Precipice Lake
Posted on 15 August 2008
Precipice Lake. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
In homage to Ansel. Yes, it is that Precipice Lake.
I just returned from a 9-day trans-Sierra backpack trip that passed by Precipice Lake on the route over Kaweah Gap as we travelled from Crescent Meadow on the west side of the Sierra to Whitney Portal on the east side.
Precipice Lake is near the top of the approx. 2500′ climb from Upper Hamilton Lake to Kaweah Gap, a pass across the Great Western Divide into the area near the Kaweahs. After struggling up the steepest portion of the climb – thankfully done in morning shade – you top a small saddle and there it is in front of you. I remember my first visit 30 years ago – although I had seen the famous Ansel Adams photograph of these cliffs I did not know where they were located… until I topped this rise and saw the actual scene right before me.
Shooting the “classic” Precipice Lake view is almost embarrassingly easy. Walk up to the edge of the lake on the trail and drop down to some nice rocky spots along the shoreline, take out trip, aim at opposite cliff (one of the signature features of Precipice Lake), make photographs. It is my impression that this is one of those places that can be good to shoot a bit later in the day – perhaps around mid-morning as the light begins to spill over the ridge and onto portions of the water, where it can illuminate some very interesting underwater rocks.
keywords: precipice, lake, sequoia, national park, california, usa, kaweah, gap, great western divide, high, sierra, trail, hike, backpack, ansel adams, cliff, rock, patterns, reflection, mirror, water, snow, summer, alpine, mountain, landscape, stock
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G Dan Mitchell
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, and night photography.
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[...] Precipice Lake is perched high above Hamilton Lake along the High Sierra Trail just below the pass at Kaweah Gap. (The High Sierra Trail is an east-west trans-Sierra route between Crescent Meadow in Sequoia National Park on the west side and Mount Whitney on the crest.) I first hike this route and visited this lake perhaps 30 years ago on a long pack trip with my wife. I recall coming upon the lake and only realizing as I saw the view for the first time that I had seen this before in a somewhat famous Ansel Photograph that he made in 1932. His photograph is much different that this one as used a location more like that seen here. [...]
[...] I had worked this scene about as much as possible under the circumstances – and I did get a photograph of the “classic view” that I like a great deal – so I loaded up my heavy 9-day backpack load, put away the camera, [...]