It’s 4:45 AM, and I’m watching snow fall and cover my 4Runner parked on the street outside. It’s warm, comfortable in our new house. There’s a silence fallen over the neighborhood. What little noise there usually is, is covered over by the snow.
I’m up writing. And doing a little research in to places to go. The film scanner whirs next to me as I see the results of an experiment using filters. The coffee is hot, strong, and plentiful.
This is my quiet season. A heavy pack on snowshoes at altitude is slow going and hard work. I mostly leave it to other folks. I haven’t been above treeline in the winter in a handful of years. I can camp high with the best of them, I just don’t feel the need to much anymore.
The snow pulls the color out of the mountains, and the only way to capture it is in monochrome. Eventually, I feel bored, and I want to spend my time lower down, closer to home.
But winter isn’t forever. And this year, I intend to push spring, getting out early and going farther this year. Maybe out to the badlands early, wait for the spring to come to the mountains while shooting in the wide open spaces.
Soon, I’ll have more film rolled for the 6×9 camera I’m starting to use. I have a proven hiking rig sorted out. I’ve got a wider circle on the map to explore. Every year, I go further. And every year, I want to go further still.
I never want to lose that.
