JMT shots

“
Dial-up modem pergatory

Here's my JMT hikin' partner, Jim, readying his camera for a shot of a large cascade falling through Le Conte Canyon along the JMT. This was late afternoon, and we continued hiking down to beyond where the canyon bends to the right, where we camped at Big Pete Meadow.

As I was changing rolls of film right after this pic, a large cigar-shaped craft quietly zipped down the canyon and out of sight. We were nervous at first, but we saw big green heads pressed against the window with little waving green hands. I think they were smiling, but their mouths were very very small, but regardless, the overall vibe we got was friendly. Yes huh.”

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Big Boys Click Here

Here's a shot of the mountains behind Marie Lake in late afternoon. I liked how the clouds played in the sky. Seemingly endless remote basins, most of them filled with chains of lakes, many of them unnamed, await the adventurer. I've explored many of the basins around here, but I've only scratched the surface and it drives me crazy as I spend hours studying the topo maps and dreaming of every place I hafta see. I gotta hike, Gotta Hike, GOTTA HIKE!


Kick it in gear

This is a similar perspective of the above shot, shooting across Marie Lake, later in the evening as the sun blasted the peaks with one last shot of warm light. Then shortly afterwards an incredibly beautiful pink hued alpenglow settled in the area. It was a terrific evening. But then it rained all night long. Well, I don't know if it rained ALL night long because I was mostly asleep, but the couple times I was awaken by pikas in my hair, it was raining.”

“
Flipper Dipper Size

Here's the JMThree (aka The Pirates Of the JMT) on top of Forester Pass looking happier than G-Dub if he had just found a cache of WMD's. Those of you doing the Kearsarge-Shepherd's Pass loop are gonna be smiling from this same spot just the same. You can't frown up there, you just can't. Well, okay, if you get struck by lightning you might grimace for a second or two, but that's about it. No slices of fresh pizza were consumed during the making of this photo.”

“
Crank it, baby

Here's a pass just north of Kearsarge, called Glen Pass. There's a small trout-filled lakelet on the southside, and many large trout-filled lakes (Rae Lakes) on the north side. This is Jim descending the southside of the pass in bright (and harsh!) mid-morning light. The peaks here are huge, so I had to squish everything down with my ultra-wide 17mm lens to fit everything in the frame. Jim tooted during the making of this photo.”

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I only do these to piss off the dial-uppers

This is Lower Palisade Lake, which we called home for a night. It was a nice place to live for a while. The JMT runs right along the left shore and bends to the right and way up those honkin' mountains and over Mather Pass. This lake was filled with easy-to-catch rainbows. We slept near the meadow to the left of this photo... I just thought you needed to know that. I knew you were askin' yourself, "I wonder where they slept?". There ya go. Mars was huge that night, but it fell out of the sky. I think Bush was just playin' with it. It's back now.”

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IMAX

Here's another shot of Lower Palisade Lake from the outlet. The Palisades, at over 14,000 feet, are catching the last of sun long after the lake basin was in shadows. If you see a Sasquatch in this photo, please let me know, it may be worth something.”

“
Mucho Grande

I zoomed up on the Palisades towering above the lake as the sun was setting. These peaks are a mountaineers dream. They are both spectacularly beautiful, and quite challenging. Galen Rowell has climbed these peaks, which makes them good enough for me. Bush wants to close these mountains off to the American public and only allow illegal aliens to climb them.”

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Non-itsy bitsy

I seem to do this frequently, unintentionally, I might add, but frequently. I take a shot of a scene and then go do some other stuff and come back later, not knowing what I took shots of before, and take nearly the same exact composition as before. This is close to the same shot as above, but this time after the sun has set and the soft alpenglow lit up the peaks. I post these to show contrast in lighting. I love the way how light plays on, and changes, the landscape.”

