Tag Archives: mountains

More signs of fall in the High Sierra

September 11, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

I returned last night from a four-day pack trip into the Lyell Canyon/Vogelsang HSC area of the Yosemite back-country, and the signs of the coming fall are numerous.

Perhaps most apparent is the smaller number of people in the back-country! Although I traveled some quite popular trails I saw only a small number of backpackers. Ah, post Labor Day in the Sierra – my favorite time!
Many of the annual plants are dying and turning shades of brown, yellow, and gold. The mule ears have almost all lost their summer green color, the leaves of plants around treeline are beginning to turn yellow and red, and almost all of the grasses have gone to seed and turned golden-brown.
Although there has not yet been a real early fall storm, the weather pattern is starting to show signs of approaching weather systems.
The leaves of a few aspen trees are beginning to change colors. I haven’t been to the “east side” since mid-August, but in Yosemite I saw a very small number of yellow aspen leaves on trees along Yosemite Creek just yesterday.
Even some of the lower elevation plants are changing – also yesterday, I saw red leaves of some of the dogwood trees along highway 120 just inside Yosemite.

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.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Pine Trees, Edge of the Forest

August 25, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Lodgepole pines stand at the edge of the forest next to Tioga Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California.

I have photographed these trees before. They are found at the edge of the meadow along the left side of the road after you leave the forest near the Mono Trail parking lot and enter the meadow at Tioga Pass and approach the entrance station. Several things intrigue me about the trees in this area: they mark the edge of dense forest into which it is difficult to see, few people stop to look at them, they border the meadows, and they sometimes are illuminated late in the day by light reflecting from Mount Dana’s lower slopes to the east.

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

Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset

August 12, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Sunset light on shoreline trees and rocks below rocky hillside above Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park.

This is another in the series of photographs I made on this late-July evening at Upper Young Lake, my favorite of the three in this string of Young Lakes in the Sierra Nevada back-country out of Tuolumne Meadows. This photograph was shot in the last moments before the sun, shining through a bit of smoke from a wildfire in the park, dropped below the rim of the high meadow holding the lake.

I probably could have stayed at this lake and photographed post-sunset light for another half hour beyond sunset. However, the thought of hiking in the dark down a mile-long trail that in places is more cross country than actual trail convinced me to pack up and leave shortly after this.

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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Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature

South Tufa, Morning

August 6, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Black and white photograph of early morning at South Tufa, Mono Lake, California.

This black and white panorama was photographed on my early June, 2009 visit to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake. Earlier that morning I had photographed the more typical early morning golden light of dawn on the tufa towers from a closer position. This photograph was more or less a last-minute afterthought, as I had completed the photography I had in mind on this morning and had pack up. I was actually leaving the shoreline when I happened to look back at this view that includes many tufa towers and I noticed the two small clouds (remnants of more extensive dawn clouds) centered over the towers.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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