Not technically in the PNWNP region, but since it's a relatively easy drive to neighboring Idaho, I thought I'd share this here. This is from the Lost River Range, east of Mackay, ID. There's a nice series of 4WD roads that run back into the heart of the range, and we spent a day exploring and camping here over the July 4th holiday.
Rugged mountains, relatively easy access, very few people, dispersed camping... perfect in my eyes. The mosquitoes were a bit aggressive, but a small price to pay for having this place all to ourselves.
This is a pre-sunset shot. The orientation of the range makes it more of a sunrise shot, but the bald blue skies of the subsequent morning didn't show off the location as well.
D2X, 17-35mm/2.8, GNDs. Comments and critiques always welcome!
Cool to see some good images from this not so often photographed place Rick! If I'm not mistaken, Borah Peak (the tallest peak in ID) is located in this range.
Hi Joe - Borah Peak is indeed in the Lost River Range. It's not visible in the first image, but I believe it's the right-most mountain in the second image.
Posted by Cliff Dodge on July 17, 2012 at 11:16 PM
I like the detail in the first one of the mountains, especially in the larger version. But the red and blue and bright yellows in the second are beautiful.
Really glad to see a post from you Rick. I love your stuff and it's been too long!
This works great for me. What a place to camp! I really like the diagonals. The start at a shallow angle at the bottom, and then more acute as they sweep to the mountains. The lighting is handled really well, I know how tricky a scene like this can be with the shadowed foreground against that cloud highlights. Great use of the GNDs.
What's the red in the LLC?
Posted by Scott Miller on July 20, 2012 at 3:13 AM
John - thanks for the kind words. The red in the LLC is a small boulder. They're everywhere out there, and finding a spot where there weren't any conspicuous ones took a while. I'm sure that's what lends to the red color of the soil. One of the better known pictures from this area is on the cover of Leyland Howard's Backcountry Roads Idaho book, which we used to help guide our journey. They are indeed very red - that's not a byproduct of heavy-handing the saturation slider - and while Leyland's picture is striking, I thought the rocks were too much of a distraction. I'm not sure what type of rock it is or what minerals contribute to the red color, but driving through Idaho, one thing is very clear - it has a robust mining history. A lot of towns, basins, lodges, etc. are named after metals or minerals. You'll see tailings everywhere on backroads, remnants of gold mining operations. Not very pretty, but at times interesting.
Discussion
12 repliesRugged mountains, relatively easy access, very few people, dispersed camping... perfect in my eyes. The mosquitoes were a bit aggressive, but a small price to pay for having this place all to ourselves.
This is a pre-sunset shot. The orientation of the range makes it more of a sunrise shot, but the bald blue skies of the subsequent morning didn't show off the location as well.
D2X, 17-35mm/2.8, GNDs. Comments and critiques always welcome!
This works great for me. What a place to camp! I really like the diagonals. The start at a shallow angle at the bottom, and then more acute as they sweep to the mountains. The lighting is handled really well, I know how tricky a scene like this can be with the shadowed foreground against that cloud highlights. Great use of the GNDs.
What's the red in the LLC?