TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

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riverwalker
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TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by riverwalker »

I am a little slow, but have been super busy. I have barely had time to check out my photos from the trip. I have included some sloppy edits to go with the report.

June 6:
After class I drove up to Horseshoe Meadows and arrived at midnight. My buddy had been there for a couple days so I wanted to at least sleep at elevation instead of driving up early morning from almost sea level.

June 7:
Hit the trail at a leisurely hour. We went up over Cottonwood pass. Boy I was feeling out of shape. My pack was weighed down with camera gear (body, two lenses, and a tripod). I really should leave it home for the first hike, but what if…..

We hiked in to Soldier Lake and made camp. I wandered around, tossed a few lures(no luck) and wasn’t too inspired with the photography. Skeeters were almost nonexistent.
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June 8:

Another leisure morning. I was up early and shot a few photos and tossed a few lures (no luck).
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We headed up to Miter Basin (my first time). I enjoyed the meandering creeks on our way in. We went up to Sky Blue and hung out. I tossed a few lures (luck this time, a beautiful golden and a hybrid).

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I decided to head back down below the lake as I felt there were more photo ops. Shot for a while and had a late dinner.

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June 9:

I happened to wake up at 1am just before the moon crested the divide. I decided to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag and shoot some night photography for about an hour. It turned out to be somewhat productive and I had fun.
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I shot some photos before sunrise and then we packed up and headed back to Soldier Lake.
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Hiking along Rock Creek we hit a heinous spot for skeeters. They were thick and it was a surprise as we hardly had seen any until this point. I increased my pace and got up high and away from the creek and it thinned out. We went up New Army Pass and hung out at the top for a while talking to a few folks.
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After we descended and went to Cottonwood Lakes. The bugs were thick but they seemed to be about 5 feet overhead. I could hear them whining and thought it was going to be miserable. I haven’t had my floorless shelter in thick bug conditions yet so I was curious how it would do. I thankfully wasn’t able to find out because they stayed high, then the wind helped and then it got pretty cool. The fish rising was a little frustrating. I was wishing I had my fly rod and it was in season. I was pretty tired so I didn’t shoot any photos tonight.

June 10:

I woke up before sunrise and ran up to the upper lake. There were lots of good photo ops and I had a fun time shooting.
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We took our time making our way back to the trail head.

The weather was perfect for a hiking trip…not so much for photography. We saw two clouds the entire 4 days; if you can call them clouds. I have seen contrails with more consistency then these. It felt good to get under a pack and wander around for a few days. It had been way too long.
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by BuckSnort »

Nice report and great pics.. If you don't mind sharing what were you're settings for the pic of you're tent glowing at night and the one above it... Whenever I attempt these they come out grainy..
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by Mradford »

Awesome trip report. I am heading to miter basin this sunday! STOKED. Your shots look awesome!

-Mike
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by riverwalker »

BuckSnort- Settings for that shot were 20s, f/5, ISO 800 When you say grainy, do you mean noisy? Are you using an SLR? The bigger, better and newer of a sensor the less noise you will have to deal with. I would have used a lower ISO but I wanted the stars to be closer to pinpoints. I was still a little long at 20 secs as there is a little blur but not too bad. 15 seconds would have been better.

Mradford-
Have a great trip...I am anxious to go back and spend some more time in the basin.
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by BuckSnort »

RW, Yes I use a SLR.. It's a Canon 10D... yes, they seem to come out noisy when I try these shots...Also sometimes have red or green dots scattered throughout the pics for some reason... Thanks for you're reply...
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by riverwalker »

Buck
The 10D compared to more recent SLR's has quite a bit more noise at longer exposures an especially higher ISOs. It is amazing what the new models are capable of. I have a 50D and the difference is substantial compared to my 10 and 20Ds. I am currently saving for the 5D :)
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by maverick »

Hi RW,

Thanks for the TR and pictures. PM sent.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by windknot »

Great pictures and report! Looks like you guys had a great time. It's a magical place.
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tim
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Re: TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by tim »

Great trip report. Amazing contrast to when we were there last year - Miter Basin was pretty full of snow on the fourth of July weekend. Let's hope the dry conditions mean the skeeters will be dying out quickly this year.
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TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10

Post by Bluewater »

Thanks for the beautiful pxts and trip report. I appreciate the shots of your gear (gear head here), and the clarity of your night shots! I've got to get a DSLR. I'm headed over NAP this Thurs.
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