Mid Sierra Musings: White Bark Vista June 2019

Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

Banner Ritter

This was a good snow year in the Sierra Nevada at about 150% of normal. However, this also means that Kaiser Pass opened later than usual and it didn’t open much before the annual 155-mile “Climb to Kaiser” bicycle ride which turns around and heads back down at this point.

My older son Ben and I headed up there about 3 days before the bike ride and hiked the 2 miles round trip to White Bark and Back. I had trekking poles and micro spikes over my trail shoes and Ben just used trail shoes. My photos of the central Sierra were taken with my Sony A7R3 and 100-400 GM lens.

The air was a bit hazy and I cleaned up some of the photos with the Adobe Photoshop haze filter. The view to the north includes Banner and Ritter by Mammoth Mountain and the center view is of Edison Lake, the Vermillion Cliffs and Red and White Mountain. Further south is Bear Dome and Recess Peak.

As you climb Kaiser Pass Road from Highway 168 there is a pull out our your right where you can photograph Huntington Lake (7,000’) and Rancheria Falls so I included shots of both including a video clip of the falls. By the end of July, the snow should be melted enough to drive out to White Bark (with a high clearance vehicle)