Sun breaking through Mist, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

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, CA, USA

Reflections in melting ice, Inyo NF, July 2017

Clouds over an alpine lake, Inyo NF, CA, USA

Clouds over an alpine lake, Inyo NF, July 2010

Ice and reflections on an alpine lake, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Ice and reflections on an alpine lake, Yosemite, July 2011

Melting ice, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

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.