Sierra Nevada

For sheer grandeur and superlatives, it is hard to compete with the Sierra Nevada. The “Range of Light,” as Ansel Adams so aptly nicknamed them, cover over 39,000 square miles or about the same amount of real estate as Virginia. In that space you will find the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States (Mt. Whitney) as well as one of the deepest gorges in the country (Kings Canyon), the nation’s second deepest lake (Lake Tahoe), and North America’s tallest waterfall (Yosemite Falls) in one of the world’s most famous and visited national parks (Yosemite).

And if it were not for the Gold Rush the Sierra Nevada spawned, the diverse and powerful entity that has come to be known as The Golden State would not exist, at least not in its present form.

Palisade Glacier

The Palisade Glacier is the largest glacier in the Sierra. It currently covers approximately 1/3 of a square mile and is in retreat. The teal color of the water in its proglacial lake is caused by the suspension of glacial till in the water.

Lenticular Clouds

Lenticular clouds are a fairly common feature in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Lower Montane Forest

The mid-elevations (3,500'- 8,000') of the Sierra Nevada have the richest variety of plants and animals, especially on the wetter western side.

Mount Whitney

The Golden State can boast the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. Mount Whitney rises to an elevation of 14,505 feet. That comes at the chagrin of Colorado, whose Mt. Elbert (14,439′) is the next highest in the lower 48.

Alpine Meadows

Author: Rediscovering the Golden StateCaption: At elevations over 10,000 ft, the forests of the Sierra thin out. Lodgepole pine becomes the dominant tree and alpine meadows begin to appear around the numerous melt-water lakes.

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