First There Is A Mountain, Then There Is No Mountain, Then There Is / Donavan

After a grueling near vertical hike (1.8 miles elevation gain 3.200’) I think I arrived it was new to me. Actually my first true hike on the Olympic Peninsular, everything else prior to this were mire strolls. My arrival was pretty anticlimactic, a mostly still frozen lake with tall pine tree line shores and low, low clouds just above the pine tops. As I explored the area it began to snow. Within in minutes I was in a white out, I located my poncho and covered my backpack resting against a log. My windbreaker shell was fairly water resistant, it was spring and these mountain squall usually don’t last. Sure enough in less than a half hour the snow stopped as quickly as it had begun, but the cloud cover persisted. I had already setup my tripod in an approximate location for an image weather permitting. For some reason I went directly to my 4x5 field camera and began setting it up. Not my usual modus operandi, I usually scout composition with my 35mm outfit. I don’t know what made me change here under these conditions, either hope or instinct? I just don’t know. With the camera setup for a vertical composition, I slipped beneath the dark cloth and began preparing for an exposure, even with half to one third the composition enveloped in cloud cover. As granite slopes emerged from beneath the clouds a sense of urgency and than dread began to well-up within with a fear of choking due to freeze with this fairly new gear for me. I stopped and resorted to my gear I was most confident and knew the best my 35mm outfit. I took up where I left off visually, made a few exposures as the clouds ebb and flowed between granite peaks. Now with the fear of missing the shoot, and confidence renewed of being on the right track. I returned to my original path under the dark cloth. Is was much closer than I thought, after a few minor adjustments, I set the lens shutter and aperture (based on the TTL metering) with adjustments for the larger format. Double checked everything before setting the shuttle to closed, loading the film holder and removed the dark slide, a watched patiently for the right time to make an exposure. That’s multitasking in the analog days.