Tag Archives: shoreline

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

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

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Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake

Sunset, Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Conness and the shoreline meadow of Lower Young Lake at sunset.

The thin smoke from a wildfire some miles away along the Tuolumne River added some color to the sunset light on the distant ridge whose highest point is Mt. Conness, the tallest peak in along the Yosemite Park border north and west of Tioga Pass. I’ve shot from this spot along the upper shoreline of Lower Young Lake before, in fact the rock along the shoreline was the center point of another photograph I made one misty autumn evening. But this was a different evening; not only because of the somewhat unusual color of the light but also because the small inlet stream was still flowing through the shoreline meadows that still held wildflowers.

On my way back to my tent as darkness fell, I had one of those wonderful serendipitous experiences that happens with surprising frequency in the Sierra. Walking back I happened to take a different route further from the shoreline since that area was quite marshy. As I wandered through a more forested section that I had not been in for a couple years I passed very close to someone’s campsite, and I soon saw two people ahead sitting on a large boulder. I stopped to say “hi” and the older of the two asked, “Are you a photographer?” I offered one of my all-too-frequent wise guy responses, something along the lines of “No, I just like to carry this stuff around so that I look like one.” He looked a bit perplexed, at which point the younger of the two spoke up and said, “Well, he is.”

Turns out that he was photographer Leonard Sussman, and we ended up talking for a good amount of time as the light continued to fade. Leonard is a really interesting fellow, and I was surprised to find out that a “New York photographer” actually came more or less from my stomping grounds in northern California.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mount, conness, mountain, peak, ridge, young, lake, lower, sierra, nevada, range, evening, dusk, sunset, high, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, landscape, nature, rock, tree, stream, reflection, forest, boulder, shoreline

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

Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset

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Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset

Shoreline, Upper Young Lake, Sunset. Yosemite National Park, California. July 29, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunset light on shoreline trees and rocks below rocky hillside above Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park.

This is another in the series of photographs I made on this late-July evening at Upper Young Lake, my favorite of the three in this string of Young Lakes in the Sierra Nevada back-country out of Tuolumne Meadows. This photograph was shot in the last moments before the sun, shining through a bit of smoke from a wildfire in the park, dropped below the rim of the high meadow holding the lake.

I probably could have stayed at this lake and photographed post-sunset light for another half hour beyond sunset. However, the thought of hiking in the dark down a mile-long trail that in places is more cross country than actual trail convinced me to pack up and leave shortly after this.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Upper Young Lake

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Upper Young Lake

Upper Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 29, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early evening light on Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

The first section of Upper Young Lake that you come to – at least if you approach from west side as I did – is especially beautiful. After climbing to the level of the lake you cross over gentle meadow hills spotted with small groves of alpine trees and eventually descend very gently through meadows to the lake shore. This side of the lake has an especially interesting shoreline – there are clumps of boggy, partially submerged meadow, slightly higher sections of firm ground containing wildflowers, good sized rocks and boulders embedded in the meadow and the lake shore, and a long string of rocks cuts across a rounded bay.

In this photograph I’m shooting from the slightly higher and drier meadow across one of the boggy shoreline sections on which a small, solitary tree grows next to a large rock and some wildflowers. Beyond is the the bay that is bisected by the string of boulder islands, with more small clusters of trees and glaciated rocks on the far shore, backed by the lower reaches of a tall and rocky ridge than runs along the far side of the series of Young Lakes.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: Pinus contorta, murrayana, lodgepole, pine, tamarack, upper, young, lake, tree, forest, grove, small, grass, flower, meadow, shore, shoreline, rock, boulder, grass, talus, scree, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, backpack, hike, nature, wilderness, flora, water, reflection, granite, alpine, travel, scenic, landscape, evening, light, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Boulders, Upper Young Lake

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Boulders, Upper Young Lake

Boulders, Upper Young Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 29, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small islands catch the evening light at Upper Young Lake, Yosemite National Park.

On this late-July evening I climbed from Lower Young Lake to the upper lake an hour or so before sunset, hoping to photograph the lake and the surrounding open terrain as the day ended. The lake provides a real alpine scene, as it is set in an open meadow interspersed with glacial remains and scattered groups of trees with tall, rocky ridges and peaks to the south, east, and north – but open to the sunset in the west.

On a side note, I’ve been to this lake a number of times. Although the walk up from the lower lake isn’t all that far (perhaps a mile or so) I’ve always wondered about one section of the use trail that more or less ascends right up a steep section of the creek flowing from the lake. This time I took a closer look at the map instead of just walking where the trail seemed to go, and I found a much easier approach that leaves the main trail at the middle lake.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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