Tag Archives: sequoia

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Snags and Mountains

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Snags and Mountains
Trailside snags to the east of the Great Western Divide in the Sequoia National Park backcountry

Snags and Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trailside snags to the east of the Great Western Divide in the Sequoia National Park backcountry

This is another of the photographs from the 2008 trip that I mentioned in an earlier post — a trans-Sierra crossing with friends via the High Sierra Trail. The route, while less known that the John Muir Trail (and shorter) crosses the Sierra from west to east, connecting the west side in Sequoia National Park with Mount Whitney and then Whitney Portal on the east side. The route provides a tremendous cross-section of the Sierra. It starts not far from middle-elevation redwood groves on the west side, follows the gigantic canyon of the Kaweah River to cross the Great Western Divide at Kaweah Gap, drops down into Big Arroyo to reach the depths of Kern Canyon, follows the Kern upstream, climbs steeply to the John Muir Trail, passes through the alpine boundary and then into alpine country to ascend Mount Whitney, and ends with the immense descent from the crest to Whitney Portal.

I made this photograph in the Big Arroyo section of the trail. We had cleared Kaweah Gap and camped in the valley below and were climbing above the Big Arroyo canyon in preparation for a short side-trip to Moraine Lake. This low ridge provided extensive views down Big Arroyo, up into the Kaweahs to our left and behind us, and across the canyon to the Great Western Divide.

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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

Crossing Kaweah Gap

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Crossing Kaweah Gap
The High Sierra Trail crosses alpine terrain near Kaweah Gap

Crossing Kaweah Gap. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The High Sierra Trail crosses alpine terrain near Kaweah Gap

I have been reviewing my older archives of raw files recently, partly because it simply is important to do so from time to time, and partly because I’m between locations and looking for additional images to work on. Any time I go back through the older files I find things that are interesting, and occasionally I even find some excellent photographs that I overlooked the first time around.

This photograph comes from 2008. To me it seems more interesting as a record of a particular place and a particular event than on a purely photographic basis. (I could have wished for a more interesting sky!) This was my second crossing of the High Sierra Trail, which we followed from the west side of Sequoia National Park, across the entire range, to the summit of Mount Whitney, and then down to Whitney Portal. On this trip I traveled with a group of long-time backcountry friends… unlike the first time I did this trip perhaps 25 years earlier, when I did it with my wife. I made this photograph from the top of Kaweah Gap, the pass through the Great Western Divide before dropping into Big Arroyo. The photograph looks back to the west, across the trail we had ascended to reach this point.

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Morning Light on Trees

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Morning Light on Trees
Morning light glances across high elevation trees, Kings Canyon National Park

Morning Light on Trees. Kings Canyon National Park, California. September 17, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light glances across high elevation trees, Kings Canyon National Park

Back in 2013 a small group of us spent roughly a week camped in a beautiful 11,000′ basin in Kings Canyon National Park, photographing a remarkable area of many lakes, intimate landscapes of trees and tarns and granite, and high and desolate ridges and peaks. Such a long stay in one area reveals things about the landscape that are too easily missed on shorter visits, and it gives us the opportunity to photograph in conditions ranging from storms to sunlight.

At the start of such a long trip, despite having made quite a few of them, there is always a bit of concern about spending such a long time in such a small area — “How will I find enough to photograph over such a long time?” This thought crosses my mind still, even though I know that on every previous long trip I have found myself wishing for more time at the end! This photograph comes from my final day of photography in this area, and very soon after I made it we were heading back out to what passes for the “real world.”

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: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge

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First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge
Trees along a rock strewn lake as first morning light strikes a southern Sierra Nevada backcountry ridge

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge. Sequoia National Park, California. August 8, 2008. © Copyright 2008 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees along a rock strewn lake as first morning light strikes a southern Sierra Nevada backcountry ridge

This was the scene on the morning of this fifth day or a trip of over a week across the High Sierra Trail, a trip that would eventually summit Mount Whitney before descending the east side of the Sierra. To me, this route feels like it is composed of several distinct sections. The first couple of days are the approach, reaching the first high country from a west side trailhead. The next few of days are the crossing of the Kaweahs and the descent to the ridges above Big Arroyo, a portion of the trip that has the distinct feeling of remoteness and of dropping down to much lower country. Then there is the march up the Kern and the ascent to meet the JMT, followed by the lateral over to a base camp below Whitney, with the finale being the ascent of this ridge and then the long descent to Whitney Portal.

This morning was in that post-Kaweah phase, at our second camp after crossing the Gap. This lake, a bit off the “official” route, is a quiet and forested place with a gentle feeling that contrasts the rough edges of the higher country. We awoke this morning and I was out before dawn, photographing the first light on this high ridge beyond the trees and across the lake.

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.