Light was magical

2 min readSep 26, 2018

JMT DAY 2 — BANNER PEAK SEEN FROM ISLAND PASS AT SUNSET

Banner Peak seen from Island Pass at sunset: JMT201802002

After a long afternoon of struggling, we arrived at Island Pass. One of the thru-hikers we leapfrogged a few times said it right. Climbing two passes on a day wasn’t the smartest idea. When we started our second day, we were still just above 10,000 feet, which meant that we had to gain about 900 feet to go over Donohue Pass. The loss of 1,400 feet (not fun for my knees and toes) followed as we hiked all the way down to Rush Creek, and we gained another 600 feet. My legs were noodles, and still recovering from the first day’s long hike, I was very glad that we were done.

Once done with dinner, I grabbed my camera gear and walked around the lake. The wind that had been blowing nonstop most of the day miraculously calmed down just in time. What a relief, I thought to myself and that the reflection would be mirror like. Thankfully, the sky was clear of smoke. Mostly.

Soon, the sun started casting a gorgeous orange glow on the iconic Banner Peak. Compared to the last trip that I made in mid-June, the snow was pretty much all gone, except for the glacier lingering all year round. The colors were beautiful, and the light was magical. Not a whole lot of mosquitoes to deal with. It was quite a tranquil evening.

Island Pass, Inyo National Forest, CA

Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 16–35mm f/4L IS USM
27 mm / 12 sec at ƒ/7.1 at ISO 100 and 30 mm / 14 sec at ƒ/7.1 at ISO 100 panorama
Taken 8/7/2018
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