Tag Archives: snow

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening, Picture Peak and Sailor Lake

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Evening, Picture Peak and Sailor Lake

Evening, Picture Peak and Sailor Lake. John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California. August 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening light at the rocky outlet of Sailor Lake with Picture Peak and Mount Haeckel beyond.

On the third night of our early August trip into the upper Sabrina Basin in the eastern Sierra I decided to grab an early dinner and then wander with my camera gear up towards the vicinity of Hungry Packer and Sailor Lakes to do some evening photography. I first went back to the outlet stream from Hungry Packer Lake, where I had found a wonderful patch of blooming lupine flowers earlier in the day. I photographed these just as the shadow line from the nearby ridge was shading them. (I’m hopeful that I’ll have a shot or two from that area a bit later.)

After finishing here I decided to more or less follow the light back to the east across the valley. This area roughly bounded by Topsy Turvy, Moonlight, Sailor, and Hungry Packer lakes is what a photographer might describe as a “target rich environment” – I’d love to go back and spend a number of days just shooting here. There are lakes, intimate meadows broken up by glacial boulders and granite benches, plenty of wildflowers, water everywhere (in lakes, ponds, and streams), waterfalls and cascades, and many small stands of alpine trees. During the good light times of the day there is more or less too much to shoot!

This photograph was made near the outlet stream from Sailor Lake and looks up toward the impressive mass of Picture Peak above Hungry Packer Lake – just as a cooperative group of early evening clouds conveniently floated behind the peak. This sort of place is what I think of most when I think of the Sierra – high, rocky areas just below timberline, threaded with streams and meadows and rocks and some trees, and with high, snowy peaks all around.

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

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: 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.

keywords: boulder, island, evening, sunset, light, warm, ripples, reflection, grass, tree, plant, flora, lichen, rock, hill, tree, alpine, face, meadow, shoreline, upper, young, lake, granite, snow, forest, grove, water, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, yosemite, national park, california, usa, hike, backpack, travel, scenic, tuolumne meadows, nature, landscape, stock

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

New Spring Growth, Dana Fork, Tuolumne River

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New Spring Growth, Dana Fork, Tuolumne River

New Spring Growth, Dana Fork, Tuolumne River. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

New spring growth comes to life in a waterlogged meadow along the Dana fork of the Tuolumne River beneath snow-dusted summits of Mounts Dana and Gibbs, Yosemite National Park, California.

I think I shot this scene as much for reasons of recording nature as for any aesthetic reasons. It is a bit unusual for me to get to Tuolumne so early in the season – though it isn’t the first time, and I’ve even been there when snow was still on the ground – so I thought it was interesting to catch this meadow while it was still completely waterlogged from spring runoff and before the more familiar lush green growth of the high season had appeared.

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: new, spring, growth, dana, fork, tuolumne, river, water, waterlogged, meadow, mount, dana, gibbs, yosemite, national, park, california, usa, plant, grass, twig, reflection, forest, tree, mountain, crest, summit, sierra, nevada, range, cloud, light, snow, dusted, landscape, nature, travel, scenic, stock, brown, summer, tioga, pass, road