I’ve slumped into a general state of laziness over the last month. Chemistry. Photography. Life. Blog posting. I’ve decided to start doing some speed ascents of hikes and climbs within an hour of Fort Collins in an effort to get off my ass. The idea (at least thus far) is to wake at an obscene hour of the morning, ascend the route so as to reach a photographic destination by sunrise, and make it to work by 9:00. Fast, smooth, and light.
Today I left home at 2:00 and was on the Long’s Peak trail by 3:15. My pack contained 3 liters of water, insulating and waterproof layers, my camera and wide-angle lens, a polarizing filter, tripod, mountaineering ax, 2 zone bars, a twix, and a basic first aid kit. I reached Chasm Lake at 5:00 with just enough time to scout out a location by headlamp before sunrise. I stuck around until 6:00, shooting around 100 photos of Long’s Peak and Chasm Lake. It was absolutely beautiful, and I stopped taking pictures more than once to just sit and take in the whole scene. I was back at my car at 7:15 and at my desk at work before 9:15. At work, I took a step back from my project and re-evaluated its direction. Hopefully this summer can end with a productive bang. Meanwhile, what route should I tackle on my next speed ascent? Pictures from this morning below. I also did a giant photo dump of the last month’s adventures for the latest few posts.
