Coming Down from Sierra Buttes
Sep. 27th, 2021 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerSierra Buttes, Calif - Saturday, 25 Sep 2021. 1:15pm.
I've mentioned before that when coming back from an out-and-back hike there's a tendency to stop looking around; to feel you've "Been there, done that" and pay less attention or, perhaps in a stage of fatigue, focus just on putting one foot in front of the other. I try not to fall into that trap. I remind myself that beauty isn't a place I'm hiking to; it's the whole hike. In beauty I walk. Thus I kept my eyes up and my camera at the ready even after I decided I'd had my fill atop the Sierra Buttes fire lookout and began the hike back down.
There are times, though, it's important to think about putting one foot in front of the other. Coming down the "Stairways to Heaven" was one of those situations. But still I stopped several times for pictures, sometimes balancing precariously on a step over a yawning chasm trying not to let the gusting wind knock me off balance.
Once back down on terra firma Hawk and I started down the trail together.
Like I said, there's beauty all around. This twisted old tree I noticed on the hike up but couldn't find the right angle to compose a telling picture with it. On the way down the framing was... right in front of me.
Likewise I couldn't find a expressive composition with our car on the way up. Part of the problem was that it was generally behind me. I didn't want to stop every 10 feet to turn around and look again. On the way down, though... again, the framing was right in front of me.
Next entry: Visiting Sardine Lakes
I've mentioned before that when coming back from an out-and-back hike there's a tendency to stop looking around; to feel you've "Been there, done that" and pay less attention or, perhaps in a stage of fatigue, focus just on putting one foot in front of the other. I try not to fall into that trap. I remind myself that beauty isn't a place I'm hiking to; it's the whole hike. In beauty I walk. Thus I kept my eyes up and my camera at the ready even after I decided I'd had my fill atop the Sierra Buttes fire lookout and began the hike back down.
There are times, though, it's important to think about putting one foot in front of the other. Coming down the "Stairways to Heaven" was one of those situations. But still I stopped several times for pictures, sometimes balancing precariously on a step over a yawning chasm trying not to let the gusting wind knock me off balance.
Once back down on terra firma Hawk and I started down the trail together.
Like I said, there's beauty all around. This twisted old tree I noticed on the hike up but couldn't find the right angle to compose a telling picture with it. On the way down the framing was... right in front of me.
Likewise I couldn't find a expressive composition with our car on the way up. Part of the problem was that it was generally behind me. I didn't want to stop every 10 feet to turn around and look again. On the way down, though... again, the framing was right in front of me.
Next entry: Visiting Sardine Lakes
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Date: 2021-09-28 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-28 05:25 pm (UTC)