Hiking to a fury, I arrived at the spot I wanted to photograph the sunrise less than five minutes before it was up! I had started on a pitch black, starry night, over three hours earlier. Barely stopping to drink, eat, or rest I knew I was hanging by a thread to make it in time. This might have been the hardest I have ever hiked to get to a spot before the sun. Even though the hike was intense, as I made the last remaining steps to attain the ridge, I knew I still had to hurry! Ditching my pack and grabbing my camera, tripod, and 24-70 lens I clamored down the steep slop to find this spot with the young alpine larch showing its color. I didn't have much time to hone in my composition. It was run and gun style this morning but at the same time all my past experiences doing this calmed my nerves and helped my find the shot at the exact moment it was needed. I took a three shot bracket exposure that I made into a HDR image later and the rest is history!

Over a decade prior I stood on this exact ridge with my best friend shortly after the sun had came up and spread my arms out wide. The suns rays made warm air currents and carried mist from the lake straight up the slop and over my head! Still a year or two earlier me and my friend had slept on our second night of a three day backpacking trip on a mountain saddle near here. But even earlier, the backpacking trip that started it all. My first ever overnight adventure! Me, my nana, brother, and sister Sarah spent the night at the lake below and grandma took us to this ridge and to the nearby mountain. That was her favorite mountain. After taking this shot I ended up hiking to the top of that as well. The last time I had stood on the summit nana was on this earth. This is where much of it started. This is back to the heart of it.