Tag Archives: rock

Two Hikers on Sentinel Dome

Sentinel Dome Hikers Above Yosemite Valley
Sentinel Dome Hikers Above Yosemite Valley

Sentinel Dome Hikers Above Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California. © Copyright 2008 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two hikers enjoy the panoramic view from Sentinel Dome above Yosemite Valley – Yosemite National Park

On this early season day back on 2008 I drove up the road to Glacier Point, stopping alone the way to make the short lateral hike out to the summit of Sentinel Dome. Sentinel is a classic viewpoint in Yosemite, and was made even more famous by the well-known iconic “Jeffrey Pine” photograph by Ansel Adams, featuring a lone, rugged, wind-bent tree that grew for years on that summit, backed by distant peaks of the high Sierra. (That tree died years ago, though its stump remains and is still picturesque… and a reminder that time passes. Another reminder for me — when I was a child my family visited this dome and that tree while it was still living.)

On this visit I took the newer trail that replaced the old (and environmentally insensitive) trail from a parking lot on the lower reaches of the dome, and arrived on the summit to reacquaint myself with the spot after a long absence. As I photographed on the summit, this young couple hiked to the top and settled in on this rock to take in the spectacular view into the canyon below.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Plants and Rock, Goat Rock

Plants and Rock, Goat Rock
Plants and Rock, Goat Rock. Castle Rock State Park, California. April 19, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small cluster of spring plants comes to life in a crack in Goat Rock at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California.

This is another brief change of pace from the Death Valley photographs. I hike at Castle Rock State Park (the local version – it is a common park name!) quite a bit, especially in the spring at the end of the California rainy season when the new vegetation is starting to emerge. On this day I had gone out to photograph spring foliage, but the light was not quite what I expected – overcast and rather windy rather than the hoped-for sunny spring day.

keywords: new, growth, green, leaves, leaf, stem, plant, brown, nature, rock, lichen, spring, goat rock, castle rock, state, park, california, santa cruz, mountains, usa, color, photo, photography, stock, texture

Trees in Mist, Motherlode Near Drytown

Trees in Mist, Motherlode Near Drytown
Trees in Mist, Motherlode Near Drytown. Sierra Nevada Gold Country, California. March 29, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees in the mist on a wet spring morning in the Motherlode near Drytown, California. This was photographed on a drive up some very lonely and narrow back roads above Highway 49 in Amador County. I only exposed four frames in this challenging weather, but since two of the four turned out to be interesting I’ll console myself with a 50% success rate. :-)

keywords: California, Cloud, Foothills, gold country, Grass, Landscape, Meadow, Morning, Mountain, rain, Rock, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Travel, Tree, mist, fog, drytown, motherlode, gold country, highway 49, usa, scenic, travel, nature, stock, silhouette, green

Two Spring Trees in Mist – Motherlode

Two Spring Trees in Mist
Two Spring Trees in Mist. Motherlode near Drytown, California. March 29, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two spring trees in the mist with newly sprouted grasses underneath – Motherlode near Drytown, California. This was a tough photography day. It was raining lightly and the light was quite flat due to the heavy overcast and fog, and although I spent hours “on the prowl” I only managed to shoot this one scene.

keywords: California, Cloud, Foothills, gold country, Grass, Landscape, Meadow, Morning, Mountain, rain, Rock, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Travel, Tree, drytown, motherlode, usa, branches, mist, leaves, green, gold country, stock, nature