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Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 5:09 am
by sharperblue
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East Lake may be a contender; stunning peaks on all sides. Tenaya is probably the most genuinely breath-taking though. Too bad there's a road next to it >:(

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:46 am
by Romain
I second Precipice:
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Don't forget Finger Lake:
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Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:10 am
by Daria
NICE shot of Precipice lake! What a cool lake in an even cooler place of the sierra range. One of my favorite areas of the Sierra.


Mills Lake (taken today with current snow conditions):

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Absolutely surreal lake here as one of the lower mills lakes. Would be one of the best shots of someone just laying on their back in the water here.

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clear water:


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Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:44 pm
by tarol
My personal favorite is Moose Lake in the Tablelands of Sequoia NP - it's huge and sits on a precipice - from some angles it looks tilted or like it's about to fall off its plateau. The backdrop is the stunning Great Western Divide.

I also like Hungry Packer, Cathedral, all the Big Pine Lakes, Garnet, Pear, Tenaya, Blossom Lakes, Tahoe, and Mono Lake for its unique beauty.

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 3:48 am
by johnr
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Evelyn Lake, Yosemite


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Townsley Lake with Fletcher Peak, Yosemite


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Fletcher Lake and the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite


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Lake 10515, one of the Horseshoe Lakes, and Windy Ridge, SEKI


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Upper State Lake and State Peak, SEKI


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Lake of the Fallen Moon, the Black Divide in the distance, SEKI


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Granite Lake, in Granite Basin, SEKI


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Long Lake, with Bishop Pass, Mount Goode, and Hurd Peak


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One of the smaller of the Bishop Lakes, Mount Agassiz


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The unnamed lake at the top of Bishop Pass, SEKI


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Alger Lakes, from below Koip Pass


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One of the unnamed lakes on Island Pass, with Banner and Ritter


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Small unnamed lake in the upper Rush Creek drainage, Ansel Adams Wilderness

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 6:52 am
by sierraman
No discussion of impressive lakes is complete without mentioning Peninsula Lake in northern Yosemite. The peninsula which gives Peninsula Lake its name contains numerous granite basins which are like swimming pools with tolerably warm water during the height of summer. Combined with the awesome backdrop of Haystack Peak, Peninsula Lake would make anybody's top five list. However, my personal favorite is an unnamed lake approx 1 mile west of Price Peak, also in northern Yosemite. Because of its many impressive qualities I've informally named it Shangri La Lake. Rarely visited, this lake would also be in anybody's top five.

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:04 am
by boyblue
A few more Sierra classics:

Barrett
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Italy
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Tulainyo
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Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:21 pm
by Noondueler
boyblue wrote:A few more Sierra classics:

Barrett
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Italy
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Tulainyo
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It is worth noting that Tulainyo is the highest named lake in the Sierra 12,821'. There is "Caltech Lake" at 12,924' a smaller one below the northeast face of Caltech Peak.

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:06 am
by Cloud Ocean
Bull Lake, Chocolate Peak

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 4:03 am
by BHunewill
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Lake Catherine and Ritter Lakes - Sept. 2013

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Thousand Island Sept. 13 2013

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Lake west of Unicorn Peak

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Soldier Lake, Northern Yosemite.

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:42 pm
by fogey
It's getting to hard to come up with new candidates; here are a few (I think; I'm losing track).

Consultation Lake:

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Echo Lake:

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Lake of the Woods:

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Too obvious, but still, Rae Lakes:

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Among existing nominees, Precipice would probably get my vote:

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But Treasure Lakes would be right up there:

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And Finger would be in the mix:

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This is a post of which a top troll can be proud: beautiful subject matter and no right answer.

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:27 pm
by 96avs01
I'll add a few that haven't been mentioned:

Parker Lake
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Cliff Lake
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Lake Ediza
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Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:37 am
by Cloud Ocean
This thread just makes me think "show me a lake which ISN'T beautiful in the Sierra Nevada."

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:08 pm
by David Senesac
asiwalkirun wrote:This thread just makes me think "show me a lake which ISN'T beautiful in the Sierra Nevada."


To be honest in my personal opinion, many of the lakes mentioned, rate rather middling. And most of the pictures posted have modest aesthetic value though I'm not going to be specific and hurt anyone's feelings. Just making a point that just because forum members mentioned various lakes does not count for much.

To the fisherman, the lake they fished at and caught nice fish is beautiful. To the peakbagger, the remote lake they found on some bench on the way to the summit is beautiful. To the urban resident newbie Sierra hiker, every lake they visited was beautiful. To the young photographer any lake next to impressive peaks is beautiful. So to some extent beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The majority of ordinary people have a low threshold for beauty out in nature. It is all good for them. Outdoor photographers like this person however tend to evolve a more discerning narrow aesthetic they can articulate about at length. Much like the art critic disecting a painting. It does not mean they don't see beauty in ordinary art that others gush over. Just that they reserve "most beautiful" to a higher standard of aesthetics, the theory of beauty

Are all Sierra lakes beautiful to this old person? No not at all but that is just my opinion given my experience. Likewise everything in the Sierra is not beautiful. There are a few natural places that are butt ugly. And there are lakes and ponds that are likewise. However the majority of lakes are neither particularly beautiful nor ugly but rather somewhere in between, pleasantly nice visibly, and a quiet pleasant joy to visit. Spectacular landscapes and peaks are uncommon and much of a lake's aesthtetic beauty is a result of landscapes it resides in. On this Summitpost mountain page linked below, the title image at page top that I captured in 1986, is a rather shallow sterile bedrock pond with granite rock dully encrusted with centuries of black organics. It is not particular beautiful if just looking at the pond alone. And the majority of Sierra lakes conversely don't have particularly exceptional landscapes near them so at best are simply nice.

http://www.summitpost.org/isosceles-peak/151840

The most beautiful lakes when visited at the best time of year at the best time of day, under fine weather conditions, are simply stunning experiences. Like the image linked to above of Vee Lake on a calm mid morning when turf is in peak summer green, dappled with wildflowers, looking towards Seven Gables under gorgeous deep cobalt blue skies. Many lakes look their best when calm, reflecting impressive mountain scenery around them. And that usually means early morning before breezes have started. However lakes can look superb even at midday with waves rolling across aqua waters, from limited perspectives under some atmospheric conditions. Many have never noticed for instance that lakes can be bluest near midday and are usually not too blue early or late in day. So a photographer interested in capturing beautiful blues in a lake would be wise to do so at that middle time of day.

David Senesac
http://www.davidsenesac.com

Re: Most beautiful lakes in the Sierra

PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:08 pm
by peninsula
Off the beaten path, but well worth the visit is Lake 11,092 in Kings Canyon