Lower Cathedral Lake

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Taken in Tuolumne Meadows, California (See more photos or videos here)

37°50' 40" N, 119°25' 19" W

On the second and only full day in Yosemite this weekend we did our longest hike to Lower Cathedral Lake. It was a gorgeous hike that leaves along the Tioga Pass Road across from the Tuolumne Meadows. We wanted to get in a hike up here particularly because this is the time of year when the snow can start to come down and the road closes down until next spring or summer.

It was a great hike starting at about 8500ft elevation and climbing to about 9300ft 3.5 miles later. The trail had a remarkable ability to hide things from sight - a stream, a mountain, or the actual lake until it was right in front of us. After a couple hours of uphill hiking at altitude (it pretty chilly weather too) we finally reached the lake.

The remarkable thing is that we really couldn't see it until we reached this point, about 30ft from the shore, because of this high granite ridge surrounding it. It was a pretty stunning sight and a worthy reward for the long hike up there. I had to immediately take some shots and I'm glad I did. This was I think my second shot and probably my favorite of all of them.

This was a very worthy hike and if you have the means, I highly recommend making the trip.

Nikon D40 | Nikon 18-200VR@18mm | f/7.1 | 1/400s | ISO200 | Handheld

Comments

	Sutanto says: Another beautiful photograph. The fragments of reflected sky is awesome. Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	~SouthPaw~ says: Beautiful shot, Tyler! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	agrinberg says: Very nice. Interesting how the curve of the blue sky mimicks the curve of the brown rock. You ought to try sleeping up there sometime! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	tephdra says: What a gorgeous place. -- Seen in my contacts' photos. (?) Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	MumbleyJoe says: Thanks Agus. One of those little signs that I'm maybe getting the hang of this whole 'photography thing' was spotting the pools and actually taking care to make sure the reflections caught the blue patch in the sky. It was overcast in the morning and that blue patch had actually only just started to emerge. Thanks much! I'm a little unhappy with the color saturation but after messing around with the image in Lightroom (just downloaded the demo) for ages I ended up really hating it and sticking with the original instead. Hmm, maybe in summer - actually staying up there would be gorgeous. But it was absolutely freezing up there - for now I'll stick with a B&B. It's definitely a place you're better of seeing in person. It's really gorgeous. Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	simplygeeky says: Beautiful! I love the reflection of the sky in the pools of water. You only took "some" photos there? I could have spent all day shooting there - it's gorgeous! -- Seen in my contacts' photos. (?) Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	MumbleyJoe says: I understand what you mean. I only took 'some' shots before pausing for lunch. I took a boatload of photos after but even still this was one of my faves. I believe my exact words were something like "I have to take more photos or the photography gods will smite me for wasting this opportunity. ;-) It really was freezing cold though too. Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	rustlingleafdesign says: great forground detail. Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	hawkeye_flickr says: Beautiful shot! Love the reflection in the pools! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	zachary s says: Great shot! The compisition is incredible - beautiful work. Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	Ryan Caceres Photography [DWP] says: i love the colors and the view mountains oceans trees superb job Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	Nicole Stewart Photography says: Awesome! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	yasmapaz & ace_heart says: Wow is wonderful!! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	JanvPi says: Totally bowled over by ur pictures! Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )
	TCB3 says: NIce. Nice. Great angle for this 18mm shot. Really spreads out the foreground nicely! Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )
	draganea and ljilja says: wow great Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )
	STA Travel UK says: Hi, I'm an admin for a group called STA Travel North America, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group. Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )
	iamamonkey says: There is so much 'stuff' in this photo and you've managed to make it all work together - nice job! Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )
	Aaron Siladi says: What a view! Very nicely done. Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )