Three More from Days of Yore

After spending the night over the Divide from Kite Lake in the Weminuche Wilderness, I left the old miner's cabin at the head of Elk Creek to head back to the truck. As anyone who has hiked this portion of the Colorado Trail will tell you, one of the more memorable aspects of the return trip is having to negotiate 32 switchbacks on the way up. (Better than no switchbacks, I guess...) About halfway up, I could see storm clouds moving rapidly in my direction from the west, over by the San Miguel Mountains. Nothing I could really do about it, and there didn't seem to be an electrical component to the storm (it was mid-September), so I trudged upwards toward the Divide, bracing myself for the eventual onslaught. Once on top, the clouds took aim at Mount Silex and Storm King Peak.

Once I crested the Divide, the sun started to break through, as the rain moved east.

I spent the night car camping at Kite Lake, weathering one of the most rambunctious lightning storms I've ever seen. So much for mid-September being electrical component-free!

The next morning I headed out through a steady, sloppy rain, but had to stand out in the slop to snap a few pics of the wet landscape I was leaving behind. The system was shallow enough that there was some otherworldly light playing across the scene, lit by the morning sun above.

The last 2 are killer, especially #3! Id crop the rocks out in 1. Fun stuff. Im still waiting for the band shots...

#3 is awesome, love the mood and light in that scene!.

The switchbacks bring back some memories! These are wonderful, Todd. I especially like #3.

I like the flowing shapes of #1 and the design of #3.

In #3, the foreground shadows appear a bit red on my monitor. Easy fix in selective color to add a bit of cyan in black.

On #2, I think lowering the values across the whole image would result in a more moody/imposing image.

All three of them are great finds Todd.

These are all great and really get me pumped for summer backpacking. Thanks for sharing. When where these taken?

Nice!

Aleks, these were taken in '95 or '96, I think.

They're all excellent and #3 is an "instant" classic. You must've had one of those special 67's that turned sideways back then.

Great stuff Todd, like the mood and conditions in all the shots they easily beats a clear blue sky.

These shots sure bring back memories of the weather I experienced when backpacking through that area last year! That third one is really killer.

Well, Mr. Showalter, believe it or not, the camera never did turn onto its side. Thank goodness for rotating film backs!

#3 is great. Love the layers shrouded in rain/clouds.

#2 just knocks my socks off! Great depth in that one as well as the layers of tones and colors. The other 2 are close behind. I love autumn in the high reaches for the colors and textures. Splendid work, TC.

Like the clouds in the last image. Great color of the vegetation in the first image.

The last image is the best Todd.... love the mystery in the middle ground in that shot...the trees in the fog are awesome!!

Now that's how you tell a story ... short, sweet with 3 awesome pics. #3 is epic. Probably best appreciated after the fact. Nothing worse than sloppy, muddy backpacking. Well actually, I suppose I'll take sloppy, muddy backpacking over what I do most days!

#3 is a keeper! Nice shot!

I'm with Morris on this one--I really like #2. The wide open spaces and the depth. #3 is awesome as well. The story--many early years back packing and I do remember alot of switchbacks :) and rain and lightening. Great stuff thanks for sharing.