Mid Sierra Musings: Kaiser Pass Road And White Bark Vista 2016

Dale Matson

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Huntington Lake From Kaiser Pass Road

For more particulars on this trip see my 2015 report here: http://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2015/05/white-bark-vista-near-huntington-lake.html

The bad news this year was that the clouds and air were not as good as May 3^rd last year. The good news this year is that I had to park at Kaiser Pass and hike into White Bark at the end of May. This means much more water will be available this year to a dry and thirsty California. There were places where the snow was still four feet deep on the one-mile section of dirt road from Kaiser Pass to the overlook. I was glad to have trekking poles to help as I slid down snow banks on the road. I needed to refer to the red trail markers in the trees periodically to avoid going off into the woods.

This year I used the A7R2, Zeiss Batis 85mm, Zeiss Batis 18mm and the Tamron 150-600 lens. I have enough photographs now with the Tamron for a future photo review of this lens.

The Zeiss Batis 85mm lens continues to amaze me with how consistently sharp it is. I sometime wonder if the nice 55mm 1.8 lens still has a place in my landscape photography. I will keep it. When I look at landscapes, it seems like the 85mm lens more accurately shows what I see in terms of size. Obviously my field of view is wider but the size of objects in my photographs is what I remember seeing. I did a few panoramas with the 85mm lens also.

The Batis 18mm was obviously not the lens for the vista since the mountains are distant. It was still fun to include it in my daypack and take a couple of photos with it also. The Tamron lens had the necessary reach and I still wonder what is one the other side of Edison Lake and just north of it. The distinctive rock pattern reminds me of Mt. Humphreys.

What a joy to see so much more snow in the Sierra Nevada and water in Shaver Lake, Huntington Lake and Edison Lake this year. There is much less evident shoreline.

This was a solitary time and as soon as the snow is off the dirt access road, the high clearance vehicles will drive all the way to the overlook. There are also campsites and places for RVs. A small lake (Deer Lake) is less than one half mile south of the dirt road for those who might want to fish also. If you continue walking south along the overlook, you will eventually see a sign for the infamous 30-mile Dusy Ershim Trail south to Courtright Reservoir. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4U-OTVekVE

I have hiked part of it and think it would be harder to drive it in an OHV. There are lots of vehicle parts and hydraulic fluid stains on the boulders!

It was nice to sit with my back against a boulder and just gaze in between photographs and switching lenses. The air was cool but comfortable and in Fresno the temperature was in the mid 90’s. For those of you who are able to get to Kaiser Pass, this is probably the only time you will be by yourself once the snow melts.