Tag Archives: pond

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Tarn, Great Western Divide

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Alpine Tarn, Great Western Divide
Alpine Tarn, Great Western Divide

Alpine Tarn, Great Western Divide. Sequoia National Park, California. August 2, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The peaks of the Great Western Divide tower above a small alpine tarn reflecting afternoon light, Sequoia National Park.

Our original goal on this late-July, early-August southern Sierra backpacking trip was to be Lake South America, a very high, very barren, and very remote lake in the upper reaches of the Kern River basin in Sequoia National Park. Believe it or not, I’ve thought of visiting this lake for decades, ever since a very early pack trip on which I planned to go there but ended up bypassing the lake and exiting in Mineral King. (Mineral King is nowhere near Lake South America. It is a long story… :-)

After staying on the JMT at Tyndall Creek the night before, we headed up over the ridge to the northwest in the morning. After walking up a broad and mosquito infested marshy valley, we climbed the steep headwall at the upper end of this valley and looked down at a lake on the other side. Just beyond this lake was Lake South America. Oddly, when we arrived we were not tremendously excited by the scene. Yes, it is a wild and high place in the heart of the Sierra, but for some reason it seemed a bit like many other high, barren lakes we had visited before… and we decided to make only a very brief visit and then move on.

This turned out to be a great decision. After returning to the lake that we had passed just prior to the short side trip to Lake South America, we picked up a trail heading towards the head waters of the Kern and eventually dropped down to a set of about four beautiful lakes just below treeline. The lakes, unnamed as far as I can tell, seem to sit at the edge of a valley with the high and jagged peaks of the Great Western Divide just beyond, providing one of the most rugged and spectacular scenes I’ve encountered in the Sierra. Needless to say, we decided to camp here despite the mosquito hatch that was currently underway.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are 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

Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows

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Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows
Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows

Young Trees and Pond, Dana Meadows. Yosemite National Park, California. July 22, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

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

Boulder and Tarn

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Boulder and Tarn
Boulder and Tarn

Boulder and Tarn. Yosemite National Park, California. July 23, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A large boulder sits on a granite slab at the edge of a Sierra Nevada tarn whose surface reflects the sun-dappled rocks beyond.

A very short distance from one of the most popular viewpoints along Yosemite’s Tioga Pass Road I found a faint and unmarked trail heading off into a small valley filled with glacial boulders and a convoluted terrain of small hills, little tarns (seasonal meltwater pools), and forest. And, of course, tons of mosquitoes. Despite forgetting to apply the bug juice, the place seemed interesting enough that I persisted long enough to find and photograph this small, quiet tarn and the large boulder sitting a flat bit of granite along its shore.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)


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

Melting Ice, Cathedral Range

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Melting Ice, Cathedral Range
Melting Ice, Cathedral Range

Melting Ice, Cathedral Range. Yosemite National Park, California. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Winter ice melts on an alpine lake with the peaks of the Cathedral Range on the skyline, Yosemite National Park, California.

We hiked to this 10,000’+ lake near the Sierra crest in the late afternoon on the second-to-last day of June to photograph in the evening light, and were surprised at the amount of ice remaining in the lake and at the amount of snow still filling this small basin. Although the photograph was made during summer, the scene looks distinctly winter-like!

The lake was almost completely ice covered still, though the surface was covered with melt-water pools and there was a small bit of open water right along the shoreline at one end of the lake. The patterns of alternating ice and water were endlessly interesting, and the color variations produced by ice and water reflecting the blue light of the sky changed as the hour became later and as a few clouds floated near the crest.

Tuolumne Meadows aficionados will recognize the snow-covered peaks of the Cathedral range on the skyline, especially the distinctive summit of Cathedral Peak at the far right.

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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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 82mm
ISO 100, f/16, 1/25 second

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