Ansel Adams Wilderness the Picturesque Ritter Range
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai2KI3s2c8w
The Ansel Adams Wilderness is named after the world famous wilderness photographer Ansel Adams, who spent his life exploring and capturing some of the greatest picture ever taken in the Sierra Nevada. Mt. Ritter at 13,157’ is the highest peak in the Ritter Range with Banner Peak at 12,945’ to the north and the sharp spires of the Minarets at 12,264’ to the south. The Ritter Range is composed of highly fractured meta-volcanic rock, the weathered core of an ancient volcano, with steep pocket glaciers that cling to the sharp sculpted peaks. The vertical east face of Banner Peak is a spectacular sight when viewed from Thousand Island Lake and one of the most picturesque peaks in the Sierra Nevada Range. From Thousand Island Lake the vertical east face of Banner Peak rises over three thousand feet above the vast deep blue waters of Thousand Island Lake.
The Minarets became the scene of an historical event in the High Sierra during the summer of 1933 when Walter A. Starr Jr. was reported overdue from a trip to the Ritter Range. A large search party composed of some of California’s finest climbers spent a week in the area climbing peaks searching for Walter A. Starr Jr. The search was called off on August 19th but Norman Clyde continued climbing and searching. On August 21, 1933 Norman climbed Clyde Minaret, looking for signs of a fallen climber in the Bergschrund along its north glacier. Two days later he searched the cliffs above Amphitheater Lake with binoculars, and continued the search from the summit of Kehrlein Minaret. On August 25, 1933 Norman put all of the clues together and climbed Michael Minaret via Clyde’s Ledge. During the descent a fly droned by, and then another. Norman moved north away from the Portal and turned to face the northwestern side of Michael Minaret. Then he saw the remains of Walter A. Starr Jr. A few days later, Norman Clyde and Jules Eichorn climbed down to the body on the ledge where it had come to rest while Starr’s father Walter A. Starr Sr. watched from below.
The photographer who seeks wilderness landscapes will find an opportunity of a lifetime in The Picturesque Ritter Range within the heart of the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
By: Mark Girardi