Sierra Nevada

Big Pine Lakes and Palisades Glacier

by Kurt September 27, 2010 in Night, Sierra Nevada 3 comments

Wow! Really that is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this trip. It was truly amazing. My first ever summertime backpacking trip really rocked my world. We went to an area called Big Pine Lakes to camp. This is a wonderful set of lakes some of which are fed by glacial waters from higher up. The glacial sediments suspended in the water make the water an incredible shade of blue. It’s just amazing to see.

Along the banks of the North Fork of Big Pine Creek

From the trailhead, we hiked 6 miles or so to our camp at Third Lake. From here, at around 10,000 feet, we would camp and set out for the Palisades Glacier the next day.

Sam Mack Meadow is a beautiful stopover on the way up to the glacier. We stopped here to take a few moments to refill our water supplies before heading on up. Elevation here is about 11,000 feet.

First, Second and Third Lakes from above

As we climbed, we got a good view of First, Second and Third lakes (top to bottom in the above pic).

Finally, we got the view we were working towards. The Palisades Glacier. This glacier is the largest in the Sierras, and they are amongst the southernmost in North America. This was a truly breathtaking sight. Our view was from a ridge above the terminal lake at about 12,300 feet. We were essentially standing on the terminal moraine of the glacier when it extended much further.

Click on the above panorama for a larger version on flickr.

Above the Glacier are several 14,000 foot peaks (and some a little bit less), including North Palisade, Starlight Peak, Thunderbolt Peak, Mount Sill and Polemonium Peak. It’s a magnificent area.

North Palisade (left) and Starlight Peak

I was really captivated by Temple Crag, which loomed above our campsite. I could probably spend a week photographing this single mountain.

Clouds casting shadows directly onto nearby Temple Crag

Finally, the Perseid Meteor Shower was happening at the time we were there, and I tried to capture a few of them while looking at the amazing Temple Crag.

It was an amazing trip. I hope to go back and explore the glacier up close, something our group voted not to do. It really was some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen with my own eyes.

A single captured Perseid

by Kurt August 20, 2010 in Night, Sierra Nevada 2 comments

The blog hasn’t seen much updating lately, but that’s because I’ve been out taking in tons of new material! A most recent example is this shot from a backpacking expedition to the Big Pine Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras. Here is a 30-minute long exposure of the incredibly beautiful Temple Crag. Despite pointing my camera in almost the exact opposite direction from the constellation of Perseus, the point from which Perseid meteors seem to originate from, I managed to capture one stray behind this striking mountain. The sole vertical line on the left side is the captured Perseid.

Some adventures in snow

by Kurt April 4, 2010 in Sierra Nevada, Winter 2 comments

As part of my experience with the excellent and highly recommended Wilderness Travel Course from the Sierra Club I was able to experience snow shoe travel and snow camping. I had never really thought to participate in either of these activities before, but in my quest to expand my photographic horizons it has been really eye opening to learn how to safely travel in the wilderness and in wintertime and I look forward to using these skills to take photos in new and interesting locations all year round. Theo following series of photographs were taken on the snow travel and snow camp trips with the WTC. First up is snow shoeing on Mt. Pinos.

Our journey began with overcast conditions and snow, but on our way to the summit we experienced a very brief clearing in the clouds, snow and fog to reveal a beautiful blue sky from 8400 feet.

Ski, hiking and now show tracks abound on this popular peak. I have visited this mountain numerous times in the summer and to see it like this was really a profound transformation. It was absolutely beautiful.

A lone tree became silhouetted against a sea of white as the snow picked up and the clouds skirted across the top of the mountain. We flirted with whiteout conditions on and off for the whole trip.

Here the snow was coming down pretty hard.

And finally a shot of our crew traveling single file with snowshoes and trekking poles.

On our way to our snow camp destination, we stopped at Lone Pine. I snapped a quick shot of Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. Whitney is about dead center of this picture and due to its distance from camera appears smaller than the closer Lone Pine Peak on the left. Perhaps with a little luck this summer I will have some pictures of Mt Whitney from far closer.

A view from the southern end of our campground reveals a beautiful scene. The rest of these photos are from the area around our campground at Rock Creek Lake. The afternoon the weather would bring us on and off snow showers with constantly changing light patterns. It was a really beautiful winter landscape.

Looking towards the shrouded peak of Mount Morgan