TR00524-00553-3x1v 9400x6000 pixels 3 frame 3 column 1 row 30 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view image text section
NEXT: Page 5 California Coast
2022 Trip Chronicles: Contents
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/9
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/10
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/11
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/12
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/13
Middle Fork of Bishop Creek basin Backpack 8/14
A week after our Hilton Creek backpack, the large Oak Fire began in Mariposa County that would delay my consideration of any further central Sierra Nevada backpacking for a couple of weeks until smoky skies were replaced with clean air. After looking at a list of possible trips I've carefully analyzed on Excel sheets, I decided to return to the upper basins of the Middle Fork of Bishop Creek above Lake Sabrina Reservoir. I had previously visited the basin in August 2015 with limited photography due to smoky skies and thunderstorms, as well as in 1981 and 1993. So on August 7, 2022, I secured a 6-day solo wilderness permit reservation via recreation dot gov for Wednesday, August 10 through Monday, August 15, though I only expected to use 5 days. Just days before my trip, large Mexican monsoon thunderstorms caused floods along the Eastern Sierra that would fully clean landscapes and trails of dust. Created a couple of custom topo maps from CalTopo that I then printed out at a nearby FedEx Office.
With gear ready, I decided to drive out a day early on Tuesday and then hike the 0.9 miles up 210 feet to the wilderness border so I would be able to reach Blue Lake early enough the next morning to work a planned panorama. Thus, on Tuesday, August 9, 2022 I drove across the range via SR108, then south on US395 to Mammoth Lakes, where I picked up the reserved permit. Drove south on US395 to the Ed Powers Road SR168 crossover, then up SR168 to the trailhead parking beside the Lake Sabrina Campground. Secured my smartphone up in bushes above my parking spot and locked up the Forester. Late afternoon, headed out along the paved road and then the trail along the reservoir's south shore until reaching the wilderness boundary where I found a crude tentable spot about 30 feet below the trail under mountain mahogany.
After a reasonable night of sleep, I rose at dawn on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, then at 5:50am set out in the shade of towering Table Mountain slopes on my left and reservoir waters on my right. Before reaching the George Lake junction, large groups of Bob Burd's High Sierra Challenge hikers rapidly passed me on their way to climb Baboon Peak. For water needs, there are two small all-year streams along that section of trail. Blue Lake at 10380 feet was up 1200 feet over 2 miles on the sometimes steep, switchbacking trail through mostly lodgepole pine forests. Three hours later, while stopping frequently given my heavy 62 pounds of carrying weight, at 9am I reached Blue Lake's northwest end, then vectored east, stashing my pack, and up to a viewpoint nearly 200 feet above the lake I'd figured out from Google Earth work.
I often climb up to such awkward-to-reach shooting locations as long as routes remain Class 2 at most. In this case, I also carried my 15 pounds or so Aether Skarab camera daypack, which is quickly detached from my main Aether Osprey backpack via quick-release buckles and bungee cords that I left below where I took out the camera and mounted it. I needed to use my big tripod with the camera atop to help stabilize myself while moving across the steep upper slope, much like others use trekking poles. Because I carry a tall tripod when extended, I never use hiking poles. Also helping stabilize such efforts are my heavy, robust Zamberlan VIOZ GTX boots.
At page top is that fine perspective above the lake, a 3-column focus stack stitch blend of 9400 by 6000 pixels shot with my sharp Sigma 30mm F1.4 lens. The main negative is that the dim lake waters reflect the green forest across the lake instead of a more aesthetic blue sky I captured at the end of the trip from the south end. Notice how the large cloud reflects white in the lake, with 11818-foot Donkey Peak below it. To its right in the background is striking 13418-foot Mt Haeckel, then mid-right 13831-foot Mt Darwin, and at frame right the west rib of 13253-foot Mt Tom Ross.
In another hour of the twisting up and down trail, I had reached the outlet of the north Emerald Lake at 2.7 miles, my minimal planned destination. I decided to push on to Dingleberry Lake at 10450, another 0.9 miles, and reached there before noon. Clouds indicated that some trivial showers were possible as I set up my tent a ways back from the trail above a small gully under lodgepole pines, per image above right. Later, I found 2 other groups camped above the popular trail lake. During the afternoon, without any photography interests, I cooked a freeze-dried meal for lunch, explored the area, and took a refreshing dip in the sizeable creek. After retiring early, I spent time analyzing the map for a shortcut up the Topsy Turvy Lake versus the regular trail.
