El Nino Winter at the Sierra Nevadas

Frozen Lakes, Snow-flocked Pines and Tufa Towers

With the first storms of 2016 El Nino winter, I was interested to see how much snowpack there was on the Eastern Sierra Nevadas since January of 2014.  I tried to schedule my photo-adventure between storms since my travels took me over the Anchorite Pass and an elevation of 8379 feet.  Leaving early on a sunny but cold Friday, I was relieved that the road from Hawthorne, Nevada to Lee Vinning, California was dry with only a few icy spots. 

Towering above the town of Lee Vinning, the snow covered High Sierras stand out against the deep blue western sky with clouds forming from the warming sun. 

Standing tall on the horizon, Eagle Peak is the highest point on the Buckeye Ridge with an elevation of 11845 feet (3610 m), located just southwest of Bridgeport, California.  

To the south and just before the quaint town of Lee Vinning, winter accents the shores of Mono Lake.  The dark area on the background to the right is Paoha Island, a volcanic island formed by lakebed sediments deposited above volcanic domes. 

Mono Lake's Tufa Towers, unusual limestone formations that result from a chemical reaction when calcium in underwater springs mixes with carbonates in the lake water.  Some of the Tufa Towers may grow to a height of 30 feet (9.144m).  

 Aspens still showing leaves with fall colors line the beginning of Tioga Pass.  This scenic drive through the eastern entry point of Yosemite Park is closed during the snow season due to the high elevation, "S" curves and sheer drop-offs.   

Just ahead, Mt. Gibbs and the parent peak, Mt. Dana dominate the afternoon sky with a majestic preview of the eastern part of Yosemite.  Mt. Dana's active glacier, the Dana Glacier that flows near the mountain's top at 13,053 feet (3978.55 m) is hardly visible with the snow cover and afternoon shade.

Rugged terrain and steep chutes make for some of the wildest ski descents in the Sierra.  

As the afternoon approaches, I make a last detour over to Lundy Lake.  At 7858 feet (2395 m) elevation, Lundy Lake is the gateway to the Hoover Wilderness Area in the High Sierras.  

Today the popular fishing lake with 2.4 miles of shoreline and 100 surface acres lies covered with snow. The rainbow, brown, and brook trout will be there for another trip  

Driving back along the Lundy Lake road the snow flocked pines create a picturesque view.  What a memorable ending to a day of winter photo-exploring.  Follow my blog and check back often to see where my next adventure begins.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Environmental Photographs Highlight 2015

 Themes and Issues during my photo-explorations

At the year’s end, I usually write about the highlights of my travels or adventures.  However for the finality of 2015 and following the Paris Climate Summit, I have been compelled to feature a photo for each month that has an environmental theme. These photos are from scenes that I have come across during my photo-explorations of the past year, from water issues to weather extremes and compromised ecosystems. The following photographs were taken within a 100 mile radius around Walker Lake, Nevada and in the Great Basin Desert.

Clouds form over Mono Lake, California, moving eastward from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The receding shore line and lack of snow on the mountains for the month of January are indicators of the drought that continues to plague the western U.S.

Late January and early February, a large number of waterfowl were infected with Avian cholera at Walker Lake, Nevada. 

The bodies of American Coots lay tangled in tumble weeds that were blown to the water’s edge by the wind.

A dust storm churned up by the strong winds of March on east side of Walker Lake, Nevada. 

A desolate location for Lee Hot Springs with a capped off well and volcanic rocks, however the mountains in the background show lack of snowpack after a dry winter on an early spring day in April. 

 On a hillside in the Gabbs Valley Range, in May, the top of a purple bottle stands out.  A closer look reveals a piñon pine root that has been growing through the bottle’s neck for no telling how many years.

A hot June morning and cumulonimbus clouds build over the Garfield Flats Range.  I barely made it out of the wash before the clouds produced a F1 Category Tornado that touched down in Hawthorne, Nevada. 

With the heat index reaching over the century mark in July at Walker Lake, ecosystems grow out of balance at the water’s edge as numerous damselfly larvae are caught in the huge orb-weaver spider webs that cover most of the shore.

The receding shore at Soda Lake in August, tufa mounds grow along the edge of the water.  Soda Lake was formed inside the collapsed cone of a basaltic maar volcano by irrigation for agriculture which increased the groundwater.

A tunnel by the highway to Yerington, Nevada in September.  Rainfall from fast moving summer monsoons produced flash floods that cut deep washes through the dry desert.  

An October photo-trip to the Wild Burro Range at Marietta, Nevada.  The frame of a windsock stands as a reminder of the harsh winds and extreme weather in the Great Basin Desert. 

Strong winds in November blow the thin snow pack across the peaks at Mount Grant, Nevada.  

