Lake Alpine
From last Sunday night, the Milky Way rises over Lake Alpine, CA.
Miguel and I made our triumphant return to this spot, where just 3 months earlier, we endured a harrowing adventure...
[Journal entry, May 2019] With Ebbets Pass still closed for winter, there was quite a bit of snow on the ground as we approached Lake Alpine, CA around 10pm. Temps were 23F and dropping. We turned off the main road down a groomed snow road and slowly navigated my 4WD truck over the hard ice crust. Suddenly, we broke through and became hopelessly stuck. We began stuffing tree branches, floor mats under the tires for traction, but were sinking further and further. Hiking out to the main road, we awakened a sleeping camper and borrowed his shovel. We proceeded to take turns digging snow and ice pack for the next several hours. By morning, the snow began to soften rapidly, and the truck continued to sink. Exhausted, we hitched a ride up to Bear Valley where there was a cell signal and called for a tow truck with a winch. We paid our money and regrettably, he had to leave us where we were. As the next evening arrived, we dug a very long and deep ramp in the snow, hoping that by nightfall the snow would re-freeze enough to allow us to drive out. Then, while lying in the snow to address our exhaustion, as if seeing a distant mirage, we spotted 3 fellow offroaders who had accidentally turned down our road and were about to back out. We flagged them for help and spent the next hour daisy chaining 3 vehicles with winches to pull each successively from the slush.
I leaned a valuable lesson, to never go offroading with only one vehicle. [end entry]
This image was captured with the DFA 25mm f/4 lens on the 645Z. It is a multi-stacked, manual blend, incorporating some light painting of the foreground trees and rocks using my LED panel on a stick. The glow on the horizon is light pollution, likely from Sonora or Modesto.
Thanks for visiting!
Lake Alpine
From last Sunday night, the Milky Way rises over Lake Alpine, CA.
Miguel and I made our triumphant return to this spot, where just 3 months earlier, we endured a harrowing adventure...
[Journal entry, May 2019] With Ebbets Pass still closed for winter, there was quite a bit of snow on the ground as we approached Lake Alpine, CA around 10pm. Temps were 23F and dropping. We turned off the main road down a groomed snow road and slowly navigated my 4WD truck over the hard ice crust. Suddenly, we broke through and became hopelessly stuck. We began stuffing tree branches, floor mats under the tires for traction, but were sinking further and further. Hiking out to the main road, we awakened a sleeping camper and borrowed his shovel. We proceeded to take turns digging snow and ice pack for the next several hours. By morning, the snow began to soften rapidly, and the truck continued to sink. Exhausted, we hitched a ride up to Bear Valley where there was a cell signal and called for a tow truck with a winch. We paid our money and regrettably, he had to leave us where we were. As the next evening arrived, we dug a very long and deep ramp in the snow, hoping that by nightfall the snow would re-freeze enough to allow us to drive out. Then, while lying in the snow to address our exhaustion, as if seeing a distant mirage, we spotted 3 fellow offroaders who had accidentally turned down our road and were about to back out. We flagged them for help and spent the next hour daisy chaining 3 vehicles with winches to pull each successively from the slush.
I leaned a valuable lesson, to never go offroading with only one vehicle. [end entry]
This image was captured with the DFA 25mm f/4 lens on the 645Z. It is a multi-stacked, manual blend, incorporating some light painting of the foreground trees and rocks using my LED panel on a stick. The glow on the horizon is light pollution, likely from Sonora or Modesto.
Thanks for visiting!