I overheard this spoken to a companion hiker years ago as members of another group started their morning preparation for the day’s journey out of Glen Aulin High Sierra camp. Like them we were now embarking on our second day having spent the previous afternoon, evening and morning photographing around the Glen Aulin area. The hike in was a great “warm-up” and introduction to the backcountry that held many opportunities for relaxation along the Tuolumne River, a knee pounding decent beside Tuolumne Falls as well as many images made in all directions near camp.

The conversation continued as I became more interested in the subject. It was said that they were going to be hiking for up to eight hours and most of the terrain was strenuous. Again he added that “the hike really begins today”. He wasn’t kidding! What he omitted was two sets of switchbacks on the route that gain hundreds of feet each and lots of unshaded granite exposure during the middle of the day. Every time I’ve started out in the direction of May Lake high camp I’ve thought about this conversation!

With my groups I smile within myself and prefer to talk instead about the two lakes we will see on our way and a couple of vistas that will be breathtaking. I mention the fern grottos and wild flowers that may still exist depending on last winter’s snowpack and time that our hike is taking place. I’ve learned that the rangers seldom talk about the trail itself and I’ve come to learn why. Miles and time in this splendor take on different meaning for most. A mile of uphill can take two hours or more. Two hours can seem like ten minutes when you are enjoying yourself. The key is to enjoy yourself!

As we leave Glen Aulin high camp and cross the two bridges over the river I often pause and look down stream and remember the two souls that had climbed the slope on the far side to take in the sunset that I had photographed so many years ago it now seems. I had captured the rush of the river away from the White Cascade and down toward the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne by setting a quick shutter speed to highlight the mist of the fall ahead. I achieved this by using a very high ISO in order to keep the aperture setting I needed for depth of field. I used a Singh-Ray Color Intensifier which has little or no filter factor and a 4ss graduated neutral density filter across the right side of the frame as to bring up the shadows and my two onlookers, which I still see, if only in my mind’s eye, every time I’m there!

Next … May Lake!