By the time we reached the area we could possibly camp, the sky had other plans, so put our tents up as fast as possible. Thunder and lightning clouds gathered fast, lightning was striking all around us, shadows swallowed the peaks, and a burst of rain came down hard. One of my new friends wrestled with his tent in the downpour while the rest of us took cover, laughing at him while he cursed like the old man in The Christmas Story, but actually cursing. Then, as the rain stopped, my buddy was able to make it into his tent.

After the storm passed, and an hour or two went by,  air was perfectly still. The granite caught the last light with soft alpenglow, and the lake in front of me became a perfect mirror. In that reflection, University Peak blushed pink against the darkening sky — a color and calm that lasted only minutes before night took over.

That’s what I love most about moments like this: they’re impossible to repeat. You could hike the same trail/route/area a hundred times and never see the water, light, and sky align in the same way. This photograph is that one time it happened.

Sierra Reflections isn’t just a view — the timing of the request to print it brought out what has happened over the past few years since being back there, what was all going on at the time in my life (the good things of course), and the amazing beauty of the Sierras…  And now, it’s something you can bring into your own space, so every time you look at it, hopefully your reflections are of a great time in your life and you can be taken somewhere else.