Tag Archives: stock

Turtle Man

Turtle Man
Turtle Dave* climbing the west side of Mount Whitney near the end of the John Muir Trail.

Turtle Man. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Turtle Dave* climbing the west side of Mount Whitney near the end of the John Muir Trail.

There are several stories behind this photograph. One is specific to this man and this place, and another relates more generally to people like him that I have encountered in the backcountry over the years. The specific story: “Turtle Dave” (or was it “Turtle Don?*”) was his trail name on the John Muir Trail when we encountered him. He was soloing the JMT, and on this day he was going to reach the summit of Mount Whitney. I was part of a group of experienced backpackers who had come all the way across the Sierra from the west side to get here, and we felt like a pretty tough group… until we met him. He wasn’t fast, but he seemed as at ease in the backcountry as anyone I’ve ever met.

Perhaps because of this photograph, and perhaps because I’m considering some trips into the backcountry, and perhaps because I’m no longer a child (well, not in most ways) I’ve been thinking about a string of similar “mature” backpackers I’ve met over the years. Decades ago as Patty and I embarked on our first long backpacking trip we camped near “Sig,” an “older woman” (at least a decade younger than my age today!) who starting her solo of the JMT. On another trip out of Tuolumne Meadows I spoke with a 75-year-old fellow who was starting out on the JMT all alone. If you meet one of these folks on the trail, I urge you to stop and chat a bit — there’s a good chance that the conversation will be memorable.

* Update: My local research department (a.k.a. Patty) found some web references to “Turtle Don” and his adventure. I’ll leave this post with the current title, but it is good to know the right name for this guy!


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Fractured Pinnacles

Fractured Pinnacles
Fractured Sierra Nevada pinnacles near Whitney Trail Crest.

Fractured Pinnacles. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fractured Sierra Nevada pinnacles near Whitney Trail Crest.

Over years and decades of travel in the Sierra high country I have continued to notice new things — it is impossible to know everything about such a complex and rich subject. The highest points always appealed to me, and I remember the first time that I really noticed the rugged terrain of the highest ridges. It was on my first traverse of Forester Pass, the entrance to the monumental terrain of the Upper Kern drainage. The pass is a land of broken rock, and as I crossed it I took note of the higher ridges stretching away.

This scene is from another busy area of the high country — generally speaking, the Sierra Crest running south from Mount Whitney. The High Sierra Trail rises to this crest and from there a lateral trail follows the ridge out to the summit of Mount Whitney. I recall making this photograph quite a few years ago and, at the time, thinking about what I wanted it to look like. But other images were more pressing, and it sat in the archive until I recently produced this monochromatic rendition.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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Lake, Ridges, Evening Light

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light
Mountaintop trees stand above a sub-alpine lake, dome, and ridge in evening light, Yosemite National Park

Lake, Ridges, Evening Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mountaintop trees stand above a sub-alpine lake, dome, and ridge in evening light, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph (and its appearance here) is a bit unusual for me, though not entirely unprecedented. It is a photograph that I have shared previously, back when I originally made it some years ago. During the last year and a half I have had plenty of opportunities to revisit older work. Mostly this has meant exploring raw file archives to locate work that was “left behind,” but which turned out to be interesting and valuable in retrospect — photographs that I felt deserved a first showing. But this case represents something different — the rethinking of a photograph that I thought I had finished.

Revisiting and revising one of my previously-shared photographs usually leads to some relatively obvious changes. But in this case I think that changes may be subtle. Theres a small change in how it is cropped, some new ideas about how to handle the foreground light, some important but small changes to the middle forest and peak just beyond the lake, and some new adjustments to the sky. In my view, it is perfectly natural and good to revisit the original interpretation of a photograph over time, a process that was perhaps more common in the film era.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Light on Red Rock

Light on Red Rock
Sandstone formations in sunlight, Arches National Park.

Light on Red Rock. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sandstone formations in sunlight, Arches National Park.

As I have waded through my 2012 archive of raw images from Utah, made during two autumn trips to the southern part of the state that lasted nearly a full month in total, I am again reminded to the incredibly diverse ways in which the ubiquitous sandstone can be seen. Sometimes, in stark light, the colors are not that striking. In the depths of canyons they can be unbelievably intense. In dawn and sunset light they can become so saturated as to be nearly unbelievable. In shade they can be tinged with blue. And on it goes…

I made this photograph in “normal” daytime light, in a place where the sun beats down without obstruction. I don’t recall for sure now, but judging by the reasonable light levels of the highlights, it may have been a bit overcast. In this location the rock tends to organize into “fins” and fin-like formations, with long walls that are tall and parallel to one another. The nearly overhead light created shadows on the side of the rocks facing me, but each face was also subtly lit by reflections.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

Blog | About | Flickr | FacebookEmail

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.