First Light on Warrior Peaks

First Light on Warrior Peaks ~ Popo Agie Wilderness

I just returned from a backpack trip to the Cirque of the Towers with Paul Martin and (almost) Kalin Wilson. We encountered some tough conditions (photographically) with hot, cloudless weather and unbearable swarms of mosquitoes. We forgot to make our sacrificial bribes to "The Cloudman" before our trip - serves us right! But its hard to go too wrong in a place like the cirque. It is an incredible place no matter what the conditions.

This is the first image I've processed from the trip. I used LR's graduated filter along with a few other tweaks.

Comments and critiques welcome.

Sweet light .

Nicely done!

Looks like America's answer to Cerro Torre in Patagonia.
You did a fine job here, Scott.

But, what do you mean (almost) Kalin Wilson? Did you leave him up there?

John wrote:

But, what do you mean (almost) Kalin Wilson? Did you leave him up there?

Oh, no. I believe Kalin is safe and sound. We met up with him and his son at Big Sandy Lake as we were leaving, and we hiked out with them. And thanks to him we were clued in to the best-closest burger joint - "Country Burger" in Farson, WY. The patty melt, homemade fries and milk shake hit the spot after a few days in the steep backcountry with a big pack.

Cirque Waterfall & Warrior I

Here's another that's similar, from the same area - about 20 feet away from the 1st...

Scott, they're both great, but I REALLY like the waterfall version...

I too like the waterfall take. Looks like an area well worth several mornings for various conditions. Are the angles and surrounding mountains conducive for evenig shots also?

My preference is for the waterfall, but both are really nice.
Looks like a sweet spot.

Doug, I totally agree. Spending 4-5 days the plan. We got stuck with several days of hot, cloudless, breeze-less, mosquito engulfing days at 10,000+ ft. - and we bailed.

Evening is kind of tough in the cirque, which forms a semi-circle opening to the east. From the pass, you can shoot back towards the distant Temple and East Temple Peaks. Other than that, you need to get creative. Also, be forewarned that the hike is not trivial.

Thanks for the feedback. I like the 1st one better (even though I love waterfalls), so its good to know what other's preferences are.

Wow--im so jealous--really wanted to get up there this summer but it was not to be...
Great shots, love the waterfall!

On my list to someday explore this area. Looks amazing under the right conditions. The first one I'm a little distracted by the two foreground options; flowering bush or the reflection? If the foreground is the bush, maybe a little closer to see more detail in the flowers. If the emphasis is the reflection, maybe frame it more prominently in the little tarn? If the emphasis is one both, the grass on the LLC seems to shift things off balance, but this is being extremely nit-picky since you said you preferred this pic. The second comp works better for me, but I prefer the first scene if that makes any sense? Love the peaks on both though!

Nice shots, Scott! Those peaks are fantastic. I like your first photo here the best... nice peaceful comp.

Jared, Thanks for the critique details on #1. Something about the foreground is not quite right to me, too. Your points are well taken.

Scott, that waterfall shot is sweet! I agree with Jared on the foreground issue, you can probably move the 2 rocks in the middle and put them under you

I'm a sucker for the waterfalls.
Nice!

That waterfall shot is sweet!

I've been trying to decide on which I like best -- I just can't pick. Maybe the first, I like the angle the peaks are at in this one. Both are great, Scott.

Great shots, Scott! I think the waterfall is my fav of the two. I started processing my shots. I'm not wild about the lack of clouds but I did get a pretty cool moonrise pano that I'm working up. Thanks again for the invite to tag along and the motivation. This area is AWESOME and definitely someplace to visit again.

For the rest of the story, the original plan was to meet and travel together last Thursday but work got in my way. So my son and I arrived on Friday and hiked into Big Sandy Lake. The seven mile hike was plenty with gear for 5 days, so we decided keep our base camp and go into the cirque for a day and meet up with Scott and Paul. We made it as far as the saddle above Arrowhead Lake and decided the climb in and back out wasn't worth the lack of late afternoon/evening photo ops, so we turned around after making radio contact. The mosquitoes were really lousy so we decided to head out Sunday, meeting up with Scott and Paul for the hike out. Not a wasted trip but not all that it was hoped for.

The waterfall in the foreground is definitely the better image.