TR00563-00596-2x1v 6800x6000 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 34 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
As sunrise light hit upper elevations of the basin on Thursday, August 11, 2022, I was up packing gear and soon on my shortcut route that turned out to be as unpleasant as I expected, staying north of the stream, moving through glacially formed cliff bands and dense vegetation near the stream. At about 10750, I gambled on climbing out of the cliff-lined creek ravine that I was able to traverse around and onto the main bench west of Topsy Turvy, 0.6 miles along on my route. Crossing the creek turned out to be a more tedious effort than it should have been, as I climbed into boulders with willows instead of just getting my boots a bit wet. From there was a winding 0.4 mil route up to the ponds at 10900 feet below Sailor Lake. I worked the above wet turf meadow image with past peak lupine and Picture Peak in the background.
TR00597-00651-3x1v 9700x6000 pixels 3 frame 3 column 1 row 55 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
A short distance away was the prospective camp zone that I took a long time to choose a spot for because there is a lack of shade in locations with flat spots. This image above shows the delightful shallow stream pond I camped at behind the image's tripod position. The majority of visitors to this area don't venture hereabouts, but rather are upstream 60 feet higher at Sailor Lake or well off to frame left at a vertical waterfall. I eventually chose a spot against some whitebark pine and set up camp.
TR00812-00839-5x1v 14600x6000 pixels 5 frame 5 column 1 row 28 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 85mm
enlarged vertical slice view
As it was still mid-morning, I did a tour of the zone. Breezes precluded any lake reflection subjects. The waterfall was partially still in the shadows. Met another person up at breezy Sailor Lake, and then shot minus lake waters, the above impressively detailed 5-column 85mm panorama of 13130-foot Picture Peak with 13411-foot Mt Haeckel.
TR01065 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 1 image A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Most of the subjects I worked on were rather weak given the light and breezes, so they were deleted after the trip. The above shot to the north down canyon at 8:24pm shows modest dusk color and clouds. Spent much time late in the day inside my tent planning the following day's photography strategy and preparing photo gear for my morning session. Of note, both the Blue Lake and Dingleberry branches of upper Middle Bishop Creek are down between tall north-to-south ridges that block the sun early and late. Thus, they are not areas to bother with getting up at sunrise. However, this person, impatient for adventure, normally does so regardless, as long as conditions are reasonably calm, as I can usually find intimate and close-up subjects like flowers or just look for subjects worth working later. Also, in my home life, I don't eat any breakfast most mornings, nor do I do so on these trips. But my daypack always has granola in a Ziploc bag.
TR01094-01117-2x1v 5700x5400 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 24 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Sunrise Friday, August 12, 2022, I was up and quickly out on a one-mile route to the peninsula on the north side of Hungry Packer Lake at 11072. The whole zone is in shadows until the sun rises above the 1000+ foot ridge to the east so. The formal trail ends at the lake's outlet zone. There, one will find use paths that climb up as much as 150 feet above a cliffy section of bedrock in order to drop down to the peninsula. Well above the water on a bench are legal tent sites with excellent views over the whole lake. Not a wise place to site during wind, lightning, or thunderstorms. I had to wait till 9 am for the sun to rise enough to shine on potential subjects, so I had time for fun.
The above at 9:06am shows the view over whitebark pines across the lake towards impressive 13130-foot granitic Picture Peak, including the talus fan that reaches down into its deep, cold lake waters where larger rainbow trout swim than in any of the nearby basin eastern brook trout lakes. And note, those rainbows can spawn in the sizeable outlet stream. In a few places, its lake shores are abrupt, impossible-to-bypass cliffs. Large storms a few days before the trip had washed considerable amounts of glacial rock powder into the lake, which became much more aquamarine colored than normal. Had the lake water been calm for reflections, I would have used my sharp 30mm instead of the lower-resolution 19mm. I downsize all 19mm shots by 10% due to its lower resolution. Thus, the standard 6000-pixel A6000 sensor width becomes 5400 pixels.
TR01219-24 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 6 image focus stack blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
After a few more 85mm shots of the peak, I began a return, and at 10:08am, shot the outlet zone above from the high route. The majority of visitors site camps within pines on that northeast shore.
