Ellis Peak, part 2: False Summits, Real Summit
Atop Ellis Peak, California - Sat, 21 Sep 2019, 4:30pm
That "Stairway to Heaven" to Ellis Peak at the end of my last blog? False summit. We huffed and puffed our way to the top of it, and there were some nice views, but there was also still more climbing to go. Namely, this rocky rampart:
Atop the rampart we finally had 360° views of Lake Tahoe, the mountains of the lake's west rim, and well beyond.
But... do you notice what's at the far left of that panoramic picture of Lake Tahoe? Yup, a higher peak. The real Ellis Peak. We (and the half dozen or so hikers enjoying the rocky perch with us) were at yet another false summit!
We scrambled down the opposite side of the rocky outcropping and picked up another foot trail over to Ellis Peak. From there we could enjoy proper 360° views.
We stayed up at the summit for a while enjoying the views in all different directions.
In this picture (below) Ellis Lake is in the foreground. That's where we went on our previous hike out here, instead of climbing this peak. The lake was mellow, and the view up to this rocky peak immediately behind it was amazing, but I think the view from atop the peak is... amazing-er.
In the midground of this picture, from the left edge out toward the center. you can see the ridge we were walking along in my previous blog. Beyond it, in the distance, is Loon Lake.
I was intrigued to see another photography enthusiast up here doing his thing. Among other things I was curious about his choice to shoot with a tripod. I own a tripod but didn't bring it- I didn't want to carry the extra weight 7 miles roundtrip and over two mountain ridges! So I asked him.
"I'm going to blow these pictures up really huge," he answered.
Not really an answer to the question, I mused. I responded that I was able to use a reasonable ISO level on my camera and still shoot exposures of 1/1,000 second or faster- plenty fast to minimize blur due to hand shake in hand-held photography. At that level IMO the limit on photo detail/sharpness is the resolving power of the lens, not how steady the camera is. And I observed (silently) that he was shooting a consumer-ish camera body with a not particularly high-quality lens. Ah, well, I learned years ago that the quantity and cost of camera gear a person carries has limited correlation with actual skill.
Update: More pics on the hike back in part 3.
That "Stairway to Heaven" to Ellis Peak at the end of my last blog? False summit. We huffed and puffed our way to the top of it, and there were some nice views, but there was also still more climbing to go. Namely, this rocky rampart:
Atop the rampart we finally had 360° views of Lake Tahoe, the mountains of the lake's west rim, and well beyond.
But... do you notice what's at the far left of that panoramic picture of Lake Tahoe? Yup, a higher peak. The real Ellis Peak. We (and the half dozen or so hikers enjoying the rocky perch with us) were at yet another false summit!
We scrambled down the opposite side of the rocky outcropping and picked up another foot trail over to Ellis Peak. From there we could enjoy proper 360° views.
We stayed up at the summit for a while enjoying the views in all different directions.
In this picture (below) Ellis Lake is in the foreground. That's where we went on our previous hike out here, instead of climbing this peak. The lake was mellow, and the view up to this rocky peak immediately behind it was amazing, but I think the view from atop the peak is... amazing-er.
In the midground of this picture, from the left edge out toward the center. you can see the ridge we were walking along in my previous blog. Beyond it, in the distance, is Loon Lake.
I was intrigued to see another photography enthusiast up here doing his thing. Among other things I was curious about his choice to shoot with a tripod. I own a tripod but didn't bring it- I didn't want to carry the extra weight 7 miles roundtrip and over two mountain ridges! So I asked him.
"I'm going to blow these pictures up really huge," he answered.
Not really an answer to the question, I mused. I responded that I was able to use a reasonable ISO level on my camera and still shoot exposures of 1/1,000 second or faster- plenty fast to minimize blur due to hand shake in hand-held photography. At that level IMO the limit on photo detail/sharpness is the resolving power of the lens, not how steady the camera is. And I observed (silently) that he was shooting a consumer-ish camera body with a not particularly high-quality lens. Ah, well, I learned years ago that the quantity and cost of camera gear a person carries has limited correlation with actual skill.
Update: More pics on the hike back in part 3.