Tag Archives: photo

Three Purple Wildflowers

Three Purple Wildflowers

Three Purple Wildflowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The wildflower season in the central California coastal hills peaks in early April, so I make an effort to get out to some of the nearby wildflower areas every spring.

(Notes: I’m taking a short break from the Death Valley photos to add a bit of contrast and show a few spring 2008 wildflower photos. I have actually have over a month of upcoming photographs in the queue right now – more Death Valley photos, some Yosemite photos, and much more. Also, as you may have figured out from my generic flower photo titles – “purple wildflowers” – I’m not great and naming plants and flowers. Fortunately an acquaintance recently sent me a list of the names of all of the flowers I’ve recently photographed. When I update the titles I’ll credit this helpful person!)

keywords: purple, flowers, three, wildflowers, wild, nature, stems, green, leaves, california, usa, san jose, santa clara, county, san francisco, bay area, hills, trail, hike, hiking, almaden, quicksilver, park, stock

Building Detail, Bodie

Building Detail, Bodie
 Building Detail, Bodie
“Building Detail, Bodie” — An old building in the Bodie ghost town.

Yes, there really is snow falling in this photo. You might be able to see it a bit if you click on the thumbnail to see the somewhat larger size. I was caught – somewhat pleasantly – by surprise when I encountered this rather cold weather at the end of May in 2006.

Update 2025: Bodie is a large ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada that is a California State park. The place is maintained in state of arrested decay — not restored to be like new, but not allowed to decay and disappear like typical ghost towns. It is located in pretty tough country — the sagebrush desert of the western edge of Basin and Range territory. It can be very hot and dry out here in the summer, but it is also one of the coldest places in the West in the winter. On this visit I caught a surprise late-season light snowfall.


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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


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Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie

Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie
Spring Snow Flurries, Bodie. Bodie, California. May 27, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of late spring snow flurries in the ghost town of Bodie, California. Bodie is the famous and relatively well-preserved ghost town in the silver mining area of the high desert east of Yosemite National Park. (Posting the series of Rhyolite photographs made me realize that I have some older photographs of Bodie that haven’t been posted here yet.)

keywords: bodie, ghost, town, california, usa, desert, abandoned, buildings, mine, mining, state, park, houses, sheds, windows, walls, hill, cloudy, black and white, porch, landscape, scenic, travel, history, stock

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon view of southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point.

Aguereberry Point is a high overlook to the west of Death Valley, reached by a long drive from the Valley, the last part of which is on a decent gravel road. The view is, to state the obvious, tremendous. It includes the highest peaks of the southern Sierra Nevada range far in the west, essentially all of Death Valley National Park including a good portion of Death Valley itself and points beyond.

keywords: late, afternoon, evening, view, panorama, overlook, death valley, southern, national park, aguereberry, point, mountains, desert, playa, travel, scenic, landscape, stock, california, usa