I decided to go up to the park today for some hiking and photography. Up at 4 am and on the trail at 5 am.
I hit the clouds while driving to the trailhead. And once on the trail, even with a decent headlamp, I couldn't see much past 5 feet in front of me. The trail starts at roughly 9500 ft. and ascends up to over 10,000 ft.
It was kind of spooky hiking a trail in the dark, in extremely heavy fog (really a cloud) knowing that there are plenty of dropoffs.
I got to Emerald Lake just as it was getting light enough to not need the headlamp, still in heavy fog. So, after having a cup of coffee, I started doing some long exposure photography. Well, what I could in the fog anyway.
My lens kept fogging up and I forgot to bring a microfiber cloth. I hated to do it, but I used my fleece jacket continuously to keep the lens clear.
As I waited for the clouds to clear, I hiked up a boulder field and tried to shoot some old pines, but the fog was just too thick to get anything decent.
After a couple of hours, there was a 5 minute clearing of the clouds, and the spires around Emerald Lake were finally visible, for a short while anyway.
(3 shot vertical pano with a 645D and 35mm lens)
About 30 minutes later, the fog parted again and I got a few more shots.
(3 shot horizontal pano with a 645D and 35mm Lens)
After another cup of coffee, the sun came out one more time.
Then the fog closed back in, so I headed down the mountain. A foggy hike down gave me a few more photography opportunities.
It feels like a different world compared to how it normally is up here. Almost like on a movie set.
Finally, down out of the clouds, the bull elk bugles can be heard echoing through the mountains. I didn't spend any time photographing them since I only had my medium format camera with me, which doesn't have the "reach" my wildlife setup has. I did get one shot of a bull during a bugle though.
It was a special day in the park, one that I will remember for a while. There is usually some weather around when hiking there, but not like it was today. The light worked just right many times and I am happy with what I was able to capture.
