Tag Archives: trees

Aspen Color Explosion

October 24, 2012 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

An almost unbelievable explosion of aspen color in the mountains east of Cedar City, Utah

This impresses me as just about the most ridiculous, over-the-top, unbelievable explosion of aspen color that I’ve ever seen. I visited Utah during the first part of October this year, and I encountered what must be almost peak fall aspen color during the first week of the month in the southwestern part of the state not far from Cedar City and Zion National Park. By the time I arrived the trees at the highest elevations had lost many of their leave, however the show from trees and somewhat lower elevations more than made up for this.

While there were colorful trees everywhere, this particular group seemed unrivaled for the sheet variety of colors packed together in one small area. The specific spot isn’t all that important and, frankly, in many ways the location was otherwise not necessarily the most wonderful example of Utah wilderness. (There were homes not too far away.) We came upon this scene while driving a back-road not far from Cedar City – we were basically just driving around looking for color and hoping we would find some. (Actually, it was hard to avoid seeing aspen color!) While some leaves had fallen from the lower portions of a few of these trees, the color variation was amazing – ranging from yellow-gold through orange and right on to red, with a few still-green leaves thrown in for good measure.

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

Lodgepole Forest and Lower Slopes of Mount Gibbs

October 19, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Lodgepole forest trees and the lower slopes of Mount Gibbs are bathed in sunset light, Yosemite National Park.

This was an evening of “interesting” (e.g. – tricky!) light that changed from moment to moment. The issue was that there were high clouds to the west of my position not too far from Tioga Pass. These clouds can cut both ways – on one hand they can be lit up in quite astonishing ways by the light at the end of the day and just after sunset, but they can also quite simply block the light from the west. When I see this situation in the Sierra, I often make a point of being where I can take advantage of the potential for a wild show of sky color, but I’m also aware that as often as not nothing will happen and the sun will simply slide behind the clouds. On this evening things were complicated. Earlier there was a wonderful atmospheric haze that became luminous in the back-light. However, as the sun dropped toward the horizon, at times it did pass right behind clouds that were thick enough to block its light and turn the world quite gray.

Eventually I figured out that light was going to be transitory and unpredictable on this evening, so I more or less settled into “opportunist” mode, ready to move quickly when a bit of light showed up in one place or another. With a somewhat long lens on the camera, I would wander around or just stand and watch. Then, almost without warning, something would light up – a tree over there, a ridge behind me, some clouds – and provide a momentary opportunity to make a photograph. At the point that I made this photograph, in subtle, rose-colored light, I had almost given up since the trees around me had fallen into shade. But a brief bit of sun came through a break in the clouds near the horizon and lit the nearby grove as the slopes of Mount Gibbs became pink in the end-of-day light.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Evening Light on Shoreline Trees, Steelhead Lake

October 14, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Early evening light coming across the Sierra crest illuminates shoreline trees at Steelhead Lake, eastern Sierra Nevada.

This photograph was made during that quiet evening hour, about the time when dinner has been finished and food stowed for the night, sleeping bag set up in tent, and things slow down (from their already-slow pace!) as the golden hour light comes on. Typically, the afternoon wind decreases and the lake surface becomes smooth, more clearly revealing the fish rising for an evening meal.

This is another photograph made within a few feet of my bivy sack campsite on a peninsula rising above this lake in the McGee Creek drainage. As I had eaten dinner with my two backpacking partners, I had been keeping an eye on this little scene that I had checked out earlier in the afternoon, watching to see if the four small trees down near the water might catch the last light from the setting sun before the evening shadow came across the lake.

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

Glacial Erratics, Near Olmsted Point

October 11, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Glacial erratic boulders rest on a tree-topped granite slab at sunset near Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park

Among the various landscapes of the high Sierra, this sort of scene most clearly says “Yosemite” to me: the glaciated granite slabs, mostly solid but broken but exfoliating and broken by cracks; the scattered glacial erratic boulders left behind by retreating ice; and the sparse trees somehow managing to not only survive but seemingly prosper while growing on almost solid rock. Although you don’t see precisely these things in the better known Valley, once you get up into the high country of the park you’ll see these features almost everywhere, and especially in the zone from, say, 8000′ of elevation or so and on up.

This photograph was made close to Olmsted Point. While Olmsted is probably better known for its “backside” view of Half Dome and its huge views up toward Tenaya Lake and on to the Sierra crest at Mount Conness, the immediate surroundings are full of this typical Sierra terrain that I described above. Most of the terrain above, below, and around the Point shows evidence of this glacial action, and by taking a few steps away from the parking lot in almost any direction (but do avoid cliffs!) you can find enough examples of this landscape to keep yourself occupied for a long time.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: trees

Aspen Color Explosion

Lodgepole Forest and Lower Slopes of Mount Gibbs

Evening Light on Shoreline Trees, Steelhead Lake

Glacial Erratics, Near Olmsted Point

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