Hall of the Mountain King - a photo on Flickriver

            2022-08-28, Day 2
Sunset light unexpectedly finds its way to the underside of rain clouds as the gathering wind and gloom suggest the day is rapidly coming to a close, Victoria Cross Range, Jasper National Park, Alberta.

Looking for a spot to pitch the tent that would be likely to stay dry even if the rain intensified, we explored the far shore on the right of the frame and encountered a moderately sloped clear spot a meter or so from the water's edge. If it rained heavily, I feared the water levels could rise enough to soak us from below, since clay-rich soil can transport water like a wick. We opted to pitch the tent on higher, slightly more hummocky terrain immediately opposite the direction I face here.

The sunset in this photo is clearly not the most dramatic, nor the most colorful, but for me, it is up there amongst the most odd. I've never seen anything quite like this, and as the light waned and the wind spit rain drops here and there, I expected the clouds to become leaden and grey, and then descend quickly into gloomy dark night. Instead, somehow the sun found a way to cause the underbellies of a few sections of cloud to glow bizarrely orange.

My friend and I watched the light fade and we looked at our maps to try and determine an optimal route for the next morning. We wanted to find a route into the valley on the other side of the ridge to the right in this photo. Following the rocky crease in the landscape on the opposite side of the lake and then down the other side initially seemed like a promising path, but we finally decided that the contour lines on the opposite side of the low pass visible here were too densely packed to be safely navigable. Although the route did stay above timberline, I suspected it might require wings. The only viable alternative was down and around the ridge on the right, descending through thick, trail-less forest, crossing several streams, and then climbing back up through yet more forest to get back above timberline about 2 miles away. The maps indicated that the morrow's climb would be impeded by an interlocking obstacle course of downed logs, and would rise steeply enough that cliffs might be a problem. And so the darkness grew and the path forward became apparent.

Taken in: Canada / Alberta / Geikie (show map)

Taken on: August 28, 2022

Tags:

Alberta

Canada

Jasper National Park

Landscape

National Park

Northern Rockies

Rocky Mountains

Victoria Cross Range

alpine

backcountry

backpacking

clouds

evening

evening light

high country

high elevation

lake

magic hour

mountains

rain clouds

storm

storm clouds

sunset

tarn

tent

water

wilderness « less

Sets appears in: • Crepuscular Light • Mountains and Sky more » • Northern Rockies • Water « less

Groups appears in: • The Light Fantastic • Mountains more » • The Cloud Appreciation Society • Landscape photography • Landscape Exploration • The Nature Conservancy • Clouds, Storms, Sunsets & Sunrises • Rocky Mountains Landscape & Wildlife Photos • Landscape Beauty ! • * Sunsets & Sunrises * NOT B&W Photos • A NATIONAL PARK • Mountains and Forests of the U.S. and Canada • My favourite Photographers • CSSS: Earth - My Perspective, A Personal Focus • Brain Vision. Art. • ☆The Power of Now / Die Kraft der Gegenwart ☆ • CSSS: Earth - Landscape Dominate (CSSS Required) • CSSS: Earth - Panoramics (CSSS Required) « less

Camera: Nikon Z 6, f/6.3, 1/20 sec, 43mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 6
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	43mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.1 (Macintosh)
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