Tag Archives: usa

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge

March 30, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trees along a rock strewn lake as first morning light strikes a southern Sierra Nevada backcountry ridge

This was the scene on the morning of this fifth day or a trip of over a week across the High Sierra Trail, a trip that would eventually summit Mount Whitney before descending the east side of the Sierra. To me, this route feels like it is composed of several distinct sections. The first couple of days are the approach, reaching the first high country from a west side trailhead. The next few of days are the crossing of the Kaweahs and the descent to the ridges above Big Arroyo, a portion of the trip that has the distinct feeling of remoteness and of dropping down to much lower country. Then there is the march up the Kern and the ascent to meet the JMT, followed by the lateral over to a base camp below Whitney, with the finale being the ascent of this ridge and then the long descent to Whitney Portal.

This morning was in that post-Kaweah phase, at our second camp after crossing the Gap. This lake, a bit off the “official” route, is a quiet and forested place with a gentle feeling that contrasts the rough edges of the higher country. We awoke this morning and I was out before dawn, photographing the first light on this high ridge beyond the trees and across the lake.

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Lake, Wind, Dusk

March 29, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Evening wind on the surface of an alpine lake at dusk

When we reached this lake we were approaching the end of a long trans-Sierra hike on the High Sierra Trail. We had crossed the Kaweahs, descending into the Kern River canyon, ascending to the John Muir Trail and headed south, with the eventual goal being the summit of Mount Whitney and the end of our trip at Whitney Portal at the eastern base of the Sierra.

This little alpine lake is the traditional base camp for hikers heading to the summit of Mount Whitney from the west, a group that includes a number of people nearing the end of the southbound John Muir Trail hikes. It can be a crowded place, with many backpackers (sometimes too many) setting up marginal camps in tiny flat spots among the boulders. In the evening I left my group to wander and do a bit of photography, and as the light faded I lengthened my exposures and allowed the wind to blur the surface of the lake a bit.

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

Photographs: Flight, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

White-Fronted Geese in Flight

March 25, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A small group of white-fronted geese in flight about the Sacramento Valley

I photographed this group of white-fronted geese on one of my excursion to new California bird photography locations this past winter. It wasn’t that many years ago that I first “discovered” the huge population of migratory birds in California’s Central Valley, on a weekend after a colleague made an off-hand comment about birds as we waited in line at a coffee stand that sent me off to investigate. I went to a place where there were sandhill cranes and, eventually, a sky magnificently full of birds, most of which I could not identify. I was hooked. Soon I went to a location near that spot, and eventually became quite a frequent visitor to several places including one that isn’t too far from where I live.

Last year I started thinking that I should expand my horizons a bit and start to seek out other locations along the Pacific Flyway. I pushed a bit further up the Central Valley and eventually managed to spend time up along the California-Oregon border. I photographed this photogenic group at one of those upper Central Valley areas. Visiting such a place for the first time can be a bit tricky. It takes a while to get to know the rhythms of a place — where and when which birds show up, where the interesting backgrounds are, how far to drive to get a cup of coffee… At this new refuge I had almost no idea what I was doing. I hoped to find one kind of geese, but they were scarce — yet I found other things that I saw less often in my usual haunts: bald eagles, lots of night herons, an occasion tundra swan, and many white-fronted geese. Eventually I found a spot by a pond where huge flocks of geese were coming and going, a mixture of mostly snow geese and white-fronted geese, and I began to feel that I might be able to figure the place out.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

High Sierra Trail

March 24, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

High Sierra Trail to Hamilton Lakes

Sometimes I backpack alone and sometimes I travel with friends — and both are great. While I treasure the freedom and solitude of solo backcountry travel, I have been fortunate enough to find friends who share my interest, some of whom have backpacked with me for decades. This trip marked the third time I had been across this section of trail. The first time was quite a few years ago, when Patty and I went on our first long backpack trip, spending two weeks along the High Sierra trail as we traversed it from west to east. The second time I was traveling solo. In fact, it was my first solo pack trip, a two-week journey that took me a ways out on this trail, after which I turned north, wandered up Bubbs Creek, over Glen Pass, and around the Rae Lakes before emerging at Kings Canyon.

This third visit was on another trip across the High Sierra trail. Although I had done it years earlier, it was a completely new trip to the rest of my group, a band of backpackers who have traveled the trails together for a long time, plus a couple of new additions. The first few days of the trip traveled up the Kaweah River drainage towards a ridge crossing at Kaweah Gap. The trail mostly stays high on the north side of the canyon, and here above Bearpaw Meadow the trail occasionally travels along granite domes an ledges, always with the spectacular high ridge of the Kaweahs looming ahead.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: usa

First Light, Trees, Lake, and Ridge

Alpine Lake, Wind, Dusk

White-Fronted Geese in Flight

High Sierra Trail

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