Aerial Photography of Leavitt Peak and Surroundings by John Ballou
John Ballou's Main Aerial Photography Web Site
The following photographs were taken on an excursion from Camp Blue at the Lair of the Golden Bear during 9th week, 2002 and 2003. In 2002, there were nine people in our party, Gigi and Steve Roark, Ian, Kevin, Bob, Tim, Paula, Brian, and John Ballou. This was not a "sanctioned" hike, in that it was planned by the participants, not the camp staff.
The picture below is a panoramic shot of Leavitt Peak and Blue Canyon. Leavitt Peak is on the left, and Blue Canyon is to the right. This picture was taken about one-third of the way to the summit, where the Pacific Crest Trail passes over the ridge to the south-west of Sonora Pass. The return route down to Blue Canyon starts at the top of the next peak on the ridge and proceeds across a traverse below that peak to the ridge, and then down until a clear trail leads down to a glacial moraine left by the glacier that formed Deadman Lake. Then, after crossing that moraine toward the large knob of rock, the trail leads down to a ridge with small cliffs to the left. At roughly the lowest point on the ridge, you can scramble down toward Blue Canyon Lake, where you pick up the trail that leads down to the 9000 foot level on the Sonora Pass road from the west.
As the Pacific Crest Trail winds to the south, there is a spectacular view from a saddle, showing 5 glacial lakes, each with a different color. This picture shows the lakes with the peaks beyond, which are near the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park.
After gaining the summit and eating a hearty lunch, I assembled my "Local Hawk", and flew it above the mountain.
The following is a selection of the photos I took that day. The first one was taken toward the south, showing Kennedy Lake, which is directly to the south of the summit, and the high peaks to the north of Yosemite.
Next is a shot of the peak and Deadman Lake, which is to the left of the trail down to Blue Canyon. If you look slightly to the left of where the "arrow" of snow points, you can see some of the members of our party (they're really small from this altitude!). I am standing to the lower left of them (and I'm really small, too!). A small part of Blue Canyon lake can be seen peeking over the ridge above Deadman Lake.
Here's a shot from the air of Latopie Lake, which is the lake to
the far right of the panorama from the saddle. The Sonora Pass
road can also be seen, as well as the White Mountains to the east.
Lastly, here's a picture of the summit, showing the variety of colors of the rock that forms the mountain. This picture is from about 1500 to 2000 feet above the mountain.
Here is a photo taken as we're ready to leave the summit. The plane is still in the same number of pieces it came with, with no parts missing.
The following three pictures are from the 2003 trip. The first shows the group at the summit.
The second shows the incredible clarity of the atmosphere to the southeast.
Here is a panorama of the Sierra Crest to the south. This photo is stitched together from three shots to form a view of the amazing variety of peaks along the top of the Sierra Nevada. Click on the photo for a full-size view!
This one shows a stereoscopic view to the south, toward Yosemite National Park. These two photos were taken about four seconds apart. If you look at these photos with crossed eyes, so that you see three pictures, the center one will have a "3-D" effect, that is, you will have depth perception of the mountains in the picture. I think this is really cool.
The one shows a stereoscopic view to the west, toward the Central Valley. These two photos were taken about six seconds apart. Use the same method to look at this picture to see a great amount of depth in the two pictures. This pair was taken in 2002.
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