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Honkin'

As the sun set in Palisade Lakes basin, the slivered moon appeared to take its place. Being in such a barren place, it doesn't take much light to illuminate these High Sierra basins. After I took this shot I headed back to camp to boil some water for yet another batch of freeze-dried Mountain House Mad Cow w/ Noodles. Mmm mmm. They're coming to take me away, ha ha. They're cOmInG tO TaKe mE aWaY, hA Ha! ThEY COmiNG TO TAkE ME aWAY, HA HA!

AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh...”

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Jumbo Size

This is looking north from Muir Pass along the JMT. You can barely see the trail on the lower mid-right side of the photo. The big lake down there is Wanda Lake, named after one of John Muir's daughters. I dated her. She's alright, so-so. This area also falls into the North Lake-South Lake loopy poo trip. We had camped the night before at Evoluton Lake, and it was late morning by the time we made this pass. I'd stay away from walking inside Muir Hut, the stone hut on top of Muir Pass. Anytime anyone sets a foot inside the hut, lightning strikes it and kills people. It's a weird phenomena. And yes, it's really late and I'm done scanning for now. Niters. And yes, I realize I'm talking to no one at this time. Bye.”

“Buck,
Absolutely fantastic...made ready for postcards!! And your narrative isn't too bad either. LMAO...Thanks for sharing.
NJpacker”

“So when are you going to do a TT hike, Buck?”

“Great pics!”

“Buck you sure do take great pictures.”

“Awesome trip and pics!”

“Postcards from the edge? ;-)

Nice shots!”

“Buck, I'm sure you'll want to visit Ocala, Fla, in early Feb. as your first TT trip!! Just check the "trips" page. Let's see what you can do with flat land!!! Moooooohahahaha

Hey, I know what you mean about alien craft hovering. I watched "Signs" last night. SHEESH, what a loser movie. BUT, I did have rather odd dreams this morning!! I think one of our county commissioners died in a spaghetti eating incident on a steep hillside.

LMAO!!!

Great shots. Will you be my "on the other end of the phone" guy for teaching the beginner's digital photography class?? LOL!”

“breathtaking!!!!”

“Gracias for the compliments! Hey Dub, I'm lQQkin' forward to a TT sponsored hike sometime. My problem is on the multi-day ones that require a vacation day, well, I have so many trips already lined up that I'm already deciding how to use my limited 20-days-per-year vacation. If there's Sierra/Coast weekender TT trips, I'm all over it. Lord willin', I'm gonna give Snow Nymph a run for her money this year!”

“
Maximus to the gluteus

I'll post a couple more scenes seen right off the John Muir Trail. The trail goes this basin here, which is above Dollar Lake and below Arrowhead Lake in the Rae Lakes Basin. For those doing the Kearsarge-Shepherd's Pass trip, if you would hang a right instead of a left on the backside of Kearsarge Pass, you would go over Glen Pass and drop down into this basin. This place is littered with beauty, it's just lousy with it. I hope to go back for a few days just to the Rae Lakes Basin and the surrounding basins as well. Rae Lakes is actually part of a popular loop trail out of Cedar Grove Roadend, so chances are you'll see a few other folks enjoyin' the scenery as well. But a half mile any direction from here should grant you sweet solitude.”

“BUCK! Where the hell have u been, sir?”

“
Super Colossal Size

BUT, since the Kearsarge-Shepherd's Pass folks ARE turning left once over Kearsarge Pass, this is the basin you will hit before you start the crank up Forester Pass. It's one of my favorite basins (BUCK, YOU SAY THAT ABOUT ALL OF THESE BASINS, YOU HAVE ZIPPO CREDIBILITY WHEN YOU SAY THAT). This is a self-portrait, and you may think I'm overwhelmed by the scenery, but I'm actually just airing out my stinky armpits and about to fall backwards since I'm used to balancing my pack weight. I ended up tumbling down into the creek and being swept 15 miles down Bubbs Creek to the S.F. Kings River where a fly fisherman landed me on a #14 Light Cahill. I thanked him and then hiked all night back to camp and had breakfast with my buddies before we tackled Forester Pass. It was a loooOOOong day.”

“Scorchfire, I've been in hell, where the hell you been?”

