Tag Archives: peaks

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

High Country Lake

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High Country Lake
An alpine lake sits in a treeless bowl below the Sierra Crest, Yosemite National Park.

High Country Lake. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

An alpine lake sits in a treeless bowl below the Sierra Crest, Yosemite National Park.

This is a very remote lake high in the Yosemite Sierra backcountry. For years I had visited areas a few miles away and thought about going here. Finally, on this trip — when I was again base-camped at that close location — I took a morning to wander over this way and explore this rocky basin with its shallow lake.

I looked at my map, pointed “that way,” dropped over a short ridge into forest, and headed toward this bowl. I was far from the first person to go here, but there was no trail and barely any traces of other people. (Perhaps I missed a more obvious route?) After a bit of bushwhacking the route began to climb up toward the lake and gradually open as the trees thinned. I arrived to nearly perfect solitude and silence, broken by the song of a bird or two and occasional shouts from climbers high above on a nearby peak.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Evening Sky, Meadow and Mountains

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Evening Sky, Meadow and Mountains
“Evening Sky, Meadow and Mountains” — Remnants of afternoon clouds dissipate at sunset above Yosemite mountains and meadow.

This is a view I’ve known for many decades, looking across Tuolumne Meadows toward peaks in the area of Mount Conness. Tuolumne was where I had my first experience with the “High Sierra” many years ago, when my Dad took us there for a camping trip — and an aborted attempt at backpacking. (I think he always wanted to backpack. I recall that he acquired various pieces of fascinating gear. But I also recall that, for whatever reason, several times he came close to heading out on the trail only to call it off at the last minute.)

The photograph comes from that wonderful early summer period when the meadows are still green and lush… but no longer so wet that they often are more lake than land. I’ve backpacked to, around, and over that distant ridge too many times to remember them all. That isn’t just a line of anonymous ridges and peaks to me — it brings back memories of many backcountry trips… including one memorable cross-country adventure across a portion of it!

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Sky After Autumn Snow

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Morning Sky After Autumn Snow
A cloud-speckled morning sky above the Eastern Sierra Nevada after light snow from an autumn storm.

Morning Sky After Autumn Snow. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A cloud-speckled morning sky above the Eastern Sierra Nevada after light snow from an autumn storm.Morning Sky After Autumn Snow

On this second of two autumn visits to the Eastern Sierra this season we arrived after a few days of early winter-like storms. That’s not unusual during this transition season, a time when it seems that warm and sunny autumn days may alternate with bouts of weather that feels distinctly winter-like. While the weather was in the “warm and sunny” pattern by the time we arrived, we had to alter our plans since several of the high passes were still closed by the early snow.

On our first full day there we headed up towards the base of the eastern escarpment of the range, driving up dirt roads that climbed the huge, gently sloping country below the steeper peaks, an area that is perhaps characterized as high desert. As we gained elevation and worked our way closer to the mountains the views to the north and east began to open up. Far away and beneath morning clouds remaining from the recent passage of a weather front, we could see distant snow-capped peaks, and the very summit of the closer ridge also is topped with a light coat of the early snow.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Junipers, Sierra Crest Before Sunrise

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Junipers, Sierra Crest Before Sunrise
Soft pre-sunrise light on a pair of junipers and the peaks of the Sierra crest, topped by Mount Humphreys.

Junipers, Sierra Crest Before Sunrise. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Soft pre-sunrise light on a pair of junipers and the peaks of the Sierra crest, topped by Mount Humphreys.

The Sierra Nevada has many faces, and the east and west sides almost look like two different ranges. The west side is approached via the flat, agricultural Great Central Valley, and it begins with almost imperceptible hills that gradually rise to foothills, then to forested mountains, and many miles later finally culminate in high, rocky peaks and ridges. The personality of the east side is entirely different. You regard it from what is essentially high desert, hot and dry country, and in many place the entire upward thrust of the eastern escarpment is visible at once, rising as much as 10,000 feet from valley to peaks.

I made this photography early on an autumn morning, from a place high on the gigantic hills rising toward the eastern face of the range. In the foreground are a couple of juniper trees, one of the common trees of the dry Southwest terrain. Further above, open and sparse forest dot the rising slopes. Above it all are the high, alpine peaks of the Sierra crest, here topped by the recognizable profile of Mount Humphreys.

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” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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