No more SNAPS. It's been over fifty-two hours now. I'll move on.
A week ago I spent four nights in Lassen Volcanic National Park at Butte Lake. It was a trip focusing on photography and learning the area. Friday evening several other photographers from northern California met me there. Saturday at about 4:15am we hiked to the top of Cinder Cone. It was a tough hike but well worth it. For more on this story visit: http://flickr.com/photos/rueb/
One other photographer spent Sat. night there too. This was the first time I took my trailer out camping alone (that is without my wife). With the exception of Friday night and Saturday it was lonely. I went out Sunday morning with Steve then he went home too.
I did miles of hiking and took hundreds photographs but the down time was still....lonely. The cooking wasn't bad but I forgot I had a frozen chicken breast to BBQ. Ended up eating turkey burgers three nights in a row. Good thing I like them. I had a t-bone one night.
My last night there I hiked about 2.5 miles to the Painted Dunes in hopes of catching a nice sunset or at least magic hour light on the dunes. It was a good idea. Except, you really can't see much of the dunes unless you are on top of Cinder Cone. There were a few clouds in the west but I blew it. I made the mistake of not waiting long enough after sunset and the clouds turned pink all around me. Problem was I was hiking back on the trail in between the trees and Cinder Cone. I had no good view of any horizon. Well I knew better but didn't follow my rule of staying at least a half hour after sunset.
Two younger guys who were from another country (one had a Barbie backpack on) had climbed the Cinder Cone and caught up with me on my walk back. They had also climbed Mt. Lassen to the peak that same day and had seen the whole sunset from Cinder Cone. They were headed for the Burning Man thing in Nevada next. Nice to be young and in shape.
When I got back to camp it was very dark. I finished reading my book and went to bed. Returned home on Monday - nice to be home.
I know what you mean about having to drag yourself up the cinder cone. At 48 years of age I had all sorts of people passing me on the way up. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Seems like just a few years ago all this would have been nothing to me.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean but no one passed me up. I started last. :)
ReplyDelete*snicker* I like how you determine if someone is from another country, if they are wearing a Barbie backpack. :) Sounds like a great trip to me. What book did you finish?
ReplyDeleteLee
I actually finished two books on this trip. One was nearly finished when I got there though. There's not much to do during the middle of the day except read when you go camping alone. Not that it's a bad thing. I hiked and photographed each morning and evening for the best light. Needed rest during the day.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the books I finished. Can't remember the names. They were "Who done it, Murder Mysteries" though.