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

Creek and Meadow Above Evelyn Lake

December 10, 2009 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Trailless meadow and rolling hills along a creek above Evelyn Lake in the Yosemite Naitonal Park back-country near Fletcher Lake.

This type of country, and this area in particular, is perhaps my favorite Sierra terrain. After camping and photographing at Evelyn Lake the previous night, I woke up and spent the morning doing more photography around the lake. My hiking goal for the day was barely a mile away, Fletcher Lake and the meadows near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Instead of just heading up the short trail over the low ridge between the two lakes I began scoping out the easy climb up the granite slabs above Evelyn Lake. From many previous visits to the area I knew that there is a large, rolling subalpine meadow dotted with trees, streams, and boulders in the area roughly bounded by Evelyn, Townsley, and Ireland Lakes. There is no trail through the area, but it is some of the easiest and most pleasant cross-country hiking I know of.

I started by circling around the side of Evelyn Lake near the ascent, gradually angling up and across the rocky hillside. Gradually the terrain steepened and I began to follow benches and gullies up the incline, finally spotting an area just to the left of the inlet stream to the lake that looked like it would provide a good crossing to the plateau. I arrived there and saw the lower area to my right where the creek came down from the plateau, so I headed over that way and intersected the shallow gully holding this stream and several small, seasonal ponds. After stopping here to make a few photographs, I continued ambling up this little valley and eventually crossed a broad flat area, passed by a couple alpine tarns, and finally descended past Townsley Lake to reach Fletcher Lake and my camp for the night.

(Update: This morning I thought to acknowledge another reason why I like this sort of place so much. While there are so many iconic and well-known views of the Sierra, this is an example of the sort of intimate landscape that any individual back-country traveler can find. This is just “some little spot along a creek with no trail,” and I’d guess that only a handful of people come past this spot every year and not all of them stop to look at this little scene – but it is no less spectacular on that account.)

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

Sunset Light, Lower Face of Fletcher Peak

December 8, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Sunset light on the lower face of Fletcher Peak near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite National Park, California.

Fletcher Lake, the location of the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, is one of “my places” in the Yosemite Sierra – I visit very year, often more than once, and I make a tradition of visiting during the late season after Labor Day Weekend. This year I did a loop trip up Lyell Canyon, then up the Ireland Lake Trail past Evelyn Lake to get there. On the first day I started very late and barely made camp as night fell, cooking after dark an the junction of the John Muir Trail and the Ireland Lake Trail in Lyell Canyon. I slept in the next morning, and eventually headed up the Ireland Lake trail to camp at Evelyn Lake that night. The next morning I headed over to Fletcher Lake, where I spent the next couple night, giving myself plenty of time to photograph this familiar area.

On the evening when I arrived I headed out in the late afternoon to photograph areas around the meadow below Fletcher Lake, eventually working my way over to Fletcher Lake as the sun dropped toward the horizon. This photograph was made not long before sunset as the warm late-day sun illuminated some talus, snow, and granite near the base of Fletcher Peak.

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

Runoff Pool, Evening – Tuolumne Meadows

December 3, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Grass bordered early summer runoff pool in Toulumne Meadows reflects sunset clouds and the summit of Ragged Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.

I made this photograph on a very early-season visit to the Tuolumne Meadows area in early July of this year. Since this was a below-normal precipitation year, the road to the pass cleared a bit on the early side and by early July almost all of the snow was gone at road level – but there was still a good amount of run-off water in Tuolumne Meadows. (Though nothing like in the big precipitation years, when portions of the meadow become more lake than solid ground.) There were some interesting clouds this evening so I wandered out into one of my favorite areas in the lower end of the meadow as the day ended and photographed the new grasses and pools of water that reflected sky, clouds, and surrounding peaks. In the distance the summit of Ragged Peak marks the location of Young Lakes.

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

Merced Canyon and Sierra Crest, Morning

November 30, 2009 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

View of Merced River Canyon and the Sierra Crest from Glacier Point in early morning fall light.

I like to visit Glacier Point at dawn at least once each autumn, and the later in the season the better. This year I got up early on the second morning of my Yosemite Valley fall color shoot and drove up there, arriving as the first pre-dawn light began to arrive. Dawn at Glacier Point, especially at this less-busy time of year is special. For one thing, I’m often nearly alone there rather than being part of the typical sunset crowd.

This photograph was made after the sun had risen above the peaks of the Sierra Nevada crest and had begun to backlight the layers of ridges stretching back along the Merced River drainage towards the highest peaks beyond.

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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