TR01232-39 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 8 image focus stack blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
As the sun's altitude gets higher, so does the color saturation of the aquamarine water color that tends to be best side-lit. The high traverse was also a unique opportunity to place a tall whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis, looking down against the beautiful aquamarine background color.
TR01250-01289-3x1v 7700x5400 pixels 3 frame 3 column 1 row 40 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Near the lake's outlet was a pleasant, small, dry, grassy meadow with a few wildflowers where I mounted the 19mm again for this image at 10:46am. Note at mid-frame where a water-level section of the peninsula I had been at shows convenient access to the lake edge for getting in the chilly water and then lying out cleanly on smooth rock.
TR01290-01300-2x1v 6200x5800 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 11 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
My last morning subject at 10:56am as the sun was finally high enough to illuminate parts of the steep eastern slope and whitebark pines, was this 56mm off-axis capture of the south shore cliffs. This is obviously an impossible lake to circumnavigate. Balancing the harsher late morning light was a more saturated aqua water color due to the sun's higher altitude. I returned to camp while working a few other modest subjects before my morning photo session ended.
TR08551-65 5400x3600 pixels 1 frame 15 image focus stack blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
This 19mm is from the beautiful inlet creek zone of Moonlight Lake, with the loose 600-foot face of the Mt Powell rock glacier in the background, one of the largest in the range. This was about a mile from my camp, shot late at 6:20pm. Note in the drying foreground grasses Lemmon's paintbrush, Castilleja lemmonii, pink-hued little elephant's head, Pedicularis attollens, along with gone-to-seed white heather. Most summers, this early August trip would still be looking at vibrant green meadows with more wildflowers than during this droughty year. Also along the stream is the common Sierra willow, Salix spp.
TR08607-21 3600x5400 pixels 1 frame 15 image focus stack blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Another 19mm subject at 6:42pm showing an isolated, quiet reflecting stream pool next to the fresh stream and the Mt Powell rock glacier. Note the blue-hued lupine behind the stream.
TR08630-41 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 12 image focus stack blend A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
In skylight illumination providing a bluish cast at 7:03pm, a section of the stream full of the rock glacier's aquamarine-hued rock powder with an abundance of still-blooming wildflowers including Lemmon's paintbrush, Castilleja lemmonii, silver lupine, Lupinus argenteus, and yellow-hued five-finger cinquefoil, Potentilla gracilis.
TR08642-62 4000x6000 pixels 1 frame 21 image focus stack blend A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
My last shot this late afternoon at 7:11pm, in shadowed blue-sky illumination, was of a rusty granite rock beside the bluish-gray-hued, rock-powder-filled stream water, showing how those dried sediments appear atop the rock that obviously flooded days before.
TR08663-08694-2x1v 6800x6000 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 32 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Friday morning, August 13, 2022 my day 4, I packed up gear, then set off with photo gear to Sailor Lake, where I finally encountered breezes calm enough to capture a couple of reasonable reflection images. The above is a 30mm shot at 8:30am after the rising sun finally reached this shore in a small bay with fewer waves, showing Picture Pk and Mt Haeckel. At one point, I tossed a small rock into the lake in order to scare away pesky brook trout, causing surface disruptions. When setting up my tripod for lake reflections, I carefully position it so rocks above a lake surface aesthetically complement reflecting backgrounds.
TR08695-08720-2x1v 6800x6000 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 26 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Another similar Sailor Lake reflection of Picture Pk at 8:41am. Notice brook trout feeding rings at frame left. Although I did not bring fishing gear since I expected to be busy with my photo work, catching pan-sized brook trout would have been easy in any of these waters.
TR08743-55w.jpg 5400x3600 pixels 1 frame 13 image focus stack blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
I then quickly hiked the 3/4 mile to the inlet zone of Moonlight Lake at 1030 feet, which I'd visited Thursday afternoon, that would present morning landscapes in the opposite direction. Due to the tall ridge just east, this area is in shadow earlier in the morning. Thus, one must mitigate bright, harsh granite landscapes that are improved with a lens pointing off-axis. The large lake was only marginally calm, so I once again fell back on just using my wide 19mm lens to capture the above at 9:45am, with considerable talus poking up in the shallow lake waters. In the background, frame left is Clyde Spires, below which, out of view, is Echo Lake.
