#04 Loner

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On a beautiful forty degree day in the third week of February 1996, I headed into the Colorado mountains atop snowshoes and pulling a toboggan loaded with gear. About three miles into the interior and just north of the Mount Sneffels Wilderness, I set up base camp. That night a cold front swept down from the north and temperatures plummeted to the single digits as snow started to fall. Snow continued through the next day and due to poor visibility, I was forced to wait out the storm in my tent. That night the sky cleared and temperatures fell to around minus two degrees. Sheltered by a four-season tent and wearing multiple layers of clothing, I shivered through the night with only short intervals of sleep even though I was snuggled in a zero degree North Face sleeping bag.

The third day brought sun, gusty winds and temperatures of around fifteen degrees. Due to high winds and a chill factor in the minus digits, every normal function of life was extremely difficult and time consuming. Changing film was very painful as gloves had to be removed, exposing fingers and bringing them into direct contact with the bare metal of the camera.

The fourth day reached a balmy eighteen degrees as I photographed this scene around mid-morning. Not looking forward to another night of sleeping on what was now a slab of ice beneath my tent, I decided it was a good day to break camp before possibly getting caught by another approaching front... enjoy!

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