The Range of Light
That was what John Muir famously called the Sierra Nevada. Great photographers from Ansel Adams to Galen Rowell emphatically agreed. It is a very special range, comparatively young, fairly steep, filled with blue mountain lakes, and dramatic ragged summits. The crown jewel of the range is Yosemite National Park with Half Dome, above, El Capitan, and waterfalls roaring off high granite cliffs. Yosemite has hundreds of miles of trails.
For many years, I hoped to get a shot of the last light on Half Dome; but the light was never right. I recall a column that Galen Rowell wrote about fine particles of soot in the high atmosphere as a result of the eruption of the Krakatoa Volcano. He said that soot made for a deeper, more intense color on the mountains in the evening.
In the summer of 2021, my wife and I had planned a trip to try to summit Mt. Whitney. As a prelude we spent a couple of nights in the Valley. At that time the Caldor Fire was raging near Lake Tahoe. I wondered whether the smoke from that fire would have an effect similar to the effect of Krakatoa. So there I stood in the meadow across from the Ahwahnee Hotel, camera in hand (no tripod), my fingers crossed. I was rewarded with the shot I had sought for probably 35 years. You can see the corner of the Ahwahnee Hotel across the meadow.
On the other hand, my wife, waiting in the car, got email news that the U.S. Forest Service had just closed all the forests on the East Side of the Sierra, effectively scuttlling our planned hike on Mt. Whitney.
The greatest of the Sierra trails, and possibly the best hiking trail in the world, is the John Muir Trail. It spans over 200 miles through the high country. The southern end of the trail is the summit of Mt. Whitney. Much of the hike is over 10,000 feet, and it includes passes at 12,000 and 13,000 feet. Almost the entire trail is wilderness. It takes us a month to hike this trail supported by mules, wranglers and, of course, a cook (see the Rock Creek Pack Station). It is done in much less time by ultralight backpackers and younger, fitter hikers. There may be some who can adequately describe the experience of this trail in words, but I am not among them. Below I offer a couple of shots from the trail to give some small sense of it.
If you have a comment, let me know. Tom@thefleetinglight.com
Dawn at Guitar Lake.
We were camped at Crabtree Meadow at about 10,300 feet. We got up at 3:30 a.m. for an early start with headlamps to the Mt. Whitney summit. Just as the sun arose, we reached Guitar Lake. The lake is at about 11,000 feet and on the west side of the Whitney summit. The shadow of the Whitney Crest keeps Guitar Lake in shadow for the early morning. However, the first light hits the 13,000 foot Kaweah Peaks further to the west. The dawn light on those mountains is reflected back on the mouth of Guitar Lake. I quickly scrambled to a vantage point and was able to take 3 shots before the light faded. (We did make it to the Whitney summit!)
Mount Banner.
We were camped at about 9,300 feet near the edge of Thousand Island Lake with a stunning view of Mt. Banner, a famous 13,000 foot climbing peak.
The image that I had planned was the very first light on the summit of Mt. Banner. I got up well before sunrise, and I got that shot. But as the sun rose further, the reflection of the mountain began forming in Thousand Island Lake. By the time the reflection was complete, I happened to look down and saw the morning sun on wildflowers at my feet.
This was not the shot that I had imagined; it was the shot that the day had given. There undoubtedly are some very good pictures of Mt. Banner out there, but this is the best one I have seen (IMHO).