Over Tioga Pass on Opening Day
When I heard that a) the Merced River was about to reach its peak flow and b) Tioga Pass Road was scheduled to open on June 5 I quickly put together a one-day quick trip to Yosemite last weekend. This is a bit of a tradition for me – to get up there for at least a quick look at the spring waterfalls and to try to get over the pass as soon as possible after it opens.
For a one-day up-and-back trip (amounting to a bit more than 20 hours on the road, all told) I have to start early. So, long before dawn I was up and in the car and on the road in the dark. The sun comes up – duh! – a lot earlier this time of year, so it was getting light by the time I stopped in Oakdale for a quick on-the-run Starbucks breakfast and got right back on the road. In order to arrive in the Valley by sunrise I would have had to be driving by 2:00 a.m., and that didn’t happen, but I did arrive relatively early and before the really big crowds were out and about. I spent a few minutes at my favorite first view on El Cap and Half Dome along the road just past the turnoff to Foresta and then headed down into the Valley to make my traditional first stop for a thorough drenching under Bridalveil Fall.
I spent a bit more time in the Valley before realizing that the crowds were growing way beyond my comfort level. I don’t blame folks for flocking to the Valley for a scene like this: all of the waterfall in full flow, the sound of falling water everywhere, seasonal falls that aren’t usually seen, new green growth everywhere, flooded meadows, and a warm and clear spring day. But since I can come back on less crowded days, I decided that the drive over Tuolumne would be at least as special and much less crowded.
As I started up 120 I soon saw significant amounts of snow, and by the time the road rose to 8000′ of so the snowpack was pretty continuous. The higher peaks appeared to be in full winter mode still, and I was surprised to see lakes like little Siesta Lake completely frozen over. I’ve been over Tioga before soon after the road opened, but the amount of snow remaining from the cold and wet May and the generally wet winter was quite impressive. Tuolumne Meadows itself was completely covered with snow, excepting the large areas flooded by the surging Tuolumne River. (The entire meadow area just upstream from the bridge by the campground entrance was completely flooded and there were only a few inches between the rushing water and the underside of the bridge.
I continued on up to the pass with a goal of grabbing an early dinner at the Whoa Nelly Deli in Lee Vining. At the pass there were still several feet of snow with plow cuts being five to six feet tall in places. Tioga and Ellery Lakes were almost completely frozen over, and quite a few people were still going back-country skiing in the area. After stopping for dinner in Lee Vining (and grabbing a quick espresso at Latte Da) I headed back up the pass to shoot late afternoon and evening light before heading home.
Ice and Snow on Tioga Pass and Tioga Lake
I made this photograph at Tioga Lake as afternoon shadows from clouds and nearby peaks stretched across the frozen lake surface with Tioga Pass and Kuna Crest looming beyond. (Photograph © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.)
Ten Lakes Basin – a quick photographic pack trip
Earlier this week I spent a few days in the Ten Lakes Basin area of Yosemite National Park. Although I’ve backpacked widely in the high country of the park over the past years – OK, decades… – this was actually the very first time that I visited this popular backpacking destination. I think I had shied away from it for a couple reasons: it seems perhaps too popular and accessible, and I tend to prefer somewhat higher and more alpine terrain. But it was time, I visited, and I’m glad I did.
I managed to get to the park fairly early on a Monday morning and pick up a wilderness permit without problems. (Congratulations to ranger “Elizabeth” who issued her very first Yosemite wilderness permit to me… ;-) It was less difficult to get the permit than it might be under different circumstances: school has started for many and the midweek backcountry “traffic” begins to decline near the end of August. Although I had permit in hand by 9:00 a.m. or so, for a variety of reasons I did not hit the trail until about 1:30.
Although I carry a map and can do a fine job of finding my way around in the mountains with or without a trail, these days I sometimes don’t obsess over “knowing everything” (as if that were even possible!) about the route ahead of time. That was the case on this trip. I was familiar with the trailhead, having driving past it many times, and I had often looked up the valley into which it goes. But beyond that I initially had almost no idea of the actual terrain – in fact, I had long be under the mistaken impression that the Basin is on the south side of the ridge. Wrong.
Before I actually hit the trail I did consult the map more carefully and discover that the lakes are actually on the other side of the ridge… and a few hundred feet below the high point of the trail on a ridge that divides Mariposa and Tuolumne counties. I was starting to catch on that there might be a bit more climbing on this trip than I had really imagined – I sort of intentionally did not measure the climb… which turned out to be about 2000 feet. Now a 2000 foot climb is not a giant one, especially compared to some of 3000′ to 5000′ that I’ve done in the southern Sierra – but neither is it exactly a happy little afternoon walk. In the end, what with stops for photography and food and water along the way, it was close to 7:00 p.m. by the time I arrived at my campsite at “lake three,” the lake to the left of the trail when it arrives in the Basin. I basically set up camp, fixed dinner, did a bit of reading, and went to sleep.