A winter storm in December brings in much needed moisture; however it will take so much more to offset the receding north shore at Walker Lake, Nevada.  

The year of 2015 has seen interesting weather patterns with a warmer winter and rising heat index for the summer.  When El Niño comes for the winter, I will be ready with my Nikon to record any interesting trends, so follow my blog and check back often for the new posts.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Soda Lake's Tufa Mounds

Nature's Artistry in a lake within a volcanic cone 

What are the chances of finding a lake within a collapsed volcano cone out in the dry, hot desert of Nevada?  Just northwest of Fallon, Nevada, off a dirt road to the north is a 1.2 mile long body of water, named Soda Lake.

The basin that holds Soda Lake's water is a collapsed volcanic cone.  Over the short geological span of 1500 years, magma rose toward the surface which boiled the groundwater, causing a violent explosive eruption.  However, it has only been recently that the water for Soda Lake filled the collapsed cone when irrigation from farming caused the ground water to rise.

The eastern rim of Soda Lake provides the most noticeable clue of the volcanic cone and rises 80 feet above the water.  Dark rocks of various sizes, "basaltic bombs" can still be found mixed in the sand of the crater.

However, one of the most intriguing features at Soda Lake is not exactly due to its volcanic evolution.  Looking across the lake to the northwest, a number of white pillars stand out on the water's edge. 

At first glance, I was reminded of the Biblical "Pillars of Salt" and curiosity drew me to venture for a closer look.

The white pillars in various shapes and sizes growing out of the water appeared to me as abstract art works in plaster of paris. I was soon to learn that these creative works of nature's artistry were in fact Tufa Mounds.

Tufa is a type of limestone and tufa mounds are created when underwater springs rich in calcium mix with carbonates (soda). A chemical reaction forms that produces calcium carbonate--limestone.  The calcium carbonate precipitates or settles out of solution as a solid around the spring. Over the course of time, which usually takes hundreds of years, tufa mounds begin to grow. However these at Soda Lake are estimated by the USGS to be less than a century old.

Some of the larger tufa mounds reach about 9 feet tall (3m) with a 16 foot (5m) base.  Since the tufa mounds grow or form underwater, they may extend down 13 feet (4m) deep.

The shallow shore makes a sudden drop off  visible in the darker shades of green, the lake has a calculated depth of 147 feet (44.80m).

Soda Lake's high alkali content does not support fish, but brine shrimp do thrive in the water. The brine shrimp draw a large variety of waterfowl, including grebes, gulls, terns, coots and ducks.  Additionally people come to swim and soak in the lake for recreation and the health benefits of the carbonates.

Nature's diversity never fails to amaze me as I have discovered in this thriving habitat that exists within a collapsed volcanic cone in an alkaline lake.  Continue to follow my blog and check back often to see what adventures my next photo-explorations will discover.

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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Autumn Comes to Zion National Park

Enjoying Nature during my favorite season!

Days grow shorter, drawing the hustle and bustle of summer to a crescendo.  The season's contrasting vibrant colors give way to yellow and oranges of autumn.

As much as I appreciate the sunny days and warm nights of summer, there is just something about autumn that makes me yearn to spend as much quality time in the colorful landscape before it disappears.

My most favorite place to enjoy the colors of autumn has always been in Zion National Park, Utah.  Maybe it's the analogous yellows and oranges accenting trees or the vibrant reflections on the Virgin River as it meanders through the park.

Perhaps it is the visual stimulation of scenes like the Court of the Patriarchs which stand even more majestic against the deep blue sky when brilliant trees of autumn accent the foreground. 

 Or maybe it is just becoming one with the moment in a place that time has left untarnished. 

On an overcast autumn morning, to walk across a blanket of gold with colorful limbs arching over head, just as a gentle rain begins to fall.

A feeling of solitude and peace on a nature walk that awakens the senses with hues, tones and fragrances of the unspoiled earth.  

And maybe catch a glimpse of wildlife in the quiet, uncrowded park.

As the day grows late, the sun's rays lengthen warming the red and tan Navajo Sandstone; the autumn's colorful trees slowly surrender to the shadows of approaching dusk.

 Watchman's Mountain blushes a crimson red just as sunset's finale gives one last curtain call.  

And as the clouds of sunset lift there is a dusting of snow just as the full moon lights the night. 

Yes, autumn gives me a feeling of being closer to the earth, the bright analogous colors stimulate my eyes but the stillness of nature create a serenity that only a place like Zion can bring.  

 

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

Sign up and follow my blog to see where my next photo-adventure will be!

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

Many of these images are available on my website:

 http://www.bonnierannald.com/ 

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download. 

 All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

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