| This scene is in the southern Sierra Nevada, the mighty backbone of California. My trailhead was Mineral King in the southern end of Sequoia National Park. Lugging my heavy large format camera gear along with my usual complement of backpacking equipment, I made slow time out of the Mineral King basin. The altitude and steepness of the climb really took it out of me. After only three or four miles and 2,600' of elevation gain I called a halt at Monarch Lakes, at 10,400'. The hike out of Mineral King seems straight up in all directions, but once you get yourself out of its basin you have wonderful hikes in all directions. Even though I stopped at the first lake I came to, I found all the solitude and rugged beauty I longed for. The next day I toted my 4x5 rig up to Sawtooth Pass at around 11,600'; looking back over my right shoulder I had this view of a ridge (also called an arete) leading up to Sawtooth Peak. I'm certain I recorded the image on T-Max 100 film; I'm less certain of what filtration, if any, I had on the lens. I'll blame the altitude for my fuzzy memory. I most likely used a yellow filter to darken the blue sky and bring out the hovering clouds. |
Timothy Edberg / 6511 Homestake Dr. South / Bowie, MD
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