Rocky Mountain National Park

If there is one thing I hate its being the last person on the trail around sunset in bear country. I learned up in Alaska to sing nursery rhymes softly to yourself to let the bears know you are coming, but that you aren't aggressive. After a half hour on the trail to dream lake those soft songs had transformed into a speaking what should have been my inner monologue out loud. Alone on an icy trail 10,000 feet above sea level knowing that I wasn't going to pass any people returning from the lake, and that it was very unlikely anyone was behind me all of my concentration was on not falling and injuring myself for this photo in mountain lion and bear country. It was stressful going up, and even worse knowing that I'd be coming back down in the dark.

There was a half hour string of "This is fucking stupids" as I hiked up hill and slid back down on long stretches of ice with sheer drop offs, but I still managed to make it to Dream Lake before the sun had set. I spent a half hour shooting on thin late fall ice with a frigid wind blowing so hard my tripod would sometimes slide away from me on the slick lake surface durring the 30 second exposures I was attempting. To take these I had to crack the ice with rocks to get the tripod to sit still.

After the sun had set, and it had become to dark, and to cold for me to even handle my gear properly I packed up everything, and started the hike back down. I stopped briefly at a small lake with some fantastic light to take this photo. In the background you can see the very top of the mountain I had hiked too.
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