Michele and Dave Schanker- powered by SmugMug

Photography Blog

Hiking Galleries

Mt Whitney Attempt : On Friday Sept 21st, I was supposed to hike Mt Whitney with some friends. However, mother nature had other ideas by dumping an early winter storm on Cali. SO we were unable to make it to the summit. However me and two friends did try and make it as far as we could. The hike turned out to be 12 miles roundtrip in the snow. It was very cold at 12,000 feet- at least for Sept. Here are the very few photos I took with my point and shoot.

Mt Whitney Attempt

Onion Valley : Dave and I spent a weekend camping with two friends at a place called Onion Valley. This campground was pretty neat since it was at an elevation of 9000 feet. From the campground we were able to hike a 5.5 mile trail to a pass at 11,760 feet. The pass overlooked peaks in the sierras and a chain of lakes. It was quite a sight to enjoy. In fact Dave and I sat up there for about 45 minutes just enjoying the view and of course our lunch. The roundtrip hike was good, but not to stenuous (well at least I didn't think so). This one was only about a 2600 foot elevation change. I took my good camera again, but only becuase I couldn't find my small camera this time. On sunday Dave and I packed up and decided to take a detour to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. So I have included photos of the Bristlecones too. Then we made one last side trip to have a picnic lunch at Mt Whitney Portal...but we didn't stay to long as it rained on us. It was nice to see rain though, as we don't get that to much in the desert!

Lakes Trail in Sequoia NP :

Lakes Trail in Sequoia NP

Cottonwood Lakes : One nice July day I decided to take a hike int he Sierras by myself with my SLR in tow. This was an easier hike so I thought bringing the camera would be great, and I'm glad I did. As it was amazing out there. I hiked about 12 miles round trip to an elevation of over 11000 feet. The day was beautiful and so was the scenery.

Cottonwood Lakes

Big Pine Canyon : Dave, Arielle, and I went hiking in Big Pine. The hike was aimed to be a training hike for Half Dome. It was 11 miles roundtrip and covered an elevation change of 2600 feet. We hiked to three alpine lakes that were the most beautiful torqouise color I have ever seen. I really enjoyed this hike. As it wasn't to incredibky steep and the scenery was really pretty. We even hiked next to a couple of cascading waterfalls. I totally recommend hiking at Big Pine Canyon in the eastern sierras. At the end of our hike we camped at Big Pine and took the next day to do some sightseeing at Alabama Hills and Mt Whiney portal.

Big Pine Canyon

Hike to Half Dome : We went to Yosemite NP with our friends Kevin and Ashley. On saturday we did the famous hike to Half Dome. It literaly took us all day. We returned back to the start of the trailhead at 7pm! The hike is over 16 miles round trip and climbs an elevation of over 4400 feet. I did not take my Rebel XT on this strenuous hike, but I had my new Canon Point and Shoot instead. For other photos of the park, also check out the Yosemite folder under CA Trips.

Hike to Half Dome

Cottonwood Lakes Take 2 :

Cottonwood Lakes Take 2