I first read about the optical phenomenons called "Spectre of the Brocken" and the "Glory" ring in Galen Rowell's book called, "Mountain Light." I think this had the same impact on me at the time as the first time I saw a sunrise shot from Nugget Point in New Zealand. It seemed unattainable, far off, almost like a fairy tale and I'd wager that most people on this planet will never see one. The conditions and angles have to be in perfect unison for the optics to take shape and often it's just a flutter of moments before it dissipates. One of the stories in Galen's book outlines a time he went into a storm against all odds and came out with rainbows and epic moody shots. The moral of the story was in his words, "Just go shoot." I think most experienced landscapers would agree that to get really great shots sometimes we have to go into the eye of the storm to witness the clearing. This day the road was closed up to the Rim of Crater lake because of a giant storm... 60-80MPH winds, and 18 inches of fresh snow had just hit, so we put our snow shoes on, climbed up to the Rim of Crater Lake, spent the night, and woke up for Sunrise, with the place to ourselves. What a beautiful day it ended up being as the storm cleared revealing the lake below, and as evening fell, we climbed a ridge line, the fog came up from inside the rim back lit be the setting sun.
Below - is the ridge we stood on for the glory, the other side of the glory at the time, and a shot of the ridge before climbing up. This was steep, and fairly technical.
As a side note, I'd love for some of you to come to the Patagonia Fjords. It's fully outfitted boat, with a bunks, a skiff, and cooks, anyone is welcome and it's for all skill levels (I'm bringing the gal). Message me for details - the trip is late March early April 2020 for Patagonia's fall/autumn.
