Tag Archives: ridge

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Trail of Boulders

Image December 17, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Afternoon light on early autumn vegetation in the Eastern Sierra, and a trail of boulders crossing a meadow

This became a familiar bit of terrain during our weeklong (plus a bit) photography visit to an Eastern Sierra backcountry area last September. Our routine is to establish a base camp, photograph in the immediate vicinity, and then start working outward to photograph areas a bit further away. The area through which this trail passed became a favorite, and we walked this route many times.

There is a lot to observe in this scene. Perhaps one of the first obvious features is the trail of boulders crossing the meadow. Sierra Nevada backcountry travels might be struck by something about this — most meadow trails are either deep ruts, dug out by many hikers and animals, or they have been moved out of the meadows and onto tougher terrain. The extensive use of boulders here is unusual. (I wonder if it a good thing for avoiding the scarring of the typical deeply grooved trail, or if it might have been better to re-route.) Note the open quality of the forested terrain here — it is typical of the high country not far below the tree line. The trail is heading off towards higher country and, in fact, the trail runs out only yards beyond this point. Above that is a headwall and huge talus slopes which can be climbed, but only by those willing to travel cross-country. Finally, the peaks that lie dead ahead are on the Sierra Nevada crest itself.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Light, Meadow and Lake

Image September 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First morning light comes to Sierra Nevada peaks beyond forest-rimmed lake and meadow

This photograph includes many of the major visual themes from a weeklong photographic visit to this part of the Sierra Nevada backcountry: The green meadow with its small trees, the still lake, low hills between the lake and the deep valley beyond, and across that valley many high, alpine peaks.

Although it is not the highest peak in this view — not by far — the bulky peak in the center of the frame dominated the view from this spot and many other nearby areas. (It also appears in a previous photograph I posted from near this location.) This morning began with partly cloudy skies, and as the sunlight began to penetrate the overcast it sent a beam of warm light across the face of the peak.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Sierra Light, Reflection

Image August 25, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

First light on a backcountry Sierra Nevada lake and ridge

This is an older photograph that I recently came across as I went back through old image files. (I do this from time to time, and I invariably find something that I missed the first time around. ) We were on a pack trip out of the Mammoth Lakes area and on the trail for perhaps five days, moving among a series of lakes that all were under the watchful eye of the peaks in the photograph.

I was up early and perhaps a bit disappointed in the perfectly blue sky. However, as the first dawn light struck the peaks, it produced a perfect reflection in the surface of the lake, broken only by the pair of boulders, placed here in the composition to break up the mirror-image symmetry. While clouds in the sky might have been interesting, the smooth blue gradients reflected in the water make the peaks seem to float.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake and Sierra Crest Peaks

Image August 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The peaks of the Sierra Nevada crest tower above a reflecting alpine lake

This photograph is another from the northeast boundary country around Yosemite National Park — the park starts on the far side of the high ridge. I’ve always thought that his area deserves inclusion in the park since the scenery is as spectacular as inside the park, and today most of it is wilderness. I haven’t researched this, but I suspect that the explanation may have two parts. First, the crest of the Sierra was an obvious place to draw a boundary. Second, mining took place in this area, something that always makes the establishment of a park more complicated. That mining ended a long time ago, but you can still find traces.

This is the same lovely subalpine lake I wrote about earlier. I hiked here early in the morning, hitting the trail at dawn, and spent more than an hour slowly exploring this spot and making photographs. The air was still at times, so the reflections of the rugged and rocky ridge was often rather clear, and the symmetry of the reflected image was remarkable.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: ridge

Trail of Boulders

Morning Light, Meadow and Lake

Sierra Light, Reflection

Alpine Lake and Sierra Crest Peaks

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.