Day 2 was fairly lazy. I did not get up early, so I missed some possible early morning photo opportunities, though I used the better part of the rest of the morning to scout out shooting locations for later. In the afternoon I wandered on up to the next lake and did a bit of photography, especially on the way back down when shadows from the cliff to the west were starting to create some interesting lighting conditions. I also visited the main lake (“lake two”) and found a couple scenes that I returned to photograph later in the evening.
By the end of this second day I was thinking more about the tremendous panorama I had seen as I crossed the high ridge above the lake on the way in. I was stunned by the wide open views, especially toward the peaks of the Sierra crest from Dana and Gibb past Conness to other high peaks far to the north, all set off against the rock-strewn summit of the ridge, tree covered ridges below, and below all of that the depths of the Tuolumne River canyon. I started to make a plan to do a “dry camp” on the ridge on the next night and try to photograph the evening and then the following morning.
On the third day I still had this plan in mind in the morning. But first I did more photography around lake three, including near the outlet stream where I had found some still-fresh vegetation and flowers. (By this time much of the summer plant life is starting to show signs of going dormant. Many flowers have blossomed and gone to seed and some very early hints of fall color are already starting to appear.) After this I decided to explore further up this creek and by a combination of use trails and cross-country scrambling I managed to get up to lake five. I returned to my camp by about 2:00 – hungry for lunch! – and soon packed up with the plan of doing that “dry camp” on the ridge for the photography.
Late in the afternoon I started up the trail and I reached the ridge by about 4:45 or so – but I was somewhat disappointed to find that a very large wildfire was burning to the west and sending quite a bit of smoke my way, and also generally adding a lot of brown haze to the scene that had been so clear two days earlier. I poked around a bit and found a potential camp spot for my bivy sack in a clump of trees on the ridge, but in the end I decided that the photographs I had in mind just weren’t going to happen in these conditions – and I decided to head out and drive home that night. (One often doesn’t know for sure whether such decisions are right or not – but I think this was the right decision given that the fire continued – continues, as I write this – to grow and shortly forced a closure of the Big Oak Flat road into the valley.)
So, at about 6:00 p.m. I started down from the ridge, having resolved to make a beeline for the trailhead. Most of the trail is conducive to fast downhill walking, with the exception of a few steep and rocky sections near the beginning and end of the descent, and I made good time. I arrived at my car before 8:00 p.m. – still enough light to see well, but fading fast – and was soon on the road back to the Bay Area.
A Good Sound on the Trail
Today, for the first time in almost a year, I heard the sound of running water during my hike in the Calero Hills. Here in dry California that is a special thing!
Big Basin Quick Hike Today
This afternoon I headed over to Big Basin for a few hours of hiking and photography. (This evening it occurred to me that I’m, well, lucky to be able to drive a bit more than an hour and hike among coastal redwoods.) I arrived at the park in the early afternoon to find that a) it was quite crowded, and b) it was quite cold. Although the rest of the Bay Area is experiencing unusual (and record) warmth, in the bottom of the “basin” it was cold enough that gloves and a hat were called for.
I parked and headed up the trail through the “creeping forest,” where I stopped a few times to photograph various sights in the forest. After hiking in the outbound direction for about an hour and a half, I reversed course and headed back to the trailhead and then home.
Young Lakes Information
I just replied to an email from future European visitor to Yosemite who wanted to know a bit about visiting the Young Lakes region in the Yosemite National Park high country, and I thought it might be useful to share the message with others who may want to go there. Here is the text, slightly modified: Continue reading
Almaden Quicksilver County Park Photographs
&t<a name="manilaPath_photography/almadenquicksilver";[Macro error: Can’t include message “1024” because no message exists with that number, shortcut or path.]
***About this page
You might wonder “why so many pictures of this park?” It is the closest decent hiking location to my home, so I go there frequently – often once a week. Although this park overlooks Silicon Valley (and even San Francisco on a clear day) and some trails are almost literally in the backyards of expensive Almaden Valley homes, there is a lot of great hiking here. (More info at http://www.parkhere.org/ and at Ron Horii’s Almaden Quicksilver web site.)
All text and photographs are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. Neither text nor photographs may be used in any form without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
(Note: This now qualifies as a rather old page, but I’m keeping it around for the archives.)
***Photos of buildings at Almaden Quicksilver
– There is no escaping the fact that this was a mining site for many years (hence “Almaden Quicksilver County Park”), and I find the ruins historically and aesthetically interesting. A separate page (Almaden Quicksilver County Park Structures Photographs) contains photographs of these subjects.
Note: Additional photographs from this park are found here.
