Lake Reflection
by Robert Bales
Title
Lake Reflection
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
We had a family camp out near Anthony Lake which is above 7000 feet and this beautiful alpine lake was only a very short hike form our camp site. This was taken in the late afternoon on our first day at the lake.
Just as beautiful, but more accessible than the more famous Wallowa Mountains nearby, the Elkhorn Range boasts craggy granite peaks and high alpine lakes surrounded by wildflowers. A paved road climbs to a lovely campground and picnic area beside 7,140-foot-high Anthony Lake. From here hikers can stroll around the lake in half an hour or tackle a more demanding 8.2-mile loop around Gunsight Mountain.
A little history on how it was formed. The Blue Mountain range began as a volcanic island archipelago in the Pacific Ocean 210 to 270 million years ago. The Earth's crustal movement "rafted" this volcanic and sedimentary debris onto the advancing North American continent about 200 million years ago. Later bubbles of relatively light granite rose through the sediment to form the core of the range. This granite has since been exposed by erosion.
A glacier scoured out Anthony Lake's granite basin from the crest of the Elkhorn Range relatively recently, during the Ice Age 6,000-20,000 years ago. Today there are no glaciers in Eastern Oregon. Instead, subalpine firs and wildflower meadows ring the lake. Still, exposed patches of granite often exhibit "glacial polish," shiny surfaces where the weight of grinding ice has polished the rock as smoothly as a granite tombstone.
Gunsight Mountain lies in the northern Elkhorn Mountains of Oregon, and is one of the more easily accessible peaks in this range. Gunsight Mountain has two summits, the eastern one being the highest at 8342 feet. Gunsight Mountain is accessed most easily from Anthony Lake. An ascent via the west ridge is a steep, but fun class 3 scramble. The south ridge is a class 2 scramble, and is not as steep. Round trip distance up the west ridge and down the south ridge is about 3 miles, and takes three to four hours. The views of the surrounding lakes and peaks of the Northern Elkhorns are excellent, and on a clear day can range from the Wallowas in the east to the Ochocos in the west.
Gunsight Mountain is part of the backdrop for the Anthony Lakes ski area, which is known for having the highest base elevation in Oregon, and excellent powder skiing with minimal crowds.
The Elkhorn Mountains lie in northeastern Oregon, and are a sub-range of the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains were once a volcanic island arc, and were accreted to the North American continent as it advanced westward. The northern Elkhorns are a part of the Bald Mountain Batholith, which was generated as the rocks and sediments from the Blue Mountain volcanic arc were subducted, and melted from 158 to 131 million years ago. This magma rose, but did not reach the surface, and slowly cooled forming the granitic rocks (mostly granodiorite) that can be seen today, and comprise Gunsight Mountain. Dark blotches called xenoliths can be found where pieces of the host rock were assimilated into the intruding magma. Over the past eight million years, faulting along the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament has lifted this material to its present height, and erosion has worn away the original surrounding rock. The many tarns, cirques, and U-shaped valleys found in this area were carved by Ice Age glaciers. The notch between Gunsight�s two summits is a joint, which commonly form as igneous rocks cool and fracture, on both small and large scales.
Uploaded
January 29th, 2014
Statistics
Viewed 1,557 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/20/2024 at 6:54 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (66)
Maria Hunt
Your reflections and composition make this so inviting. Hope the camping went well.. Warm regards from the desert. F/L
Robert Bales replied:
Yes it did go very well and thanks so much for the comments and the FL!! We will be back in the desert at end of October.
Emmy Vickers
Beautiful Robert! Great lighting. Love the reflection and snow on the mountains. Thanks for the detailed description. Sounds like it was a fun family outing. Perfectly composed. L.
Ismo Raisanen
Another beautiful shot, Robert! You have photographed in so many beautiful places. -f,l,p
David Winson
Great capture, Robert! Nice composition! The trees on the left seem to be pointing back to the mountain :) v/f