Getting high on Grey Mountain
I’ve started a couple of blog posts since my last one but have been unable to complete them and finally gave up on each and deleted them. Maybe I can finish this one.
Although we haven’t had any hard frosts yet and daytime highs are still 10-12°C, Fall is definitely here. On Tuesday (September 19th) I had some errands to take care of in town, then I wanted to see if I could find the location of a photo shot on Grey Mountain that I saw posted on Twitter.
From the maps, this looked like the most likely access to that location. The number of trails is beyond my ability to understand anymore (I quickly had to give up on this map), but I decided to just head up and see where I ended up. A walk in the forest is always good, even when you don’t know where you’re going 🙂
Although the peak of Fall colours is a ways off yet, there are some wonderful colours on the forest floor along the trail I chose.
It was very soon obvious that this wasn’t one of the popular mountain-biking trails. Which was good – one less thing to worry about 🙂
I think it was there that I decided to leave the trail and hike up a steep forested slope to the left, at the top of which I could see a bare ridge which could be the location I was looking for. Near the top it opened up and there were some nice colours, even in the rather flat light.
The top of the ridge wasn’t even close to being the location I was seeking. Oh well, it was nice walk anyway. I walked a bit further toward the mountain on a trail I had intersected but it showed no promise of being what I was looking for, so headed back to the car on a shorter route.
Mother Nature sends messages if you pay attention. Her creations were designed to adapt after damage, and survive with what’s left.
Back at the car, I shot a photo of the ridge I had walked along.
I wasn’t high enough to get the location I was looking for, so decided to drive higher. Not seeing any likely spots, I kept going, and was soon at the top of the road. The next photo is the view towards Whitehorse from the helicopter pad at the communications tower there. The rest of the photos were processed as HDR images to deal with the difficult light.
This is the start of the trail to the summit of Grey Mountain. The wind was cold and although tempting, I was nowhere near prepared to hike any of that trail.
I only stayed on top for a few minutes. There were showers hitting the valley and I wanted to be able to shoot in the best weather possible. The next photo shows the view to the south – the South Klondike Highway runs to Carcross and Skagway through the valley right in the upper centre.
The road is quite a bit rougher than the last time I was up. I probably drove my Cadillac up then, but I sure wouldn’t do that now.
The view to the east, with Marsh Lake in the distance.
As I drove down I got into some very nice light, and stopped a few times.
The view back up to the tower at the top.
Back home, I noticed a poppy and lupine along my driveway. No, flowers, it’s not Spring – go to bed!
Overnight, Lady Aurora paid us a visit a couple of times – pretty much a perfect end to the day 🙂
The template I use for the blog is updated every now and then, and the last update messed up my formatting. There used to be a space between the photos and the next text below it but that vanished. I’ve now added a horizontal line below the photos to make that separation, but there’s no way to force that change to the thousands of photos already posted. I hope that’s minor issue to readers.
About The Author
Beautiful country, truly Gods work. Thank you!
I am so deeply thankful that this is my back yard. Nature heals.