—
New and Old Trees, Spanish Camp. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Trees, Spanish Town. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. April 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Oak Grassland Near Webb Canyon. Almaden Hills, California. March 17, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Two Hikers, Oak Grove Near Webb Canyon. Almaden Quicksilver Park, California. March 17, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Santa Clara Valley Hills. Almaden Valley, California. February 16, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Winter Hiker. Almaden Hills, California. February 16, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Oak Emerging from Fog. Almaden Hills, California. February 16, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
“>
Poison Oak Leaves. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 14, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Autumn Leaves. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 14, 2006. ©: Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Rocks, Trees, and Grass. Almaden Quicksilver Park. March 18, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Diablo Range Snow and Clouds. Almaden Quicksilver. February 18, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Oak Arches. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 23, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Late Season Fall Color. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 23, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Tree and Rain. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 21, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Solstice Trees. Almaden Quicksilver. December 21, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Prospect #3 Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 26, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Oak Grove and Fog. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 22, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Moonrise Near the Senador Mine. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 16, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Mt. Hamilton and Santa Clara Valley Fog. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 1, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Leaves Turning Colors. Quicksilver Park. September 2, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Sunset. Almaden Quicksilver Park. July 21, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
South Santa Clara Valley from Catherine Mine. Almaden Quicksilver Park. July 19, 2005. © Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Morning Light. Almaden Quicksilver Park. May 7, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Almaden Quicksilver Hillside. April 2, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Spring Flowers. Almaden Quicksilver Park. March 13, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Fisherman at Guadalupe Reservoir. Almaden Quicksilver Park. March 13, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Morning sun on oak trees and new grass. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 26, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
New oak foliage. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 26, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Hillside near Guadalupe Reservoir. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 12, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Looking west from the ridge above Senador Mine. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 12, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell
Oak and grass covered ridge near Webb Canyon. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 22, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
New Years Day. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 1, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Sun on a nearby ridge as rain approaches. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 1, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Rainbow over Almaden Valley. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 1, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Santa Clara Valley with San Francisco in the far distance. January 1, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Spur trail between New Almaden Trail and Randol Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 15, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Trees and grass on a small ridge near the Randol Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 15, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Trees in morning sun at Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 15, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Fog in the Santa Clara Valley. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 11, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Golden late-fall trees. Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 11, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Oaks and fog on a ridge at Almaden Quicksilver Park. December 10, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Trees and grass on the New Almaden Trail. December 4, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
New Almaden Trail. December 4, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Bare branches, fall leaves, and new grass. Almaden Quicksilver Park. November 14, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Peeling bark. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 31, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Bay trees. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 31, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Green and brown leaves on the Deep Gulch Trail at Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 23, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Oak tree near the Hacienda Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. October 16, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Fall trees near the top of the Deep Gulch Trail at Almaden Quicksilver. October 16, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Mountain Hamilton beyond Almaden Quicksilver ridge. September 18, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Randol Trail #2. Almaden Quicksilver Park. September 3, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Almaden Quicksilver Park with Mt. Hamilton in the distance. August 28, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Randol Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. August 28, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Hacienda Trail oaks. Almaden Quicksilver. August 21, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Hacienda Trail. Almaden Quicksilver. August 21, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Catherine Tunnel mine site. Almaden Quicksilver Park. August 7, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Lichen and Leaves on the Castillero Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. August 7, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Mine Hill trail in evening light. July 28, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Fall colors near English Camp. Almaden Quicksilver Park. November 15, 2003. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Rock, grass, and trees on the Woods Road trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. June 12, 2003. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Dry grass at Almaden Quicksilver Park. June 26, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
New Almaden Trail near Mockingbird Hill. April 18, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Rocks, grass, and trees. Almaden Quicksilver Park. April 18, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Another version of the oak-covered ridge near Webb Canyon. March 27, 2004.< Photo copyright Dan Mitchell./i>
Oak-covered ridge near Webb Canyon. March 27, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Hillside near the Hacienda entrance to Almaden Quicksilver Park. August 13, 2002. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Near the Hacienda entrance. March 20, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Bridge on the New Almaden Trail, Almaden Quicksilver County Park. March 13, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Trees and grass along Woods Road, Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 15, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
January flowers. January 31, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Forested section of the Prospect #3 trail. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Almaden Quicksilver early autumn leaves. September 28, 2003. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell
Almaden Quicksilver early autumn leaves in black and white. September 28, 2003.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
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Dan's Outside 
Over at my photography site – another epic two-day sierra shoot
I spent the weekend shuttling around areas ranging from Yosemite Valley to Mono Lake to Mariposa grove. The story is posted at my photography web site.
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June 8, 2009 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | california, epic, grove, lake, mariposa, meadows, mono, national, nevada, park, pass, Photography, redwood, road, sequoia, sierra, tioga, tree, trip, tuolumne, usa, valley, wawona, Yosemite | Comments Off on Over at my photography site – another epic two-day sierra shoot