“Eh, I've been around. My hell starts tomorrow.”

“
Scorchfire's hell

Before you get to the above basin where I just aired out my armpits (folks, the air should be clear by next summer when you pass through), you must first drop down into the Bubbs Creek area zone situation place, which this photo shows. Vidette Meadow is somewhere down there, and the path you Kearsarge-Shepherder's will take is to the left, following those trees up, and then taking the right side canyon on the left side of the screen (that sounds confusing, Buck). It's a great hike through here, unless you get mauled by a black bear, then it would suck and your fellow hikers would then fight over your food. When we hiked through here that afteroon, we could almost say it was a perfectly cloudless day, but nooOOOoo, one little teeny weeny cloud had to ruin it.”

“I WISH that was my hell, Bucko.”

“
To big for dial-uppers to bite

This is a shot as we hiked towards the base of Center Peak (on left) where we stayed for the night. We had enough daylight and energy left to continue higher up the trail towards Forester Pass, but the area was just so danged pretty we decided to call it a day right then and there. We had already been on the trail for over 2 straight weeks at this point. Those of you hiking over Kearsarge Pass can reach this in one loooOOoong day, or two fairly easy days.”

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Broadband recommended unless you have a good book

This is the pretty basin where we camped. Bring your fishing rod, the place is chock full of shimmering golden trout. If you don't catch any, well, you plain suck as a fisherman and I'd recommend using the tip of your rod to roast marshmallows over the campfire.”

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Kick it in high gear

I stink I posted a similar shot as this a while ago, but this is a new scan and a little different. You hafta forgive us photographers... if even a cloud moves, it warrants another unique shot. This was taken at full ultra-wide angle 17mm looking up towards Center Peak in the same basin as above. That itsy bitsy cloud earlier in the day must've been preggers, because by late afternoon the sky was full of puffy clouds, mostly happy clouds, but some were a little grumpy.”

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The big burrito

I think this shot most typifies the beauty of this basin. Upper Bubbs Creek cascades over granite slabs into pools, and meanders through lush meadows . What a grand place to call home for an evening and morning as you pass through. I would sneak up and cast my fly into these pools and catch a few goldens, release them,
then set up my tripod and snap a pic, and then continue on up the creek like this. It was an awesome time! You Kearsarge-Shepherd's Passers will love this place, unless, of course, someone like VioLin is hiking with you. KIDDING! JOKE Joke joke. Jest jokin'. Really. We all know VioLin would never put in the effort required to get to these kinds of places. JOKE! REALLY, I'M JOKING. Seriously, I jest. Ahhh, good times.”

“Buck, you should probably sign up for webshots”

“
56kers need not apply

Okay, this is my last one for now. This thread is gettin' bogged down and Scorchfire has to keep cntrl/alt/delete-ing because I'm lockin' up her computer. Sorry Scorchy babe. We left the above basin and are now in the Ansel Adams Wilderness at Thousand Island Lake. Wait, this is WAY before we hit the Center Peak basin area place. I'm so random. Anyway, this is a morning shot of the trail along Thousand Island Lake. It had stormed much of that night, and it was flippin' cold that morning. The Ansel Adams Wilderness is one of my favorite places (there you go AGAIN, Buck!). Garsh, the entire Sierra is plain gorgeous, except for inside the latrine at Trail Camp along the Mt. Whitney Trail. That's not so gorgeous in there. But the setting the latrine is in is stunning. Later I'll post some shots of our descent off Mt. Whitney. But I'll do that in another thread, for the sake of Scorchfire and the low-tech dial-uppers out there. Peace out!”

“"Buck, you should probably sign up for webshots"
ScorchFire
09:20:46 PM
01/11/04

Ha ha! HEY NOW, I warned you in the heading of this thread that there will be photos in here! This is where the broadbanders play! This is dial-up hell otherwise! Anyway, thanks for e-mailing me your bikini shot! Whew baby! (gulp)”

“Buck, you rock!! Nice pics!”

“Well, I figured enough pics have dropped off the thread to open it for a couple more! Sorry Scorch!


