260-degree panorama from the summit of Quandary Peak at sunrise
To see this panorama in greater detail, view the video below.
I first tried to shoot sunrise from the summit of Quandary Peak in May, 2008, and
failed miserably.Not only was I late arriving on the summit, but a massive band of clouds hid the sun
and ruined any chance of interesting light.Further map study revealed that the best time of year for a
rematch was probably winter rather than spring, when the rising sun would put texturing side light on the dramatic peaks north
of Quandary.
Climb a Fourteener in the dark and shoot sunrise from the summit in the depths of winter?Was I
nuts?I hadn't climbed a Fourteener in winter for 30 years.True, Quandary would be
a lot easier than the Notch Couloir on Longs Peak, but I wasn't 22 anymore either.I imagined myself breaking
trail in bottomless depth hoar while I dragged my sled over deadfall on my way to a high camp at 11,600 feet, then imagined
getting up at 1 am on a bitterly cold, windy night and struggling to keep my face from becoming frostbit as I fought my way
to the summit in gale-force winds.Feeling thoroughly intimidated, I waited for a good weather window.When it arrived, I packed up, drove to the trailhead and found a surprise.
The parking lot was full.A wide, packed trail led up the snow-covered road leading to the summer
trailhead.I hitched up my sled and started upward.Soon I met the first of a series
of climbers descending from the summit."Forty people summited Quandary today," he told me."There was something about climbing Quandary today on Fourteeners.com.I guess the guy who
runs the website organizes this every year."I continued upward in the warm sunshine, following the
well-packed summer trail, and reached my high camp in just an hour and a half.
"Surely it can't be this easy," I thought.Bitterly mindful of my tardy arrival on the
summit on my first attempt, I set my alarm for 1 am, determined this time to summit at least half an hour before sunrise.
A packed trail led me all the way to the summit the next morning ‒ or maybe I should say, that night, since
I arrived on the summit an hour and 45 minutes before sunrise when it was still thoroughly dark.I whiled
away the time before sunrise experimenting with star field photographs, discovering too late that I had ruined all of them
by not setting the camera properly in the dark, then pulled myself together when dawn light began to spread across the sky.Now I set up to shoot a 260-degree panorama starting with Mt. Lincoln to the south, sweeping past the Maroon Bells,
Mount of the Holy Cross and Pacific Peak and ending with the valley of the Blue River leading north towards Breckenridge.In my determination to avoid further errors, I didn't notice something that became clear once I'd stitched together
the finished panorama: the line formed by the horizon was straight, but the upper edge of the blue shadow of the Earth cast
on the western sky a few minutes before sunrise was perceptibly curved.Like all school kids,
I'd been taught that the earth was round, but this was the first time I had ever seen the curvature of the Earth with my own
eyes.Above the blue shadow, which is called the twilight wedge, was a rich band of pink light.(For a full explanation of the atmospheric optics of the twilight wedge, see the story behind my image Twilight Wedge from Sunlight Peak. And for the story of how I discovered that my simplistic explanation of the curvature of the twilight wedge turned
out to be wrong, please see my February 16, 2011, blog post.)
When I finished photographing this marvelous display of natural light, I packed up and got ready to descend.Just as I was about to hoist my pack, I heard a clattering noise behind me.I turned and saw three
mountain goats stroll casually across the summit and along the summit ridge.Frantically I dug my camera
gear back out of my pack and tried to get a photo.What on earth were three mountain goats doing on the
summit of a 14,000-foot peak in January?They seemed perfectly at home in their three-inch-thick
fur coats.After locating some flat, snow-free rocks, they settled down for a nap.I
was ready for a nap, too, but fought to stay awake so as not to miss the moment when they awoke.After
half an hour, the goats got up, posed obligingly for photos with Mount of the Holy Cross in the background, then descended
cautiously down a steep gully on the south face.I descended too, down the east ridge, pausing at 13,000
feet to remove gloves and strip down to long johns.I'd seen worse weather on Quandary in May than on this
January day when fortune seemed to smile at every turn.
Quandary Peak Panorama is available as a 9.5x30, 12.5x40, 19x60 and
22.75x72 inch print. The 9.5x30 and 12.5x40 prints are available loose, matted-only and framed. The 19x60 and
22.75x72 inch prints are available loose and framed. (They are too big to be matted.)
To order any of the loose sizes, or to order a 9.5x30 inch matted-only
or 9.5x30 framed piece, please visit my product catalog by clicking the link beneath the appropriate thumbnail.
These prints are available to order online.
Important note on shipping: All matted-only and framed prints larger than
9.5x30 are too big to be shipped via FedEx ground and too big to fit in any standard-size art box. While these prints
can be shipped, they require a custom-made crate and the cost is exorbitant ($300+). I strongly suggest that all customers
who live outside the Denver metro area and who wish to purchase a print larger than 9.5x30 buy the loose version and take
it to the custom frame shop of their choosing. I will glady provide detailed instructions to the framer on the moulding
I use and my preferred method of mounting and framing the piece.
For customers who live in the Denver metro area,
I will personally deliver any matted-only or framed print larger than 9.5x30 for a delivery charge of $1.50 per
mile based on round-trip mileage. Alternatively, Denver-area customers can arrange to pick up their print at my
home office in south Boulder. For more information, please call 303 499-3009 or email me.
19x60 framed print of Quandary Peak Panorama.
To order, call 303 499-3009 or email me.
22.75x72 framed print of Quandary Peak Panorama.
To order, call 303 499-3009 or email me.
Glenn Randall Photography At
home on the web at GlennRandall.com and AGPix.com Specializing in Colorado landscape photography since 1993 Now offering a select group of Utah landscape photographs
from Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park All images are offered both as prints for the general public and
as stock images for professional photo buyers.
