Stupid Human Tricks (Adventures on Mt. Rainier)

coscorrosa

Danny Seidman and I were at Kerry Park shooting sunset on Monday night (our second choice, we tried West Seattle first but the light and clouds didn't look promising. Of course, after we left, a huge cloud arrived out of nowhere and turned a brilliant pink and West Seattle would have been a much better spot for sunset).

Anyway, while the crack addicts were walking by and giving us strange looks we were talking about Mt. Rainier and decided to head up there that night (why not?) for stars and to shoot the alpenglow at sunrise. We got to the Sunrise Visitor Center around 12:30 AM, hiked about 3 miles in the dark (a little further than we thought because we took the wrong trail), and got right to the base of the mountain (so close in fact that we could paint it with the light of our weak headlamps).

After we were done shooting the stars, we walked back on the trail we meant to take in the first place in order to get a good composition for sunrise. As we turned the corner we noticed a snowfield on a very steep and narrow section of trail. We weren't worried as we had already been on one before and were able to navigate around it without major issues.

This one however was much more difficult. The snow had partially melted and then froze again as ice, making it extremely slick. In addition, it was so narrow that we had to put one foot in front of the other instead of side by side (while gripping the snow with our hands and digging in as much as we could with our shoes). I had a fun time getting across it and I had hiking boots (and used my tripod as a walking stick for balance).

Danny was in his tennis shoes :huh



After managing to escape with our lives and without major injury despite our best efforts, we found a good spot for sunrise and then headed back on the trail alongside alpine lakes and through meadows brimming with wildflowers at peak bloom and even had an encounter with a black bear.

Somewhere along the way Danny lost his wallet. So if you're on the mountain and see it please return it.

We got back to the visitor center and headed back to Seattle. I went to work on 0 hours of sleep and finally crashed around 5PM after being awake almost 36 hours straight.

wfeller

Yep- that's an SHT. I can indentify them--don't ask how, but I can.

Nice shot of one.

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dseidman

That pretty much sums up the night. This was probably a pretty stupid idea but to avoid this snow field we would have had to take a detour that would prevent us from catching sunrise. Us photographers know that that is not exactly an option. Luckily we didn't die taking the shortcut. I'll definitely remember to bring boots next time.

Besides losing my wallet, you forgot to mention that I had slight frostbite on my finger tips and that my camera couldn't be detached from my tripod so I had to carry it that way all the way down the mountain. Nevertheless, this was still a fun night.

thapamd

Great environmental portrait and documentary, Ron! It's mind-boggling to see Danny walking that narrow, snowy ledge, leaning on the mountain for support...it would make a great V8 commercial...I can just see Danny saying, "I should have had a V8."

coscorrosa

wfeller wrote:

Yep- that's an SHT. I can indentify them--don't ask how, but I can.

Nice shot of one.

-

Thanks - most of my SHT, of which there are many, are undocumented, so it's nice to have proof once in awhile

coscorrosa

dseidman wrote:

That pretty much sums up the night. This was probably a pretty stupid idea but to avoid this snow field we would have had to take a detour that would prevent us from catching sunrise. Us photographs know that that is not exactly an option. Luckily we didn't die taking the shortcut. I'll definitely remember to bring boots next time.

Besides losing my wallet, you forgot to mention that I had slight frostbite on my finger tips and that my camera couldn't be detached from my tripod so I had to carry it that way all the way down the mountain. Nevertheless, this was still a fun night.

Haha, yeah forgot about your camera. That was funny. So next time you need to bring pliers and some boots. It was definitely fun, and that's the type of thing you can even do on the weekend as most people aren't crazy enough to hike on the trails at 2AM.

coscorrosa

thapamd wrote:

Great environmental portrait and documentary, Ron! It's mind-boggling to see Danny walking that narrow, snowy ledge, leaning on the mountain for support...it would make a great V8 commercial...I can just see Danny saying, "I should have had a V8."

Thanks Mahesh, it wasn't easy for me to clear the path either and I was much relieved when I did. But Danny was equipped even worse than I was. I had a solid 5 minutes to setup that shot and didn't have to worry about him getting too far ahead

schmoo

Talk about a great time! If there's a better reason to forgo sleep than a great story , I don't know what it is.

bryanj87

Great story there, although from the title, I was expecting to read how one of you fell arse over teakettle. Sorry to hear Danny lost his wallet. Hopefully you got some shots.

Dogdots

What an adventure -- Its amazing what a photographer will do

I would of been scared to death having to walk such a narrow edge, but what a wonderful photo

coscorrosa

schmoo wrote:

Talk about a great time! If there's a better reason to forgo sleep than a great story , I don't know what it is.

Exactly, in a hundred years, I'll be getting plenty of sleep, but not taking too many photos, so I need to take advantage while I still can!

coscorrosa

bryanj87 wrote:

Great story there, although from the title, I was expecting to read how one of you fell arse over teakettle. Sorry to hear Danny lost his wallet. Hopefully you got some shots.

I only do that when at the beach (usually after dropping my GND filter in the sand)