View from summit of Mather Pass viewing South

A high-altitude landscape reveals multiple small tarns in a rocky, barren foreground, leading to a forested valley and distant, snow-dusted granite peaks under a partly cloudy sky. This photo was taken from the summit of Mather Pass viewing South.

I found this view in the High Sierra, looking out over a series of small, shallow lakes, or tarns, in a broad, rocky basin. The afternoon light was dramatic, with patches of sunlight breaking through the clouds to illuminate sections of the distant peaks and the valley below.

Sierra Nevada, California · 2026