Sun breaking through mist, Yosemite, July 2011
Tioga Pass will be opening fully tomorrow, July 1st – one of its latest opening dates ever. For the past week or so the pass has been open on a limited basis, from 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. each day, with no stopping or “recreating” allowed. But starting tomorrow it will be open 24 hours, with stopping and recreating – including photography! – permitted.
Every year Claudia and I look forward to heading over Tioga Pass soon after it opens. It’s always fun to see the still snow-covered peaks and partially-frozen lakes. And any unusual conditions can provide interesting opportunities for photographs, including high water, patterns of melting ice, and reflections in flooded meadows. I can’t wait!
Here are a few of my early-season high-country images from past years.
— Michael Frye
Reflections in melting ice, Inyo NF, July 2017
Clouds over an alpine lake, Inyo NF, July 2010
Ice and reflections on an alpine lake, Yosemite, July 2011
Melting ice, Yosemite, July 2006
Related Posts: Deep Freeze in the High Country; How Do You Handle Unusual Conditions?
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Hi Michael,
Wonderful images here, but I especially love “Melting ice, Yosemite, July 2006.” Exquisite!
Hope to get up there this coming week. Let us know if there is still ice in the lakes.
Thanks Bill! I’ve always liked that one too. I hope you get up there also.
Wonderful, Michael—thanks. I hope you’re there to get some great “early season” images. I guess this will mean substantial water in Yosemite’s falls.
Thanks Bob. The peak flow in Yosemite Valley’s waterfalls has passed, but there’s certainly an unusually high amount of water in them now for this time of year.
Melting Ice is a beautiful abstract!
Thanks Surya!
Very nice work. Are you selling prints online?
Thanks Steve! Yes, you can view available sizes and prices at the link below. Note that prices will be going up in August:
https://www.michaelfrye.com/portfolios/print-ordering/
Loving the abstractions, Michael.
Thanks DJ!
Hi Michael – I hope the “recreating” along the Tioga road went well. I’m looking forward to seeing your new creations that come from that trip.
Not as much snow as I thought there would be, but it was still pretty.
These are beautiful. I look forward to seeing what you see on your first trip over the pass.
Thanks Martha!