View from Pinchot Pass

A turquoise lake sits in the basin below Pinchot Pass, ringed by bare, snow-dusted peaks.

Mid-morning in the High Sierra, and the sun was already high, illuminating the peaks and the vibrant turquoise of the lake. I was hiking a ridge above the lake, looking for a good vantage point to capture the scale of the landscape.

Sierra Nevada, California, USA · 2026