What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

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SSSdave
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by SSSdave »

Just went through all the lakes listed by others and will toss in my two cents on aesthetics for the ones I didn't initially mention but have visited. We all have different reasons to see beauty in landscapes including lakes. Time of day, weather, season, etc can make a huge difference from day to day, so don't take offense from my photographer oriented general assessments.

Upper Buck Lake ...long ago just passed by quickly, topo shows very interesting intricate glaciated shoreline I'd like to explore

Convict Lake ...Sevehah Cliff backdrop world class ancient weird geology, Mount Morrisson above lake very spectacular but difficult to frame from lakeside, too many boats and fish taking bugs on surface for really calm summer morning water, though I intend to get a winner there some April or early May morning after a good dusting of late winter snows

Precipice Lake ...passed through, rested a couple hours, some interesting cliff face framing possible, but didn't excite me as much as others make it out for, some much better stuff in unnamed lakes across the pass in de arroyo

Dusy 11393 Lake ...too close to Palisades for anything but towering craggy walls next to lake type of views, sun is blocked till late morning so cabbit get reflections during calm mornings, in afternoon is usually breezy but at sunset can reflect excellent strong sunset oranges in wavy waters because much of summer is unblocked to west

Edyth Lake ...been a long time, next major slab cliff and canyon all around is towering on all sides so sort of a down in canyon view of juniper/jeffrey forest in joint cracks, very glaciated landforms, not one for a camera

Upper Ritter Lake ...down in vegetation-less dark, metavolcanic talus pile, too close to Ritter to get in view with camera, reminds me of sterile Ionian Basin lakes some really like but not this person

Hungry Packer Lake ...spectacular Picture Peak behind, good views from outlet but cannot really frame along shores, I prefer to get further back like at Sailor Lake

Upper Mattie Lake ...been there a couple times years ago and have vague memory as it did not seem to interest my aesthetic sense at that time, Mattie Lake itself is nicely photographic from many areas of the shore both in the morning and in afternoon, though maybe not exceptionally

Puppet Lake ...out in the open on a flatish glaciated bench, nearly treeless, nicely unblocked in a few directions so possible to frame clouds in sky above in some directions if calm, probably some good dawn/dusk possibilities, caught a big golden thar

Lake 10,554 ...we camped there after climbing up from west end of Evolution Valley, worked about its shores one morning and got some moderately nice reflection pics though not exceptional as graphic shape of skyline peaks not optimal

Lake 10,232 ...just passed by late morning and it is pretty wide open reminding me of Pearl Lake in Blackcap Basin, likely some great sky cloud pics from some shore areas

Grassy Lake ...very nice views of Piute Crags and ridge end north of Lamarck, and nice foregrounds of shooting stars and lemmon's paintbrush in mushy meadow lakeside early summer

Grinell Lake ...BINGO, yep that be a very nice lake for photographers with Red & White making for a particularly nice graphic profile behind lake, I really didn't succeed when there as it was a tad breezy

Vee Lake ...gee just look on my website gallery

Emigrant Lake ...a very very long lake and deep to for good blues if one gets up above on ridge, I hiked beside one morning

Wood Lake ...visited long ago for fishing reasons during an epic El Nino mosquito hatch, not much a visual except if one likes seeing rainbows jump way out of water for hatching mayflies
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by The Other Tom »

Great comments, Dave. Thanks for taking the time to post(and help the rest of us fledgling photographers).
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by copeg »

Just browsing through this thread makes me think I've got a lot more exploring to do :D Its hard to put a tag on a particular location, because each has a beauty unto its own. But if I had to, here's a few choices of mine, solely based upon this beholder's eyes:
Seki:
-Lowest lake along Picket Creek (not necessarily photogenic, but incredibly beautiful and peacefull)
-Any lake along the east side of Red Spur
-Sapphire Lake
-Dusy (any of them)
Yosemite:
-Kuna Lake
-Upper Cathedral Lake
MiddleGround:
-Vee Lake
-Fourth Recess Lake
-Hungry Packer Lake
-Minaret Lake
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by AldeFarte »

Several favorite spots have already been mentioned ,but has anyone else looked out at the 360 degree panorama from Orchid lake and thought it was one of the most beautiful spots? Fishing was mediocre, but the view is worth the trek. jls
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by SSSdave »

AldeFarte wrote:Several favorite spots have already been mentioned ,but has anyone else looked out at the 360 degree panorama from Orchid lake and thought it was one of the most beautiful spots? Fishing was mediocre, but the view is worth the trek. jls
Oops, thar floats about a secret. A photographer that is a student of topo maps would quickly note its promising position. A nice place to base camp a few days in peace without seeing any others. The morning frontlit view west against the ridge is rather ordinary timberline. Smallish fish be true.

...a wee pond on that same ridge, August 7, 1995 from a Kodachrome KR135 slide Kodak Pro Photo CD scan a decade plus ago:

Image
Last edited by SSSdave on Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by oldranger »

At my age my mind is kind of shot so most scenic lake is the last one I visited.
Ritter Range.JPG
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by giantbrookie »

oldranger wrote:At my age my mind is kind of shot so most scenic lake is the last one I visited.Mike
Is that Blue Lake? The view looks familiar, although its been 15 years.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by JMat »

markskor wrote:"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
While the pure aesthetics of some lakes may inspire you the photographer...for me, finding large rising rings on a lake inspires too. What I am looking for and what you seek to photograph, and thus label beautiful are often a different kettle of fish...(pardon the pun).
In addition, while many lakes are not, as a whole, totally beautiful, there may be that special, isolated spot, maybe close by, perhaps depending on the time of day, that catches the light, bounces off the alpenglow, or intrigues just by being "extra" special in itself, while the rest of the lake is actually fairly mundane.Great question but, ambiguous as to what each perceives as beauty.
markskor, Couldn't agree with you more...
For me Upper Cathedral Lake and the previously named Upper Fletcher Lake(now just named Fletcher Lake)both in Yosemite, are two of the most beautiful.

Although we started dayhiking when I was 4 or 5 years old my dad and I didn't start backpacking until I was about 10 and Upper Fletcher and Upper Cathedral were two of our first destinations. Upper Catherdral became the place we would go when up at Tuolomne Meadows just to get away. We would park the car and the tent trailer in the campground and spend most of our downtime at the lake just to get away from the masses and then backpack around most of the highcountry.

I've hiked to alot of lakes over the years but these two are still some of the most beautiful to me. When backpacking, my dad and I never used a tent unless it was raining so we spent alot of time in our bags watching the alpenglow and then the stars afterward. The glow of Fletcher Peak over the lake is amazing and off of Catherdral Peak at Upper Cathedral was pretty good, too. The stars at both places were incredible but the fishing, back in the day, was much better at Upper Cathedral. On multiple trips I caught brookies in the 17 and 18' range but I'm guessing nowdays they would be much smaller.

My Dad passed many years ago but based on beautiful memories and gorgeous scenery these two lakes in Yosemite get my vote.

John
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by oldranger »

GB
Yup! Been nearly 40 years since I had been there. I forgot how stunning the view is.

Mike
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Re: What are your favorite lakes in the Sierra?

Post by TehipiteTom »

oldranger wrote:GB
Yup! Been nearly 40 years since I had been there. I forgot how stunning the view is.

Mike
Went by there in 2000 on the way from Bench Canyon to Rockbound. Looking at your pic, I now regret not spending more time there...
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