Tag Archives: pass

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

Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows

August 14, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Young lodgpole pines grow in front of a Dana Meadows pond as Mammoth Peak looms in the distance.

Late in July of this somewhat wet year, the portion of Dana Meadows that extends almost up to the top of Tioga Pass was still very green and a bit wet, with small streams flowing through it and seasonal tarns still full. Being careful to avoid the boggy spots, I wandered down in to this section of the meadow near where the old roadbed is still visible and found small ponds and young trees trying to infiltrate the meadow. Here the pond reflects clouds floating towards Mammoth Peak, the high point at the end of Kuna Crest, on the other side of which is found the Lyell fork of the Tuolumne River.

This photograph is 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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Detail, White Bark Pine

August 12, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Detail of dense growth of a white bark pine tree in the high country near Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park.

I photographed this dense growth of white bark pine in a high meadow not far from Tioga Pass, after venturing out into (and around, given the wet conditions!) this area very early in the morning. Although it isn’t apparent in this very close-up photograph, this was a rather unique tree. It had grown up around a large boulder and taken on the boulder’s shape since the branches followed the outline of the boulder almost exactly – it almost looked like the boulder was covered with a “tree blanket.”

This photograph is 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: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Storm Cell Over Mount Dana, Sunset

August 11, 2010 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

An evening storm cell winds down over Mount Dana beyond Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California.

This is a wider view of a scene I photographed in late July on an evening when thunderstorm cells were floating around the Sierra Nevada crest east of Tuolumne Meadows. This cell had conveniently centered itself directly above and behind Mount Dana, the highest peak on this section of the crest right above Tioga Pass, and was dropping virga (rain that doesn’t make it to the ground) over the peak in the sunset light.

It seemed odd that I was the only photographer out in the meadow on this evening!

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Commentary, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Mono Lake Basin, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Yosemite

Abandoned Buildings, Eastern Sierra

August 8, 2010 G Dan Mitchell 8 Comments

Blood-red dawn light illuminates eastern Sierra Nevada peaks of Yosemite National Park and morning clouds above abandoned high desert cabins in the sage brush along highway 395.

Many who travel the eastern Sierra on highway 395 have no doubt seen these two abandoned buildings along the highway not far from Lee Vining, set against the background of the Sierra’s eastern escarpment along the border of Yosemite National Park. I’ve noticed them for years and have tried to photograph them a few times in the past.

On this late-July morning I had gotten up very early at my Tuolumne Meadows camp site and decided that there might be enough interesting clouds to warrant a trip down to the South Tufa area of Mono Lake for a sunrise shoot. However, I apparently didn’t get up quite early enough (actually, I miscalculated the time of dawn) since the sun began to rise above the horizon just before I turned east from 395 onto 120 to get to the lake. For a moment I vacillated – should I hurry on to get to Mono as soon after sunrise as possible (since the light gets there a few minutes later) or shoot whatever I could see right then and there? The intense red light made the decision for me and I quickly pulled over near these buildings and made a few exposures as the saturated and very red morning light hit the mountains and the clouds.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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