Disaster At Deckers Lake

I did an overnight backpacking trip to Deckers Lake near Leadville last weekend, June 6th and 7th. It's a nice little lake tucked into the southeast corner of the Holy Cross Wilderness a couple of miles south of Tennessee Pass.

My trip was plagued by equipment issues:
Light meter acting weird.
Readyload holder ruined a sheet of film.
Film bag destroyed 5 more sheets.
Cable release seized.

Could it get any worse?
Hell, yes...

Two shots into its life, my brand-spanking-new Shen Hao PTB 4x5 did a face plant on the rocks. Ouch! The impact knocked a chunk of wood out of the rear of the base plate and left the focus gear hanging loose. I couldn't find the piece of wood but I found one screw - just enough to make a field repair. My Swiss Army knife did a number on the screw head but it held together.

Luckily, the lens wasn't damaged and I used it for this shot of the sunset over the Tenmile Range. Nothing spectacular but I'll take what I can get. Wish I'd had a longer lens.

Clear skies the next morning gave me this shot of Deckers Lake. Again, nothing spectacular but with all the equipment problems I'm thrilled to have anything at all.

By the way, this lake has a good population of tasty trout.

Cheers,

Nothing spectacular? Are you nuts??? Esp. that second shot, wow!

At least you came away with something. Both are very good. I hate reading these photographer's horror stories.

That's a killler reflection, Mark!
I hope the damage is only cosmetic.

Wow, that 1st shot is awesome....the detail is incredible, wonderful composition also.

Seriously that last shot is spectacular. Hope your next trip is less eventful, equipment-wise!

Nice shots, Mark. Sorry about all the mishaps, but you came away with some winners. I really love the last one.