Tag Archives: national

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Nevada

Wheeler Glacier and Cirque Headwall

October 2, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

On my recent first-time visit to Nevada’s Great Basin National Park I experienced the challenges and rewards of photographing a brand new (to me!) location. As I have previously noted, I usually avoid doing too much research about a new destination ahead of time, at least beyond what is necessary to successfully get there and back and locate places to stay and eat, along with the most basic known features of the place. (For anyone who hasn’t heard the message already, I’m trying to retain the potential for discovery in new places and to make it more likely that I will form my own orientation to them.) So, what I actually knew about this park in advance of my visit was somewhat limited: it is formed around the Snake Mountains, it is famous for its caves, Wheeler Peak is the second highest point in Nevada, there might be fall color at this time of year, that much of the park is not easily accessible… and there is a glacier!

From this and a few of my other photographs of the high areas of the park you might get the impression that it is largely and alpine place. It isn’t. In fact, the spots that do have that feeling are a small portion of the park and at least partially notable for being exceptions. Yet, once you arrive at such places they become your entire world. (Well, almost your entire world, since views of the surrounding “basin” terrain are rarely far away.) This glacial cirque cuts into the highest ridge, separating the two tallest summits in the park. The view straight into this glacial valley is, indeed, impressively alpine. (As I write this I have a photograph of a Pacific Northwest glacier scene from Mount Shuksan open on my computer, and it shares remarkable parallels with this photograph.) On this visit the effect was enhances by a recent dusting of early autumn snowfall that coats the mountains and the top of the huge rock glacier at the lower edge of the much smaller ice glacier.

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

Autumn Aspens, Great Basin

October 1, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Autumn aspen trees drop their leaves, Great Basin National Park

I began this year’s Great Fall Color Chase in a different location — not the Eastern Sierra Nevada, but instead about as far east as one can go in Nevada, at the Great Basin National Park. Several factors led me to make this trip — some specifically fall color related, and others that don’t connect to that activity. Over the past few years I have noticed a few things about Sierra Nevada fall color season. The crowds have been increasing, to the point that they can sometimes be a bit too much. But quieter and less crowded places are still available if you look around a bit. And sometimes looking a bit beyond the confines of the Sierra turns up some interesting color, perhaps in places you might not expect. The latter realization has pushed me gradually further east of the Sierra itself… and what could be a more natural extension of that process than going to the eastern boundary of Nevada?

But fall color was only part of my reason for making the long trip to Great Basin National Park. I know a bit about the basin and range country, but my direct experience with it is limited — and this park (and the long drive across many basins and ranges to get there!) offered the chance to confront this new, to me, landscape. I arrived a few days before the end of September, thinking that the somewhat earlier color change that I’ve seen in next-door Utah might be mirrored in Nevada. This turned out to be partially true — there was already aspen and cottonwood and other types of color, but it wasn’t quite at peak just yet. But I learned a lot on this trip, about where to look for the color (including one canyon I discovered just a bit too late) and when to find it. I made this photograph of trees growing in a large valley below the summit ridge that holds Wheeler Peak, the 13,000+ footer that is the second-tallest peak in Nevada.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Nevada

Wheeler Cirque, Autumn Snow

September 30, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening light and autumn snow on the walls and towers above Wheeler Cirque, Great Basin National Park

I often return to national parks and other places with which I have developed a personal relationship over a long period of time. But sometimes I do get to visit a brand new place, and I did just that during the last week or so of this year, when I spent five days making the long trip out to Great Basin National Park and back. When I go to a new area like this I intentionally avoid trying to find out too much about it ahead of time, preferring to begin a process of learning the place on my own terms. I already knew a bit about the Great Basin and the basin and range country, and I did look up the location on maps, though I did not take a detailed look at the maps of the park itself. I knew that the park is near the Nevada-Utah border, with Baker, NV being the closest “town,” that Wheeler peak is the second tallest point in Nevada, that there is a glacier nearby, that there are famous caves, and that I could camp along the main road into the park. I left the rest for discovery.

As I drove across highway 50 from California I was surprised to find recent snow on all of the major mountain ranges in Nevada, and by the time I got to Great Basin NP I knew that I would see it there, too. I made this photograph on my final day in the park. I spent the morning exploring a less-visited area accessible via a long gravel road. (Where I discovered, at the wrong time of day, where to find a lot of fall color!) After lunch I went up to the summit of the park road at 10,000’+ and hiked out to the bristlecone pine grove, traveling a good portion of the distance on snow. It was cold — up here in the upper 30s at times during the day — and the sun goes down earlier this time of year, so I set a turn-around time that would get me back to my car before nightfall. I made this photograph within five minutes of the end of my hike, as the late light was slanting across the peaks and cirque walls from low in the west, and as clouds were forming above the summit ridges.

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Trees, Volcanic Terrain

September 14, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Tree line groves in the volcanic alpine landscape of the North Cascades

I’ll continue to alternate between photographs from several recent photographic projects — the late-August Sierra backcountry photography, a recent trip to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps a few other things. Today’s photograph comes from the Seattle visit, from which I returned just a few days ago. I spent most of the visit in the Seattle, specifically Ballard, where I did some street photography. However, I did get one day to drive out a bit and do some landscape photography. After considering the “big three” options (Rainier, Olympics, and Cascades) I decided to head north, almost to the Canadian border, and the Mount Baker area.

I went to the understandably popular Artist Point area, just beyond the Mount Baker ski area, where there are a number of trails heading out in various directions to visit this spectacular country sitting between the summits of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker. While my experience with this county is limited — it is a long ways from home! — I love the character of these mountains. They feature dark and rugged volcanic peaks, large glaciers, forests fed by the significant precipitation in this part of the world, and a rather abrupt transition between the world of the forests and that of the glaciers. Artist Point sits very close to this boundary — there are beautiful trees, but much of the country is open and rocky, and not far above are those glaciers.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: national

Wheeler Glacier and Cirque Headwall

Autumn Aspens, Great Basin

Wheeler Cirque, Autumn Snow

Trees, Volcanic Terrain

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