Tag Archives: rugged

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog

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Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog
A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

The quality of the Big Sur coast is, I think, the sum of a lot of contributing factors. As you drive south (my usual direction of approach, as a San Francisco Bay Area resident), the expanse of the Pacific Ocean extends to your right, and it may be brilliantly lit, completely fogged in, full of storm clouds, or just plain blue. Because the route alternately drops to the water level and climbs up above the headlands, this view expands and contracts. Surprisingly, it can be quite warm here, especially when the fog clears on a summer day and the road climbs. Views may be intimate as you pass through forested sections and around tight turns, or they may stretch to the horizon and far to the north and south.

On this mid-summer visit remnants of fog were still dissipating as I passed through. In places it sat thickly on hilltops, while elsewhere it had cleared and the light was brilliantly bright. This view appeared as I began my descent from one of the high places, and the top of the coastal inversion was clearly visible.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge

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Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge
A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

Lake, Forest, Alpine Ridge. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A rugged alpine ridge rises across the valley from a subalpine lake and surrounding forest

I have backpacked the Sierra Nevada for decades, and for much of that time I regarded the activity as primarily one about moving through the landscape. Days were spent walking through and past glorious scenery, often getting to camp in time to embark on the activities of finding a campsite, setting up a tent, figuring out food storage, filtering water, fixing and eating dinner, cleaning up… and sleeping. There was time to sit and look, but only when the other tasks were finished. Sometime later in my backpacking career I began to understand the value of sitting in one place and soaking it in, and eventually I even managed to convince myself to camp in one spot for more than one night, allowing me to slow down to match the natural rhythms of the place.

On some of the backcountry photography expeditions I’ve done more recently we have tended to set up a base camp and stay in one place for as long as a week. The experience has been surprising and remarkable. On early trips of this sort I would worry at first about how I could possibly find enough to do in one spot for a week. Invariably, by the final day of the visit I discovered that it had not been enough time! This photograph comes from one of these trips, where we camped in one location for a week, spending each day exploring near and far, and getting to know the landscape and light intimately. This photograph was made less than five minutes from camp, at a time of day when a Serious Backpacker would already by on the trail… and perhaps missing such quiet morning moments.

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

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 and Amazon.
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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: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastline Near Klamath River

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Coastline Near Klamath River
Late-day light on the rugged coastline just south of the Klamath River

Coastline Near Klamath River. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late-day light on the rugged coastline just south of the Klamath River

I had passed by the great Klamath River on my way north to the Redwood National and State Parks, crossing it on the long bridge just upstream from where it meets the Pacific. On that late afternoon I took a quick detour up onto a small dead-end road from which I could look back down at the river and the sandbar between it and the ocean, and I made a few photographs before moving on — I still wanted to photograph redwoods before the day ended, and I had a bit of a drive beyond that to get to my motel.

Late the next day I found myself with a bit of unscheduled time, so I returned to the Klamath, again as the end of the day approached — but this time I was not in a hurry to leave. When I had visited the day before I had looked across the river to the hills and coastal bluffs to the south, and this time I decided to explore that area a bit. A drive took me to an overlook from which there was an unobstructed view along the coastline to the south as the evening golden hour light began.

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

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

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature

Winding Desert Canyon

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Winding Desert Canyon
A desert canyon winds into the Black Mountains of Death Valley

Winding Desert Canyon. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A desert canyon winds into the Black Mountains of Death Valley

These desert canyons come in a variety of forms. In many ways, the slot canyons are the most appealing, with their tall, often vertical walls, serpentine paths, and sometimes very narrow dimensions. But the constitute the minority of the canyon types. Others may be quite wide and shallow, almost having the character of wide washes instead of canyons. These are often found lower in the mountains, and are easy to spot from a distance where the canyons spill out onto (sometimes vast) fans of gravel. Another type feels like a canyon, but has a more open character, with hills rather than walls along the sides, and often with a wide path up the center.

This canyon has the latter character, at least at this point. (Elsewhere in the same drainage it has more of the character of a slot canyon.) While there are low walls along its edges, one wouldn’t be too hard pressed to pass over them, and above these walls the sides of the canyon slope away at relatively low angles that allow sunlight to penetrate to the bottom. Recently it finally occurred to me that one of the things that makes such canyons so enjoyable to walk is that there is no single path to follow. Where the canyon is wide enough, the feeling is midway between following a trail and walking in trail-less country. You do follow the course of the canyon, but you can pick your way through it in any way that seems to make sense.

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