This was Difficult!

"Golden Sunrise from Chasm Lake" I had long wanted to photograph from this location, so a hiking buddy of mine decided we would make the trek. Camping at trailhead the night before, we began the hike at 11:00PM the night before the anticipated hike. The hike is about 4.5 miles long but covers only about 3 miles on a straight line, with an elevation gain of 2500 feet. We had to cover the distance at night, on a moonless night so headlamps and flashlights were the only illumination. We wanted to be at the lake an hour before sunrise which was at 6:30AM. I was needful for us to be there at least an hour before sunrise since the wind typically starts roaring by about 1/2 hour after sunrise and that would make the portrayal of the lake much more difficult. Once the sun clears the horizon, on a calm morning in the high mountains there is about a 15 minute lull before the breeze gets strong, so the time window was short. Because of that we had to hike up a trail with a 2500ft gain in elevation in 6 1/2 hours. If that doesn't sound like a grueling endeavor, consider that both of us were carrying backpacks that loaded out at around 40-45 pounds, since both of us use 4x5 Toyo field/view cameras, and the elevation gain was 2500 feet. However, what I have always said the secret of making a long, difficult journey is to just keep walking. Oh, and BTW, National Park Regulations strongly suggest that you be off the mountain before mid afternoon. I used a Toyo 45A with a 135mm Nikkor, a UV-15 Ultra Violet cut off filter and Kodak E-100G film