Photograph: Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake, Sunset

Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake, Sunset

Posted on 15 June 2011

Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake, Sunset

Alpenglow lights Mount Conness above Lower Young Lake in the Yosemite National Park back-country.

I was recently going through a large portion of my archive in search of a variety of photographs of Mount Conness, a well-known peak along the northeast edge of Yosemite National Park on the crest of the Sierra. This is perhaps not the best known peak in Yosemite for most people – they are obviously going to be far more familiar with the cliffs and domes around Yosemite Valley or with Mount Lyell (the tallest peak in the park) or perhaps Mount Dana (second highest peak, and towering above the Tioga Pass entrance.) Mount Conness is found a bit further “north” along the crest, and while it may be less known, it is certainly no less visible once you know where to look. You can see it in the distance towering above Tenaya Lake if you stop at the iconic Olmsted Point overlook. It is visible from many places along the road to Tuolumne Meadows. Once you get away from roads and into the high country it can be seen from almost any high point with an open view in the direction of the peak, including places like Vogelsang High Sierra Camp.

This photograph was made on a quiet late-season evening at Lower Young Lake, a place that I return to frequently, most of the time in the off-season when fewer people are there and the fall colors of the high country are starting to appear. The peak (and many other features in this area) are beautifully illuminated late in the day as this high ridge is open without obstruction to the west. The light on the peak was magical on this evening, being colorful and contrasting with the higher and more drab clouds, but not being as gaudily bright as it can be on other evenings.

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Category: Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite
Tags: alpenglow, arete, autumn, back, backpack, beach, buttress, california, clouds, conness, country, dusk, evening, forest, grass, hike, lake, late, light, lone, lower, meadow, mount, Mountain, national, nevada, north america, park, peak, photo, pine, pink, range, ridge, ripples, sand, season, shore, sierra, sky, stock, summer, summit, sunset, surface, usa, water, west, yosemite, young

4 comments to Mount Conness and Lower Young Lake, Sunset

Curt Fleenor

says:

June 15, 2011 at 4:48 am

Wonderful image Dan!

G Dan Mitchell says:

June 15, 2011 at 8:37 am

Thanks, Curt. :-)

Dan

Reply

David Leland Hyde

says:

June 15, 2011 at 11:08 am

I like the long lines, tones and tranquility of this image. Nice work.

G Dan Mitchell says:

June 15, 2011 at 11:47 am

Thanks, David. “Tranquility” is the right word for this scene, both the photographic version and the physical version.

Dan

Reply