2007-07-12
After a strenuous 9+ mile hike, first 1300 feet up to 10,700 and then a rocky 2500 feet down (Bear Lake to Odessa Lake to Fern Lake), we were finally (6:50 PM) at the Fern Lake trailhead, where we were to meet the last shuttle bus back to our car. Trailhead and parking lot, yes; shuttle stop, no. That was another 3/4 mile further on. At least the dirt road was wide and flat. Time to break out the last two mini-bottles of wine to help our aching muscles go another 20 min. I tucked my folded hiking pole under my arm and sipped the wine as we trudged on.
Then I noticed the aspens and grass just to my right. Time to put the bottle in my pocket and extend the hiking pole as a makeshift monopod so I could stop down the lens in the fading light. I managed to get it to maybe f/5.6 or so, with a shutter speed of only 1/60 sec., and I had to bump the ISO to 320 to get that far.
An overtime score!
(Click here to see this photo larger, in my gallery, and here to see a Google Earth photomap of the whole hike along with 23 other photos.)