Tag Archives: summer

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

Dusk, Earth-Shadow, Oaks and Grass

August 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The earth’s dusk earth shadow rises behind the folds of an oak and grass-covered Sierra Nevada foothill ridge on a late-summer evening

We had been in Mariposa, along the road heading towards Yosemite Valley, to meet up with friends and do various other fun things. As is often the case, at one point the conversation turned toward the photographic possibilities for later in the day. As the horrendous “Rim” fire was burning a few ridges over along the boundaries of the park, one thought was to find a high viewpoint and try to photograph the huge smoke clouds and the light from the flames during the dusk hours. A suggestion was offered by a person who knows the area concerning a gravel back-road to the top of an area ridge from which a good view might be obtained, so we decided to give that a try. It was a beautiful early evening – no smoke here – as we drove through oak and grass-covered hills below Mariposa to pick up this route and then ascended toward the ridge to turn off on the gravel road. From the junction we could see columns of smoke from burning forest to our north, but there was also a pretty clear “No Trespassing” sign posted along the road… so we decided that we should double-check our directions before risking a citation, and we headed back down the mountain.

The alternative plan had been to simply photograph the beautiful foothills themselves as the day came to an end. In this area there are many beautiful valleys of rolling hills covered with dry grassland and oak forests that sometimes thin to individual trees. We headed along a little back road and soon arrived at our main route shortly before the last sunlight was about to fade. Driving as we looked, we finally stopped at a turnout right after the sun had dropped below the horizon, where we could see the boundary between the last pink color in the sky and the rising blue line of the earth’s shadow. I used a long lens to make a small number of exposures shooting across the hillside patterns towards an oak-topped ridge with the dusk sky beyond.

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Commentary, Reader Questions

About the Yosemite “Rim” fire… and more

August 27, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

UPDATE and a NOTE:

Update: Shortly after I posted this, my reports on highway 120 through the park via the Tuolumne Meadows area were rendered incorrect/outdated by way of an updated announcement from the park service as follows:

“Beginning at 12:00pm on Wednesday, August 28th, Tuolumne Meadows and the High Sierra will only be accessible via Highway 120 East through Lee Vining. The Tioga Rd/Hwy 120 East will be temporarily closed between White Wolf Lodge and the Big Oak Flat Rd./Hwy 120 West at Crane Flat; the closure is estimated to be 3 to 4 days. Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, the High Sierra Camps, and Tuolumne Meadows and Porcupine Flat campgrounds all remain open.”

Basically, this means that you will not be able to use highway 120 as a route across the Sierra until further notice. I’m not surprised – in fact, I’ve been somewhat surprised that the road remained open this long. Apparently the following URL is also a good source of updates from the park: http://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-fire-update.aspx

Note: All of which brings me back to my original statement that I don’t have inside information on this fire, and that anyone traveling to the area needs to check official sources for conditions updates. I will likely not update this page as things change, so the information posted here should be regarded as potentially being out of date!

My original post follows…

—

A few people have asked me for information about the “Rim” fire which started not far from Groveland near highway 120, and which is currently burning along the northwest boundary of Yosemite National Park, generally moving east and north toward the highway 108 area. While I know much of this area fairly well from many years (decades, actually) of visits, I do not have any inside information about the fire itself, nor am I an expert on wildfires. One good source of (limited but objective) information is the Stanislaus National Forest Rim Fire Incident web page. A map on this page is a quite amazing source of information, especially when combined with some familiarity with the area and a reading of various written reports. (The version on the main page seems to be based on Google Maps, and allows you to scroll around and zoom in.) Lots of folks who live and work in the area are sharing updates on the usual social media sites. The Mariposa Gazette is another local news source.

