Tag Archives: wilderness

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Mount Shuksan

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Mount Shuksan
Mount Shuksan towers over forested valleys near Artist Point, Washington

Mount Shuksan. North Cascades, Washington. September 10, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Shuksan towers over forested valleys near Artist Point, Washington

I was recently in the Seattle, Washington area for a few days. My main reason for going was not photographic, but I managed to get in a couple of days of photography during the visit — a day of street photography in Seattle’s downtown area and a longer day up in the North Cascades near the Artist Point area around Mount Bake and Mount Shuksan. I picked this day largely because of the weather. The Pacific Northwest is not as reliably sunny as my California, so when I heard that the second-to-last day of my visit was likely to produce some sunshine I decided to take advantage of this potential.

In the end the weather was a bit trickier than I expected. There was sun, but it was often muted by clouds. This can be a good thing for many subjects, and light softened and filtered by high clouds can be lovely. But these mountains might have benefited from a bit more light — though the muted light produces a different quality that has its appeal, too. Most of my time here was spent slowly walking along the paths of the Artist Point area, which is found at the high point and end of the road at a location between Mounts Baker and Shuksan. I believe Baker is the higher peak, but Shuksan is the wilder looking mountain, with ramparts of dark rock broken up by snow fields and glaciers. When I made this photograph the soft light was illuminating the forest and valley in the foreground, and even more muted light fell across the peak. The photograph also illustrates a feature of the Cascades that gets the attention of this Sierra Nevada homey, namely the abrupt transition from forest to the alpine zone of rocks and snow and glaciers.

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: Nevada, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Alpine Tarn, Ridge

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Alpine Tarn, Ridge
A Sierra crest ridge reflected by the surface of a small alpine tarn in early evening light

Alpine Tarn, Ridge. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Sierra crest ridge reflected by the surface of a small alpine tarn in early evening light

This photograph came near the end of a special day on our weeklong (and then some) backcountry photography visit to the John Muir Wilderness area. From our campsite in the trees on a moraine near a lower-elevation lake we took off in various groups to explore higher country. Above us was a large alpine basin that rose gradually to the head of the canyon at just above 12,000′ of elevation, with higher peaks on all sides. As we walked we left the forest behind and entered the landscape of rock and sparse trees. Some headed toward a higher lake; I struck off by myself to arrive at the top of a gentle ridge of glaciated granite slabs, from which I could see further up there valley and down into some rock-bound lakes.

Eventually it was time to leave since the sun was dropping behind peaks to the west. I worked my way back down the slabs, eventually spotting Patty coming across from a different portion of the ridge. We joined forces and continued our descent to the creek at the bottom of the valley, making a small tarn our target destination. I had the idea that I might get there just in time to make a few photographs before the shadows reached the lake. As it turned out, I cut the timing a bit close, and almost as soon as we arrived the first shadows approached the left side of the lake. I had to work quickly, so I found a composition that included the jagged rocks half-submerged along the shoreline, the lake itself, and the reflection of the 12,000′-plus ridge still in full sun.

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

Swamp Onion Flowers

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Swamp Onion Flowers
Swamp onion flowers growing at the edge of a Sierra Nevada meadow

Swamp Onion Flowers. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Swamp onion flowers growing at the edge of a Sierra Nevada meadow

As I’ve written previously, during our late-August (and a couple of days into September) Sierra back-country visit this year we were treated to a surprising scene — green and lush meadows and plenty of wildflowers, something more typical of perhaps late July or early August. During the previous three years the Sierra was greatly affected by the historic drought, and much of the range was already drying out before August, so the change was striking and gratifying. It has been too long since I’ve seen the summer Sierra full of flowers and with snow banks still covering the higher peaks and ridges.

Shortly after we arrived at our back-country base camp we began investigating the nearby subjects that might be worthy of photography. Below “our lake” there was a small meadow clearing that was full of moisture, and near its lower end was one of the largest displays of the flowers of swamp onion (also known as pacific, wild, and mountain onion) that I recall seeing. This plant has always held a special place for me on my back-country travels. It grows in wet areas, and often it produces very large clusters of the plants; the flowers are attractive; and the scent of fresh onion is lovely. I’ll admit to occasionally rubbing or even breaking off a bit of a leaf to enjoy that fragrance! These flowers were in this meadow, where I had arrived to photograph very early, while frost was still on the ground and the sunlight had not yet arrived. I made this photograph as the first beams of morning sun hit the meadow itself and back-lit these plants and their flowers.

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

Mountains, Alpine Tarn, Dark Clouds

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Mountains, Alpine Tarn, Dark Clouds
Dark clouds assemble behind a ridge over a tarn nestled in an alpine meadow

Mountains, Alpine Tarn, Dark Clouds. John Muir Wilderness, California. August 28, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Dark clouds assemble behind a ridge over a tarn nestled in an alpine meadow

I first visited this area a number of years ago — I think it may have been a dozen years now. I was on a fast and light trip with a buddy, carrying an ultra-light load and sleeping in a bivy sack. We entered this general area and went straight to a lake close to timberline where we made a base camp and went on to further explore the upper reaches of this basin. This return trip was different in many ways, but perhaps most of all in its almost exclusive focus on photography. We stopped at a lower lake and set up a camp, hidden in trees on top of a moraine, and there we would remain for more than a week, wandering out each day to look for photographic subjects. I soon discovered that I had missed a true gem on that earlier visit.

On the first full day of this recent trip we left our campsite and, in small groups, ascended the rocky moraine through small trees to reach a little use trail. We followed that upwards, still in forest. But then there were breaks in the forest cover and suddenly a large meadow covered the rounded hills at the top of an old glacially sculpted where a lake had likely once filled a shallow valley. (A small tarn is all that remains today.) Whatever your fantasy of a mountain meadow might be, the first sight of this scene exceeded it. The grasses were still green, even though it was near the end of August. Wildflowers in a rainbow of colors were sprinkled throughout the meadow. Peaks rose on three sides, and on the fourth side there was a deep valley with even higher peaks beyond. I returned to this spot many times — probably once a day for the next week — and I made this photograph a few days later, in the early evening as low angle light slanted across the meadow and distant peaks and dark thunder clouds began to gather in the further distance.

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 | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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