Tag Archives: parsons

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tarn on Lake Townsley Plateau

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Plateau Above Townsley Lake, Sunset

Tarn on Lake Townsley Plateau. Yosemite National Park, California. September 7, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on the meadow near a small alpine tarn on the plateau above Townsley Lake, with the ridge between Fletcher and Parson Peaks beyond.

This plateau is located just above Townsley Lake, near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp and Fletcher Lake. I have visited this spot many times on walks between Fletcher and Ireland Lakes, and I have wanted to photograph here at sunset for quite some time.

(I’ve written a bit about how I get to and across this plateau here.)

This tarn, dry at this late time in the season, sits near the edge of the plateau and catches the low angle sun just before sunset. The ridge beyond runs between Parsons and Fletcher Peaks. The water level is very low due to the lateness of the season – a month earlier this tarn was surrounded by green grasses and wildflowers.

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Photographs: Yosemite

Fletcher Peak and Rafferty Creek Trail

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FletcherRafferty2005|08|28: Fletcher Peak, Rafferty Creek Trail. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Fletcher Peak, Rafferty Creek Trail. Yosemite National Park. August 28, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

I know this spot well, almost too well. The Rafferty Creek Trail ascends from Tuolumne Meadows to a low saddle called Tuolumne Pass and then, a short distance later, to Fletcher Lake, site of the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp.

I hike this trail at least once each summer and early fall. It seems like it should be a fairly easy hike. It is only about 7 1/2 miles and less than 2000 feet of climbing. But along with nearly everyone I talk to along this trail, I often find that I’m pretty beat by the time I get to this spot just below Tuolumne Pass.

The large peak in the center is Fletcher Peak, which towers directly over Fletcher Lake and the high sierra camp. To the right is Vogelsang Peak. To the left is the ridge extending back above Townsley Lake toward Parsons Peak.