August 18, 2010 – Inyo National Forest: Patriarch Grove
I had an idea that I’d capture the sunrise, which meant getting out of bed around 3am. But insomnia, exhaustion from the day before, and mostly not having spotted a good sunrise location on the 17th kept me in bed until 7am.
Glutes burned most of the morning, thankfully my back kept it together. Lunched on a rock overlooking Patriarch Grove – tuna from a pouch, almonds, banana, water, same as yesterday. I can’t say it was delicious, but it was satisfying.
Yesterday, early into the trek, I realized I needed to not just shoot interesting details of trees, but treat each tree like a character. Today I’ve taken this further and I’ve decided to name the individual trees when I log the footage. Clawhand. Halfdead. Coney. Gorgon. Skyscraper.
Altitude at Patriarch Grove is 11,000 feet, and to my amazement, I didn’t get altitude sickness. Labored breathing when I had to walk up hill with the gear, but nothing beyond that.
…
I was going to pull some stills and create a slideshow for this page, but I decided instead to edit together a little sequence. Look for that in the next day or two.
But there should be images and sound, so I’ll share this. On heavy rotation in my head during this shoot day was All Flowers in Time Bend Toward the Sun, a duet by Jeff Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser. Oh, Elizabeth Fraser, I don’t understand one word you sing, but what is it about your voice that makes my inner most being quiver? (The video isn’t much to look at; the song rips me to shreds every time.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8T3EI4PgEA[/youtube]