An Impulse Addventure on Whiteface Mt.

 

Yesterday afternoon at 2:38 pm I decided to drive up the Memorial Highway on Whiteface Mountain. I had thought I would wait until today or tomorrow (Indigenous Peoples Day) but the forecast for both days in that area was for rain and the Highway closes for the season after tomorrow. The gate closes at 4:45 so I took the shortest route through Bloomindale and Franklin Falls. There was a line to go through the gate and I got to the gate at 4:40, one of the last allowed up. 

I was also one of the last to come back down because I stopped to photograph the sunset at the Lake Placid turn. The temperature at the summit was 36° F with a fairly stiff wind. I should have had a better coat and gloves but I didn't stay long enough to get chilled. The lines to ride the elevator were ridiculous so I hiked both ways from the parking lot to the summit.

I shot this phone photo on the way down. The rest were shot with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 III and 14-150mm lens, the same kit that I broke on my last trip up Whiteface. It survived unscathed this time (see the July 19 post).

All these photos were made at the Lake Placid turn, the next-to-last hairpin turn going up. The ones above and below were made on the way up.

This is one of only 3 shots on the summit. The cold was bitter and there were mobs of people so I abandoned the summit after a few minutes.

On the way back down I pulled over before the LP turn because there were already several cars parked along the turn and people watching the sunset. Across from where I parked the light from the setting sun highlighted the grass in contrast with the rock.

Lake Plaid in shadow as the sun sets (below).

I shot this with some trepidation. I thought that shooting straight into the sun might create massive flares but the camera handled it and even defined the sun's disk. I did have to do quite a bit of post-shoot editing in Lightroom. I shoot everything in RAW so I had enough dynamic range to pull out the level of detail I wanted.

This one also required post-shoot editing to create the separation of the receding mountains and to cut the digital noise in the foreground.

The last photo (above) required the most editing using both Lightroom and Photoshop. It is my favorite from this mini-adventure. I think I need to get out early or late more. Between getting older and Covid I have been photographing mostly in mid-day for several years now. 

I hope you enjoy the photos of my adventure. I do sell prints (hint, hint). If you are interested contact me. I encourage sharing of the URL to my blog and also of my Zenfolio site, jimbullard.zenfolio.com, but ask that you respect my copyright and do not repost any of my work without permission.