220-degree panorama from the summit of Humboldt Peak at sunrise
To see this panorama in greater detail, view the video below.
It's rarely productive for a landscape
photographer to go wandering about in some randomly selected patch of wilderness in hopes of making a good photograph.Instead, I try to visualize compelling images, then go to those places where I think such images could actually be
made.
The idea for "Humboldt
Peak Panorama" began with the unique geology of the Sangre de Cristo Range, which rises abruptly for 6,000 vertical feet
above the Wet Valley to the east and San Luis Valley to the west, making it one of the most dramatic ranges in Colorado.It's also remarkably narrow and straight for its length.The Colorado portion is about 125 miles
long from Salida to the New Mexico border, but only ten or 12 miles wide through much of its length.That
configuration, I thought, made it an ideal candidate for a grand panorama.And the best place to shoot
that panorama, I decided, was the summit of 14,064-foot Humboldt Peak, which sits just east of the crest of the range
directly opposite the massif's crown jewels, Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle.
I had photographed sunrise from the summit of Humboldt last September.It would be even better,
I thought, to return in the spring, when the peaks would look still more formidable and majestic under their blanket of snow.
In late April, a brief weather window interrupted the endless series of spring storms.It was an awkward time to go shoot.I still needed almost as much warm clothing and gear (snowshoes,
crampons, ice-axe) as I would have needed for an ascent of a Fourteener in full winter conditions.When
combined with 20 pounds of camera gear, it was too much to carry on my back in one trip.Unfortunately,
the road to the summer trailhead had partially melted out, which made hauling my sled problematic. I ended
up shuttling loads a third of a mile from the first impassable drift to the beginning of continuous snow cover, where I could
start hauling my sled.It was already six pm when I started uphill in earnest.At dusk,
after just an hour's travel, I camped.
In the morning I dragged my 60-pound
shadow to a high camp at 11,600 feet in the last tall timber.The forecast called for moderate winds the
next day, when I planned to climb the peak, but increasing winds the night after my climb, so I wanted to camp in the shelter
of thick woods.The Sangres, I knew, were one of the windiest ranges in the state.
My alarm went off just before
midnight.The night seemed mercifully calm, and I began thinking I might have gotten lucky.But my luck quickly changed at timberline as the wind began to build.By the time I reached the
saddle below the west ridge of Humboldt, the wind-driven spindrift was clawing at my face.I donned the
goggles with clear lenses I carry for just such conditions and pressed onward, wondering if the wind would be so strong on
the summit that it would be impossible to make sharp photographs.
My luck returned just below the summit, when the wind eased to a gentle breeze.Humboldt has a long,
nearly level summit ridge.When standing on the true summit, your view of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle
is partially blocked by the western portion of that ridge.I chose to photograph, therefore, from the west
end of the summit ridge, still at 14,000 feet, which gave me an unobstructed view of the Crestones as they rose above South
Colony Lakes. The downside of that decision was that I lost some of that "summit" feeling, but,
on balance, I felt I'd made the right compromise.
After shooting five
panoramic sequences at sunrise, each composed of five bracketed exposures at 10 overlapping camera positions, I began my descent.Ten minutes later, the wind abruptly returned.Gusts of 50 or 60 miles per hour began battering
me, knocking me off balance.More than once the heaviest gusts drove me to my knees."If
this wind gets any stronger," I thought, repressing my momentary panic, "I'm going to have to crawl off
this mountain."
As soon as possible, I dropped off the west ridge,
plunged down the south flank of Humboldt and escaped the strongest winds.I called my wife from my high
camp that night to get the forecast, which called for gusts to 80 miles per hour the next day.After lying
awake half the night listening to the wind roar through the trees, I got up at 5 am and left without trying to shoot sunrise.The final tally:nine hours of driving, three nights in the backcountry, 20 minutes behind the camera
and one 220-degree panorama.Does the actual image live up to the image I imagined?More importantly, does it evoke the awestruck feeling of being there in someone who was not?That
is for the viewer to decide, not me.
This is the most recent Fourteener I've done
and the end of the story, for now. Please check back soon. I hope to keep adding Sunrise from the Summit images
regularly!
Humboldt Peak Panorama is available as a 8.25x30, 11x40, 16.5x60 and
19.8x72 inch print. The 8.25x30 and 11x40 prints are available loose, matted-only and framed. The 16.5x60 and
19.8x72 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 8.25x30 inch matted-only
or 8.25x30 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
8.25x30 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.
16.5x60 framed print of Humboldt Peak Panorama.
To order, call 303 499-3009 or email me.
19.8x72 framed print of Humboldt 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.
