Tag: sierra nevada

adventure, camera, photography, travel

Winter in the Picturesque June Lake

Jeltown

DSC_7354-Edit.jpg

Winter is Coming! I actually took this shot in the daytime during a brief snowstorm at one of the best places to watch fall colors in California. June Lake is a small resort town of about 500 people nestled 7000 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Easter Range. Snow in September is not uncommon at this altitude. The colors were beautiful and so was the scene but I wanted to add a little fun touch so I used photoshop to create a nighttime feel with lit street lamps and windows shining into the night. What do you think? How can I improve my skills? What could I have done better?

Enjoy my adventures?

adventure, hiking, sierra nevada, travel

Garnett Lake and the JMT

Jeltown

DSC_8872.jpg

Banner Peak looms 12,942 feet over the beautiful island filled Garnet Lake, little brother to the more famous Thousand Island Lake. Numerous small glaciers decorate the sides of this beautiful mountain (which can apparently be climbed by a least one class 2 route…hmm next adventure?). Thousand Island Lake can be most easily reached by the 7.8 mile gently sloping River Trail from Agnew Meadows. However, I had the bright idea that we should return via the JMT to Shadow Lake route. While the maps indicated this was a bit longer they in no way prepared us for the innumerable painful switchbacks, ups and downs, and much rougher terrain of this particular detour. The trail tops out at 10k above sea level and with most of it is above 8k that altitude definitely gets to you! The return ended up being about 10.6 miles down the JMT to Shadow Lake and back to Agnew Meadows. However, we still managed the 18.4 mile loop in 7.5 hours (a record pace for us I think). A soak in a hot springs afterward and another one the next morning helped ease our sore muscles. Ediza and Iceberg Lakes are next on my list. Who has hiked this area?

Enjoy my adventures?

adventure, camera, sierra nevada, travel

First Snow of 2017

Jeltown

_DSC0905.jpg

Watching the storm role in. Snow transforms everything, turning dry dusty ground into a white winter wonderland. Snow allows the almost desert like conditions of the Eastern Sierras to thrive with life, Aspens and Evergreens, Wildflower and Wild Berries. While California certainly does have some beautiful mountains all year long, I think that snow really puts the finishing touches on them and brings them to the level of some of the more lush mountain ranges to the north. Can’t wait till more snow falls here…maybe be out in it, maybe get stuck on the wrong side of a closed pass again as I did last fall during the first snow (that I recall) when I took this photo of my friend shooting near June Lake. What’s your favorite thing about winter?

Enjoy my adventures?

camera, sierra nevada, travel

Reminders of the Past

Jeltown

_DSC2208.jpg

I’ve always wanted to shoot thud dilapidated old cabin on the side of the highway. It’s given way to long years of wind and weather with both snowy winters and dry summers taking their toll. Just before sunset, whispy white clouds began pouring over the Eastern end of the Sierra Nevadas setting the perfect backdrop for the seen. Weathered and beaten. I wonder what the story is. Did someone live here? Were they farmers or gold rushers? Do you have a favorite weathered old building to shoot? Care to share it?

Enjoy my adventures?

camera, hiking, travel

Caples Lake in Winter

Jeltown

DSCF9910.jpg

As promised, here is a lovely photo of my partner and fellow adventurer with a frozen Caples Lake for the background. We were crossing the mountain pass to the Eastern Sierras when we came upon this lovely seen and ended up staying till sunset to watch the mountains change from white to orange to blue in the fading light. The lake’s ice was ominously cracking and creaking but we saw people skate across the whole this without incident.  Would you skate across this lake if you saw someone else do it or would you want more reassurance?

Enjoy my adventures?

adventure, camera, hiking, photography, sierra nevada, travel

Setting Sun from Bridgeport

Jeltown

DSC_9228-Edit-2.jpg

One thing I love about the Eastern Sierra mountains is how different they can look depending on the clouds, the weather, the time of the year. Fall colors change the landscape from yellow, to gold, to orange and brown. Add a few clouds and a sunset and you get even more spectacular tones. The windswept grassy fields around Bridgeport create a beautiful foreground to the stunning Sierra Crags that rise above the Twin Lakes Region off in the distance. A light dusting of snow has coated the peaks. I imagine now they are completely covered in snow. Can’t wait to get back up here and explore some more. What is your favorite spot to hike around Bridgeport, California?

Enjoy my adventures?

 

 

adventure, hiking, ice climbing, travel

Temple Crag in Winter

Jeltown

DSCF8753.jpg

Self portrait in Lake 2 of the Big Pine Lakes. Towering above is the 13k foot Temple Crag, one of my all time favorite mountains in the Sierras. Have you climbed it or at least seen it? I think its a class 4 scramble but might by a lot more technical than that. I’m not a true mountaineer, just an avid hiker. The lake (Lake 2 again) was beautifully frozen with most of the snow blown off. The trail itself was a bit icy but with crampons was no problem. Do you like to hike with crampons? They add so much security to climbing on ice that you feel like no climb is impossible. Almost 10 miles round trip to this spot but so worth it. This was shot with the Fujifilm X-T2 which I rented for a few weeks in December 2017. I loved it except that being a cropped sensor it didn’t perform quite so well in low light as my full frame Nikon D810.

Enjoy my adventures?