Tag Archives: tioga

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

Young Trees, Dark Forest

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Young Trees, Dark Forest Young Trees, Dark Forest
Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest

Young Trees, Dark Forest. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small, young trees growing at the end of a dark and dense forest.

After decades of hiking, camping, backpacking, photographing, skiing, (and in an earlier life occasionally climbing) all over the Sierra, there are odd little unexpected places that have some personal significance to me. In a few cases they are associated with a specific, memorable — there are several, for example, for each of my “kids.” (The “kids” are now all grown, but i remember!) Others connect to travels with backcountry friends or to events that occur there. In some cases, the development of a connection seems to be almost random, and there is nothing at all that points to them in any particularly objective way.

This is one of those latter spots. It isn’t far from a road, and I’ve always been attracted to the views for a mile or two on either side of the spot. But this place? There’s barely a turnout along the road. There is a narrow strip of meadow that runs quickly into thick, high-elevation forest, and it usually has a dark and impenetrable appearance. Logically I know what is beyond it, but it never quite feels like I do. And every year, more than once, I stop again and look at it and perhaps make a few photographs.

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, Photographs: Yosemite

Meadow, Tarn, and Trees

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Meadow, Tarn, and Trees
Small trees near timberline grow in a meadow surrounding a subalpine tarn

Meadow, Tarn, and Trees. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Small trees near timberline grow in a meadow surrounding a subalpine tarn

In the Sierra Nevada photographers are nearly always grateful for clouds. There is a reason that these mountains are referred to as the “range of light” — there is a lot of light! In the summer months we often experience many days of perfect blue skies, often without a single cloud in sight, at least if you don’t include jet contrails from the many routes passing above the range. Clouds play a small part in this photograph, but I think they make a difference.

I made the photograph very near Tioga Pass, along the Sierra crest. I rarely photograph in this specific spot since it can be busy place and it is a bit overdone. (I have plenty of work in my archives that I have photographed from right around here.) But on this day the late light, as the sun was just about to pass behind the tall ridge to the west, was both warm and softened by the clearing overcast. So I stopped and wandered briefly into this intimate landscape of trees, meadow, and tarn.

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: Sierra Nevada

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon

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Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon
Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

Afternoon Light, Lee Vining Canyon. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds from a dissipating storm, afternoon haze and light, spring aspens and meadows in Lee Vining Canyon

This is another photograph from my marathon one-day trip from the San Francisco Bay Area over Tioga Pass and back earlier this week. This was as close to Monday’s opening of Tioga Pass Road as I could make it. In some ways it may have turned out for the best to not go on the actual opening day. I suspect that there were more people up there that day, and it was fairly deserted a couple of days later. I think that the weather was probably a bit more cooperative when I went, too — it was mostly fair, but with some interesting clouds and even a couple of drops of rain.

By mid-afternoon I had crossed the pass and dropped down to Lee Vining. The midday light isn’t generally my favorite for photography, so I went for a hike near Mono Lake before swinging back to Lee Vining to grab an early dinner before starting my return trip. The plan was to start back up through Lee Vining Canyon as the light was starting to become interesting, giving my as much as a couple of hours of potential photography time along Tioga Pass Road. It was somewhat hazy — a slightly thick atmosphere left behind in the wake of a weather front. This can produce dramatic lighting sometimes, but it can also lower contrast, mute colors, and generally make photography a bit tricky. (One option is to shoot for black and white!) As I started the climb up into Lee Vining Canyon, some beams of light came down from dissipating clouds and began to light the new growth of meadows and aspen trees at the bottom of the canyon.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains

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Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains
A partially melted lake and snow-covered mountains near the Sierra Nevada crest.

Spring Ice, Snowy Mountains. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A partially melted lake and snow-covered mountains near the Sierra Nevada crest.

For many of us the annual re-opening of Tioga Pass Road through the Yosemite high country marks the beginning of the “summer” season, even though it often takes place in late spring. (And, “the season” typically extends into autumn, too.) Whenever I can, I try to be there on the day the road opens. For those familiar with the route from more typical summer visits, the conditions can be a real surprise, especially in years of heavy snowfall and late melts. In the big years there is water everywhere — waterfalls flowing, creeks and rivers are filled to (and beyond) their banks, meadows are flooded, and sometimes the creeks flow right across the roadway. Conditions beyond the road can be quite difficult, approaching impossible at times. (I recall one very early season hike to Parker Pass, when creek crossings were surprisingly challenging and some high elevation areas that are dry in summer were too wet to walk through.)

I decided not to go on the first open day this year, mostly due to weather issues, instead postponing my visit for a couple of days. I did go, and it turned into one of my epic one-day-up-and-back trips. I was on the road shortly after 4:00 AM, went as far as Panum Crater (which I climbed) near Mono Lake, and didn’t get back home until well after midnight. In some ways, this isn’t the ideal time for photography — that can be more interesting later on when the meadows have turned green. Honestly, it is more about kicking off the new season. Late in the day, I headed back up from Lee Vining to cross Tioga Pass and stopped briefly to photograph this familiar lake just the pass, with its remarkable pattern of melting ice and the distance peaks of Kuna Crest still fully covered in snow.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

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