TR08910-08943-2x1v 5900x5300 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 34 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Above is another isolated turf stream pool beside the creek at 10:48am. One I regret not mounting my sharp 30mm instead of the 19mm, which would have been a worthwhile 3-column, 2-row stitch blend. Note the water grasses in the pond. I was surprised that I didn't see any tadpoles or frogs in any of the basin's lakes. This pond would be ideal for Pacific tree frogs, so I am wondering why.
TR08944-54.jpg 5400x3500 pixels 1 frame 13 image focus stack blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Another 19mm image at 10:57am across talus boulders in shallow lake waters that also shows how lake waters further out were wavy from breezes. In the background, frame right is the distant rusty Piute Crags, and at frame left, 13253 foot Mt Tom Ross.
TR08955-08976-2x1h 7400x3600 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 22 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 19mm
enlarged vertical slice view
A similar view to the previous image at 11:07am, about 100 feet further back along the creek, horizontally stitch blending two 19mm shots.
TR08977-83 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 7 image focus stack blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
While on my return hike back to camp, I captured north-northeastward, at 11:25am, this optimal aquamarine lake color shot from along Moonlight Lake's west shore with 11818-foot Donkey Pk at frame right. Like other nearby waters, pan-sized eastern brook trout inhabit these waters. Notice the better color shade of the lake waters with the blue sky background above versus the peak. Due to flows from the Mt Powell rock glacier, it is consistently one of the best lakes in the range with aquamarine lake color. And hence its name "Moonlight" is quite appropriate.
However, to capture that most saturated aqua color requires doing so near midday when the sun is high, shining downward into a water column, which also requires mitigating harsh light off of granite landscapes that is most likely off-axis to the sun direction. In other words, not a water color one might capture at early/late times of day when landscapes are otherwise best illuminated.
TR08993-07 6000x4000 pixels 1 frame 15 image focus stack blend A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
After returning to camp about noon, I grabbed my ready backpack and began the modest 2.4-mile, up 400-foot, hiking effort to the east fork above Blue Lake. Instead of taking the less efficient trail, I went cross-country around Topsy Turvy and Pee Wee Lakes, then down the rib to Emerald Lakes. I did not manage to stay on an optimal route, so I had to negotiate more strenuous sections. By a weary 3pm, I had reached my destination granite bedrock bench zone that I pre-trip analyzed with Google Earth, well away from the trail to Baboon Lake. What a superb zone that obviously few ever visit because it has no lakes. See my camp shot at the bottom. After setting up camp, taking a refreshing dip in the sizeable stream, and making dinner, I explored various nearby areas. The above is a close-up of dry fallen lodgepole pine needles that the previous week's heavy rains had left pointing in the direction of water flow. It was a pleasantly quiet zone for sleeping.
TR09223-09260-3x1v 8600x5400 pixels 3 frame 3 column 1 row 38 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 30mm
enlarged vertical slice view
Saturday August 14, 2022 would be my last day on this trip. After packing up, I would work a few subjects mid-morning, then endure the 4-mile hike mostly downhill back to the trailhead. Again, given the tall ridge just east, the sun rose late, so the above 3-column stitch-blend landscape of erratic boulders atop the glacially smoothed granite bedrock was shot at a less-than-optimal 9:40am. Rusty Piute Crags in the background, frame right. Notice the fine lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta, that lives up to its "contorta" species name. All the short trees on distant ridges are whitebark pines.
TR09406-094441-2x1v 6400x5800 pixels 2 frame 2 column 1 row 36 image focus stack stitch blend A6000 56mm
enlarged vertical slice view
And yet another erratic boulder atop a bedrock landscape in the one spot I found a view of the lake waters. Notice how, given the background blue sky above, the lake water appears a much nicer blue than the image I shot Wednesday morning from the other end of the lake. And also, because it was later at 10:46am with the sun's altitude much higher, providing more blue light out of the water in this off-axis direction. Rusty Piute Crags provides a colorful background from this northeast corner of the lake.
TR09468-83 54000x3600 pixels 1 frame 16 image focus stack blend A6000 85mm
enlarged vertical slice view
And my last image of the trip shows the nearby stream lined with tall sedges. And yes, there are a couple of pan-sized brook trout visible in the full image. Back at camp, I hefted my backpack and began the trudge back to the trailhead, which I reached a bit after 2pm. As it was now Saturday, there were numerous groups I passed along the heavily travelled trail. David's bedrock campsite:
NEXT: Page 5 California Coast
2022 Trip Chronicles: Contents
