High Sierra Topix

Yes, a weird title for a piece of art, especially with no literal worms in it.
While out scouting locations during the day on a trip last week to Humphrey's
Basin stumbled upon what I call an "out of this world scenery" which was probably
one of the highlights of my trip, at least photography wise.
Humphrey's Basin which I have not visited in a very long time does not abound
with photogenic subjects and one needs to really get the creative juices flowing
to scrape together something that is worthy of the area. There are gems, but
they take some hard work to find, and mother nature needs to be helpful with some
good light, and some great clouds, which luckily she gifted me with a little of both.
While looking around I had run upon these interesting grass streaks/formations
that resembled long worms that were all squiggling towards the ridge to the east.
Have seen these before but not in such a large area and in such a large concentration
before. Sunrise would make the optimum time, more specifically right when the sun
breaks the top of the ridge so too capture the starburst.
Luckily the sun would be in the exact spot needed so that the worms would be
heading straight for it.
Getting down closer to the ground exemplified this as did using a wide angle lens
and processing as a panorama.
The sun, the starburst, the tranquil morning light, and of coarse the worms will make
this special shot one of the pieces at my gallery exhibit next month.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Very cool for sure.

Great picture!!
Maybe because of your "Worms" set up, but the first thing that I thought of was the Twilight Zone.

Hi Mav,
Yes, I can see that those vast open spaces on Desolation plateau do not offer the kind of settings that make for an interesting composition. But, the worms are another story; great shot! The only other unusual tidbit I remember from that area is about 10 years ago I was camped above Knob lake (south side) and there was a very distinctively colored boulder with a clean crack that my wife tied to use to frame a couple shots. This was back in the days of film and with a few more tweaks, I think she could have had a memorable image.
cg

Thanks Rogue, Gary C., FISHPOLE.

HI CG,

Thanks CG.
One of my plans was to climb Pilot Knob to create a panorama, but the wind was
strong all the days, so that plan was dropped. Keeping a pano rail stable in high
winds completely exposed is nearly impossible. The wind also made getting prime
reflections difficult, though there are some techniques around this that I employed
on one of my newly added pieces (the first piece) in my on-line gallery titled "Mt.
Humphrey".
A lot of the smaller lakes were either bone dry or the size of a small pond which
was not large enough to create a good piece (Wedge Lake for example).
One small pond to the west that faced towards the Glacier Divide was a pleasant
surprise and the cloud formations/structures made for an outstanding black & white
piece ("Glacier Divide Humphreys Basin" titled piece in the gallery which will also be
in the exhibit). The low water levels did not destroy all chances but did create some
too like at Lower Desolation Lake where the lower water level exposed the water
line on the rock leaving some cool red lines, which can be seen on a pano in the gallery
and added a unique, and not frequently seen/captured phenomenon.

It's a great pic Mav. Thanks for sharing it. We hiked it on the 22nd. Pretty close to your pic. We had perfect weather from the 15th to the 22nd with some condensation and no wind.

Thanks Rlown.
Trip was a last minute thing, had an opening come up for Wed-Sun which I found out
that Mon.
Had some condensation too, the wind died down during the evenings on most nights,
and temps were pretty mild. Clouds started building Thur-Sun which made for some
great sunrise/sunset colors. Mt.Humphrey to me the main draw of the basin, though
the Glacier Divide can be pretty spectacular with some snow on it. Fishermen/women
are drawn too this basin of coarse for the good fishing, but photography wise it is pretty
barren as pointed out before, but LD and especially Tomahawk are worthy stop over
destinations.
Met a interesting guy who had made his own external backpack that towered at least
3 feet over his head. He said that he had done a 30+ day trip carrying all his food. On
this trip he was out for 6 days, and he had 3 smaller black and white dogs with him.
One was 2 months old and the older was 14 years, and had gone with him one this 30+
day adventure. Also ran into some other great people on the way out which always is a
joy, including the CCC group that had spent 3 months in Kings Canyon.

maverick wrote: Met a interesting guy who had made his own external backpack that towered at least
3 feet over his head. He said that he had done a 30+ day trip carrying all his food. On
this trip he was out for 6 days, and he had 3 smaller black and white dogs with him.
One was 2 months old and the older was 14 years, and had gone with him one this 30+
day adventure. Also ran into some other great people on the way out which always is a
joy, including the CCC group that had spent 3 months in Kings Canyon.

We met that guy as well. two external frame backpacks melded together with a lawn chair on the back. 3 Jack Russells. I think I ran into him between Piute Lk and Lock Leven Lk. Two big walking sticks as well. He was very knowledgeable about the lakes I visited. He did remark as the pack train was coming that he might be doing that mode of transportation soon.

That's a really cool picture Maverick, thanks for posting it. There is a similar "structure" in grasses that I always find interesting, that being the grass rings around an empty center.
Herm

Thanks Herm. Saw those too nearby, but there positioning did make for a good
shot as did these.