August 2022 – Lawrence Pallant Photography

Little Lakes Valley is one the places in the eastern Sierra Mountains that draws me back again and again. I have backpacked through it, camped at its lakes in both summer and winter, and climbed one of its peaks. On this day I arrived in camp at about 4 PM during a typical afternoon thunderstorm. At around 6 PM, most of the rain had stopped and I hiked into the valley. I arrived on the rocky knoll below around 7 PM.

Peaceful Knoll, 7:16 PM (taken with mobile phone while scouting compositions)

The first quarter moon was setting behind the ridges on the west side of the valley. I checked the PhotoPills app which showed that twilight ended and night time began at 9:45 PM. It also showed the Milky Way would be visible over Bear Creek Spire at that time. I decided I would stay. At around 9 PM, an hour after sunset, I found a composition and started by taking several beautiful shots throughout twilight as the clouds cleared.

Under the Night Sky, composite, landscape at 9:38 PM and sky at 9:45 PM (12 shots)

After sunset the moon was completely hidden behind the ridges on the west side of the valley, but cast a glow on the opposite ridges and the clouds (in the photo above).

Window to Forever, composite. Sky at 10:10 PM (twelve 15-second shots at ISO 10,000). Landscape at 10:20 PM, I (one long 4.5-minute shot at ISO 1600).

I found myself standing on the top of this rocky knoll in the dark with a steep drop-off a few feet away. The thought of a wrong step was sobering and made me careful with my footing as I moved in the dark. To give you a sense of how close I was to the edge, I include the shot below. My tripod was set up in front of the two small puddles.

I returned on the following evening , initially checking out a different location. After spending some time there, I returned to the rocky rise above the lake to try some other compositions.

In June of 1997, I climbed Mount Dade with my good friend Gary. We probably camped the night before at the Treasure Lakes. It was a snow climb up the Hourglass Couloir, which I read here gets up to a 40° angle. In the picture below, the Hourglass Couloir has no snow. Click on the photo below to enlarge and see the names and elevations of the peaks. I climbed Mount Dade again in June 2011, but only as far as the top of the couloir.

To see the rest of the photos from this trip, click here.