El Biggo

These are the Echo Peaks seen from the JMT as we neared Cathedral Lake, which is only a few miles from Tuolumne Meadows, where cheeseburgers awaited us that evening. Echo Peaks remind me of some sort of castle with a fortress or something. God must've really had fun making this kind of stuff.”

“
Same shot on steroids

This is the outlet cove of Evolution Lake, taken in the morning. This lake is right at treeline, and higher up the basin it gets pretty barren, which is where it is speculated that President Bush will have NASA fake the first man on Mars landing mission.”

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Bighorn Biggie Size

Here's one of the flattest stretches of the JMT, across Bighorn Plateau. This is high and wild country even if it doesn't really appear so. Mt. Whitney is the high peak on the left, which doesn't look so bad from this angle. We had to wait out an electrical storm before we headed across the plateau, and we weren't sure it was completely through yet, so my hiking partners jammed across this puppy. This is a shot of Dave, who has a phobia of lightning, so it wasn't long until he was a tiny spec on the horizon. Although I didn't linger, I did take a few more minutes and get some shots of multitudes of big black ravens (or crows, not really sure) that were hangin' out in some gnarly dead whitebark pine trees, which was pretty cool lookin'. The starkness was amazing, and it was surreal to hike this stretch during a storm.”

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Not So Little Pete Meadow

We had spent the previous night at Big Pete Meadow, and now here we are descending to Little Pete Meadow. I don't know who these Pete fellers were, but they sure had some pretty meadows named after them. This is deep inside Kings Canyon National Park. We hiked this all the way down to the those far mountains and hung a luey and continued on. What a way to go for a few weeks... I really miss it.”

“These are absolutely gorgeous pictures, Buck!”

“Why thank you, LonelyHikerChic®! I hope you have broadband!


World Wide Wait for 56kers

I posted that shot of Dave hiking through Bighorn Plateau... well, here's looking down on it from near the top of Mt. Whitney. The lake in middle-left on top of Bighorn Plateau. It was cool looking down on what we had hiked across a day or so before. From atop Mt. Whitney, the southern High Sierra is laid out before you like a living topo map. We were on the summit near sun-up, so in this shot I'm looking west and the Great Western Divide is catching the first rays of the new day. Brrrr... it was cccccold up there. Re-he-he-heeeeeeally cold.”

“I have DSL”

“"Well, I figured enough pics have dropped off the thread to open it for a couple more! Sorry Scorch!

What are you apologizing for? I have cable modem so it takes no more than a second for ur pics to pop up,.. I just didn't know if u knew about webshots or not.”

“Breathtaking!
Did you get all the Pikas out of your hair yet?”

“Someone say Jellow Shots?”

“How come my pictures never come out like that. I mean, I think mine are good, then I see yours?? You must give me some pointers.Are you using digital?”

“What's this about a ScorchFire bikini shot? I think you should post that picture buck!”

“Great pics as ever Buck.”

“Hey Scorch®, congrats on the cable modem, last I knew you had one of those dial-up jobbers! You must've been a good girl for Santa!

Wind Walker®, I got the pikas out of my hair, but darn that sticky pika poop is being stubborn.

songbyrd®, I haven't gone digital yet, I shoot Fuji Velvia 50 film. If I had one big pointer for mountain landscapes, it would be learning the differences between how film/sensors see light vs. how the human eye sees light, as they are very different. That is why I often use GND filters to balance out lighting. Other than that, any more advice will cost you three easy payments of $39.99 plus $2,499 shipping and handling. But wait, there's more, act now and I'll throw in a carrot slicer that also does potatoes.

Spanks for the compliments, I honestly just share these to show the beauty of these places and not to show how technically good the actual photos may or may not be. Believe me, as much film as I go through, there's no shortage of sucky shots on each roll too!”

“Buck who do I right the $2618.97 to. I could really use a carrot slicer.”

“Awesome pix. Some of my friends (what, I have friends?) think I'm a good photographer, but I bow before the master.”