Brown's Peak Sunrise

Brown's Peak Sunrise, originally uploaded by cultr.sun.
Late Summer 2010, near the end of wildflower season, I backpacked up to Lost Lake in Medicine Bow National Forest with Loki and a few friends. After scouting around a bit, Loki and I decided on this spot for the next morning -- about a half mile away from camp and a few hundred feet higher. Brown's Peak is seen in the foreground, the rest of the Snowy Range arches out behind it.

Watching the sunlight strike upon the mountainside is an incredible experience -- this was one of my first. The air this early in the morning is always hushed, and still, and the only sounds to be heard are of wildlife just waking up (and a half-wild dog). Then a faint sliver of sunlight appears on the horizon, and a band of red runs down the mountainside, waking up the world.

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No Such Thing as Off-season

Taylor turns around to take in a breath-taking sunset while we were snowshoeing around Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, WY. We came out very early to catch the first light of day striking upon Mt. Moran, but the clouds had other plans. Fortunately I still got some great shots and we enjoyed a very serene morning.

The Road

One of my favorite drives ever. I took this photo late in the Fall season but I expected the road to still be open due to the very mild weather we had up to that point. I was wrong, and was faced with a huge pile of snow at the closure gate. Despite a balmy Fall in the valley the mountains were still getting tons of snow.

Driving back home from a disappointing attempt to shoot sunrises, I was greeted with this scene as I came back down the mountain. It was not such a wasted trip after all.

I will be trekking back up this road in a few weeks for a little winter backpacking trip. I need a few new pieces of winter gear first! Winter backpacking is serious business.