The fire started on August 17 more or less midway between Groveland and the northwest park entrance and not far off of the highway 120 corridor near the Rim of the World area overlooking the canyon of the Tuolumne River. (Highway 120 is a common route for entry to the park from the west and northwest, and it connects via Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass to the east side of the Sierra at the town of Lee Vining.) The spread of the fire at first was somewhat quick, which is no surprise given the extremely dry conditions in the Sierra following a second very dry winter and almost no real precipitation since late 2012. Then, between about August 20 and 23, the fire exploded, expanding very quickly to cover a huge area generally to the east and north of the starting point, with the fire generally racing northeast but also spreading to the north and south. Continue reading About the Yosemite “Rim” fire… and more →

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

Dana Fork Meadow, Cathedral Range

September 20, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Golden late-summer evening light on a small meadow along the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River, with the Cathedral Range in the distance.

Yet more golden pre-autumnal light in the Yosemite Sierra! The scene is one of the many areas of subalpine meadow bordered (and sometimes being invaded by) forest trees found throughout the higher regions of Yosemite National Park. This particular bit of hilly and meadowy terrain was easier to access at the end of this dry season as the stream I crossed to get to this spot was very low. I shot during the last hour of the day as the sun angle became quite low, casting foreground shadows and softening details of more distant features in the seasonal haze.

The distant ridge is the Cathedral Range, with the iconic form of Cathedral Peak silhouetted at the far right. This was the kind of day that most often comes to mind when I think of early fall in the high Sierra – though the actual start of autumn was about a week away when I made the photograph. The weather was relatively warm for this elevation, and it had been mostly sunny all day. The early evening was softened by the haze and the golden hour light accentuated the golden brown colors of the meadow grasses and plants. Something about this time of year seems quieter and more peaceful than the main summer season – I’m not sure if it is the passing of the explosive summer growth period, the slowing of creeks, something in the wind or the light, or simply the knowledge that summer is ending.

Ideas, Locations, Stories

I Feel Fall Coming

August 15, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 5 Comments

It happens every year at about this time, close to the middle of August. Even though I have learned to expect it, I’m still happily surprised when it occurs. There is inevitably a day when I am outside and I sense something different in the world and I know (really know, not just know by looking at the calendar) that the seasonal trajectory is now beginning to leave summer behind and head inevitably toward autumn.

This is not a bad thing, by the way. I happen to love autumn.

Dry Creek at Fletcher Lake - A dry creek surrounded by golden autumn meadow grasses and illuminated by early morning light winds through a clump of small trees near Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California. — A dry creek surrounded by golden autumn meadow grasses and illuminated by early morning light winds through a clump of small trees near Fletcher Lake, Yosemite National Park, California.

It often happens for me in the Sierra. I usually spend weeks there between June and October – the time of year when camping and backpacking are possible. The beginning of the season is marked by tremendous changes. Snow melts, rivers rise, meadows flood, plants emerge, flowers bloom, campgrounds open, trails clear, tourists arrive, plans are made and executed and many things are new, or at least new once again. Then on that August day, something changes. I cannot put my finger precisely on the nature of the change, but it is unmistakable and it often stops me momentarily in my tracks when it happens. For some reason I often associate it with the way the air seems to move and with the way it carries sound – I may notice something different in the sound of the breeze or the way it amplifies the sound of a cascade across a valley. There is something about the light that I think of as a kind of soft quality and a feeling that the color of the light might be a bit cooler. At about the same time I often notice certain other more concrete indications for the first time, too, such as the way that more of the corn lily plants start to become brown or even yellow and that grasses are less and less green and more and more brown.

I was not in the Sierra when it happened this year. This year, the past few months have not been a time for a lot of travel to places like the Sierra. I have only been to the Sierra on a single multi-day visit, and that was over a month ago. (Don’t worry – I will be going back soon!) So this year it happened at home, on a morning earlier this week – my birthday, actually – when I walked into our yard in the morning to take a look at the vegetable garden, and I notice that vague but unmistakable quality of light, quietness of the breeze, and softness of the atmosphere.

The calendar may say summer, and for more than a month to come, but I’m ready for autumn.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: summer

Dusk, Earth-Shadow, Oaks and Grass

About the Yosemite “Rim” fire… and more

Dana Fork Meadow, Cathedral Range

I Feel Fall Coming

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.