It pales by Comparison..

We've been exploring the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains for years. This trip found us in the Twin lakes area outside of Bridgeport, California. Sure, being from Southern California, It's always a challenge to push North of Mammoth Lakes, but if you're looking for new digs and a little solitude it’s well worth the sojourn.

This particular venture started out as a simple trip to Junction campground. This is small campground on the eastside of Yosemite National Park. The plan was to meet up with a fellow photographer and do a Photo walk on the valley floor. The whole plan went array when we arrived at a closed and snowed in Junction campground. You see, this would have been our home for the few days we had to spend near the valley floor and had access to some amazing vistas in Hoover wilderness. So, with this plan now in the dumpster, we needed a new one. The next logical plan was to head to stream we discovered a few years earlier slightly north of our location near an off road valley. We explored this area and really enjoyed the solitude and access to beautiful off trail streamside camping, the kind you don't find too often in our overly developed natural world. After finding a plumb spot next to the stream, I set off to try my hand at a little fly-fishing, a pursuit I truly enjoy when I’m not hunched over a camera, trying to get that perfect photographic expression. After working the water for some time with little success, but enjoying the fluid act of casting non the less, we decided to move on to a new area we have been meaning to visit for sometime. That would be the Twin Lakes area outside of the cattle and horse land of Bridgeport.

After arriving in Bridgeport and picking up supplies, we headed our way into the amazing Sawtooth and Matterhorn peaks in the distance. Hearing of some great scenery and fishing along Robinson creek, we made our way up and beyond the rich and lush ranchland filled with blooming wild irises. Finding a campsite along the creek in a more developed campground, we soon settled in and noticed a great bloom of clouds looming on the distant peaks. Hoping this might make for great morning exposure, we set the alarm for 4:45 AM. Soon we woke, finding that the wonderful glue of clouds for making great art had dissipated, leaving us bluebell boring skies. Non-the less we climbed the small hill near our site and snapped a few anyways.

Well the day wore on to a surprising conclusion. After a quick breakfast, we headed out to hike into those boring bluebell skied mountains. Little did we know what wondrous vistas awaited us on our hike. Not a disappointment by any means. As we approached these 12000-foot mountains, we noticed the Matterhorn Peak looming large and prominent. The valley’s approach was filled with cascading waterfalls tumbling off shear granite walls with wildflowers reaching skyward in an early summers sky. We progressed slowly up the canyon stopping only to absorb the vistas and expose a few images.

Soon we arrived at a high alpine meadow dotted with early summer foliage pushing through freshly thawed and greening grasses and fallen trees. Clear mountain stream water snaked its way through the meadow, soon to cascade down the granite walls. This wonder of nature made our early morning photographic attempt even more pale by comparison.

Upcoming Eastern Sierra Workshops 2011

Best Always,

Mark