more that of winter than of autumn. (Though where I live some autumn leaves are still falling for a few more days.) But back at the end of October I spent two days photographing fall color in Yosemite Valley. Sierra weather can be almost anything at this time of year, but aside from some leftover snow high up along the Valley’s walls, down below it was sunny and bright with the warm autumn light that can characterize the season in these mountains.

The main leaf color in the Valley comes from black oak, big leaf maple, cottonwoods, and dogwood, each providing its own variations of color and timing. When I was there the maples were a bit past their peak, and at least some of the dogwoods were still becoming more colorful. It seemed like cottonwoods were very close to their most colorful and the black oaks were also quite good. On the first afternoon I spent some time wandering along a section of the Merced River, photographing the cottonwood trees with the Valley’s cliffs as a backdrop and occasionally with the autumn-smooth waters of the Merced reflecting their colors.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: Mountain

Aspen Grove, Autumn Snow

Decaying Tree

Yosemite Autumn Foliage 2013

Riverbank, Cottonwood Trees

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.