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| Gallison Lake viewed from the trail up Vogelsang pass ©2007 Paul Beiser |
it's a postcard - and much more... paul beiser
It had been a long day with lots of feelings - rewarding, fantastic, and tiring. Our Yosemite High Camp Workshop group had decided to form two teams, take two different trails from the Merced Lake camp to the Vogelsang camp. It was day 5 of our 6 day loop, and possibly one of the hardest days of hiking. Rob and I were nearing the end of our 4,000 ft of climbing and getting close to Vogelsang Pass; the other team (Steve, Gus, Joel and Jeff) had been out of radio contact most of the day, hidden behind a large ridge and mountain on their path to the camp, which was our last camp and our last night out. As we slowly made our way up the final 800 ft of switchbacks, Rob and I could sense Vogelsang Pass not far off.
All day long, Rob and I had worked as a team, watched out for each other, made sure we ate, drank, took care of our feet, and paced ourselves. We enjoyed the incredible Sierra blue skies and granite, and the folks we met along the way. Several times we wanted to jump into the numerous clear swimming holes we saw, or pull the cameras out, but we knew we would have time later for this – we were focused on steady progress and making sure we reached Vogelsang camp before dark, in good enough spirits to shoot sunset across Fletcher Lake.
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| first light from Glen Aulin ©2007 Paul Beiser |
Nearing the Pass, I turned around and saw the image, featured at the top of the page, and other incredible views of the Southern Sierra and knew I needed to come back shortly. But first we had to make the Pass, and most importantly check in with Steve to make sure our other team members were ok – we are hikers first, photographers second. As we hit the Pass, Rob pulled out his radio, and soon the upbeat, happy, alive voice of Steve was giving us updates on the other group as they neared camp. Ah, all is well. Time to go back and play with the cameras and soak it all up!
I spent 20 minutes framing different compositions, I believe this was the 2nd or 3rd shot. I really wanted to find a way to get one of the few clouds we saw in 6 days in a landscape shot. It was great just being there. After relaxing, resting, and having a bite to eat, we packed up and descended 600 feet to Vogelsang camp for our final night.
Is it a great picture? Hardly. Is it a pretty postcard? Maybe. But for me, it will always bring back memories of that day, our long climb, and finally knowledge that the rest of the team was doing great, and having as much fun as we were.
Paul Beiser was a participant on our Vogelsang workshop in 2004 and again was along for our Grand Canyon expedition of 2005. His spirit and help on all of these outings were appreciated by all, but none more so than me! .. Thanks again Paul.
Read Dr. Jeff Johnson's story of this adventure.
Steve Kossack Photographing the great American landscape DVD series