After two shoots back-to-back on Sunlight, it was
time to tackle Windom. Windom is the easiest of the three Fourteeners in the Needle Mountains. I had climbed it
after shooting sunrise on Sunlight the day before yesterday, so I knew the way. Climbing the peak again in the dark
on the fourth day of my trip was a matter of summoning the will to set the alarm again for 1 am, and grinding it out.
Despite my fatigue after three nights of inadequate sleep and a lot of exertion, I still turned off my headlamp briefly partway
up the peak to marvel at the spectacle of the Needle Mountains by moonlight. In this crowded world, it is a rare experience
to be alone, at night, at 13,000 feet, looking out at a landscape that few have ever seen under such conditions.
Once on top, I returned to the vantage point a few feet from the summit cairn that I had selected while scouting two days
earlier. I started shooting looking east at the sun rising over the valley of Vallecito Creek with South Sunlight Lake
immediately below. In the distance, on the right, I could see Rio Grande Pyramid; on the left, a bit closer, I could
pick out Mt. Silex and The Guardian, rising amidst an endless storm-tossed sea of jagged peaks. Then I pivoted the camera
as quickly as possible and shot looking north, toward Sunlight Spire and Sunlight Peak, with the peaks of the Grenadiers.
Finally, I pivoted again and shot looking south toward Jupiter Peak (on the right) and Grizzly Peak, both rugged Thirteeners.
When I saw the film on the lightbox after the trip, the first and third of these compositions proved to be the most evocative,
and are the ones I selected to show here.
Read about my next Fourteener shoot, on North Eolus
