Tag Archives: subalpine

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

Forest, Lake, Mountains

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Forest, Lake, Mountains
Distant peaks in early evening light beyond a subalpine lake surrounded by forest, Yosemite National Park.

Forest, Lake, Mountains. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Distant peaks in early evening light beyond a subalpine lake surrounded by forest, Yosemite National Park.

The description of the previous photograph that I shared mentioned a backcountry lake; this is that lake. Beyond the lake is a very large canyon, and the lake itself is surrounded by forest interspersed with some rocky areas and small sections of meadow. Its features are familiar to backcountry travelers who have encountered such forested lakes, and it provides a different experience than the more alpine lakes that I tend to be drawn to.

While we were there I frequently climbed up through the trees and onto a system of rocky slabs where I made this photograph. This one comes from late in the day as the light’s color is beginning to warm up. It was a year of wildfires, and their haze is muting the details and colors of the more distant mountains.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Slope

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Aspen Slope
Autumn aspens descend from a ridge to the shore of an Eastern Sierra Nevada subalpine lake.

Aspen Slope. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn aspens descend from a ridge to the shore of an Eastern Sierra Nevada subalpine lake.

This spot is probably familiar to you, especially if you use the version of the Mac OS that used a different photograph of the feature as its branding. This aspen forest or grove — which someone once aptly referred to as the “Cheetos Forest” — is an example of something you can find in many Sierra locations, namely aspen groves that follow a watercourse as it descends from the heights. The result can be the appearance that the grove itself seems to flow over the landscape.

This grove also provides a notable example of other transitions that may take place within a single aspen grove. The color variation from top to bottom here is striking, with red autumn leaves up high, a distinct orange band in the middle, and then yellow/gold trees as the trees fan out just above the lake. The size of the trees also evolves within the grove from very small “scrub aspens” higher up to larger (though still not gigantic) trees lower down.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Dark Forest and Pond

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Dark Forest and Pond
Beyond a small subalpine pond, dark forest rises into rocky terrain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

Dark Forest and Pond. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Beyond a small subalpine pond, dark forest rises into rocky terrain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.

The main fall color show in the Eastern Sierra Nevada (and in other higher portions of the range) comes from the October aspen color. But this most certainly is not the only Sierra Nevada Fall color. I always mark the start of the color season by the corn lilies taking on yellow and brown hues, and not long after that the bilberry plants turn areas (often around lakes) deep red in just the right light. Willows are some of the first plants to get real yellow leaves. Grasses begin to transition from green to yellow to brown.

Most of the autumn colors in this photograph are a bit more subtle than the brilliant aspen leaves. The beds of grass are well along on that transition from green through yellow to tan and brown. A few small plants along the base of the rocks are showing yellow. And beyond that, the overall sense is that of a scene of end-of-season quiet and stillness. There were fewer people than usual up in this area due to fires and the pandemic, and as I continued photographing into the dusk hours I was almost the only person left here when I arrived, and by the time I finished I had the silence of this scene to myself.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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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: Sierra Nevada

Trees, Rocky Meadow

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Trees, Rocky Meadow
Trees march up the slopes of a rocky subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness

Trees, Rocky Meadow. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Trees march up the slopes of a rocky subalpine meadow, John Muir Wilderness.

Yes, I am still mining the files from this 2017 trip into the John Muir Wilderness. We were lucky to stay in an absolutely lovely area, and to find that this area was also within day-hiking distance of other wonderful locations, some of which were literally minutes away from our base camp. On top of that, we hit the weather jackpot. After a very wet and extended winter season, the lingering snows had kept the Sierra wet later than usual, and despite arriving here in the last week of August and sticking around until the very beginning of September, we had green meadows and wildflowers.

Perhaps a fifteen minute walk above our camp, beautiful subalpine meadows began. This is the land of small trees separated by expenses of seasonal green, dotted with boulders, swampy in places, and often open to expansive views of distant peaks. In short, it is pretty much my favorite place to be in the Sierra Nevada.

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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