Sierra Wave


_T2P1985-Edit

This was taken Sunday afternoon from Speedboat Beach. As I was came over Donner Summit I noticed this amazing cloud over the lake area and wondered if it would still be visible by the time I arrived at the water. It was, but it was too far north to photograph more than this section of it without casinos and other signs of civilization in the image.

This shows about half of the cloud, which I was informed is called a Sierra Wave. This info came via a man who joined me on the rocks not long after I arrived, and we chatted a bit as he set up a video camera to shoot the same scene I was photographing. We spoke for about an hour, I suppose, as the sun set and we went about our work.

An enjoyable and interesting conversation in spite of the fact that not once did the other man, Dan, mention that in the early 80s he just happened to have scaled Sears Tower and one of the WTC buildings using suction cups, the former while dressed as Spiderman, no less. Fortunately I’d asked for his card which led to a website where I found the YouTube link above.You can find out more about Spider-Dan at www.skyscraperman.com.


  • I’m such a fan of Lenticular Clouds in general, but this is a wonderful example. I have to fortune of watching them come and go over Mount Rainier over the course of a day while I’m at work. But I’m much less accustomed to seeing this long standing wave generated over a large range like the Sierra Nevada. These smoothly polished foreground rocks are lovely too – another great shot. It makes me wish I was there.

  • Dan

    Scott Jones = 21st Century Ansel Adams

  • Shelley

    And that is why Tahoe is GREAT! Hanging out with Spidey!!! HUGE!