Small and Mighty

Getting a bus permit to visit Lake O’Hara is one of the most difficult lotteries to win of any that I know of. I had applied for a permit on 5 different accounts several years in a row and had no luck. I’ve heard some stories of people entering the lottery for ten years in a row and NEVER winning a permit. But I felt that this year would be different. I was wrong! Instead of waiting until next year to try again, I walked instead! The bus takes visitors up (and down) an 11 kilometer (~7 mile) fire road that gains about 1,200 feet in elevation. I got an early start and made it to beautiful Lake O’Hara around 7:45 AM. On top of just going to the lake, I had a plan to do (part of) the alpine loop - an incredibly scenic loop that takes visitors up about 2,500 feet and around the highlights of the Lake O’Hara basin. Once I got to the beautiful Lake O’Hara, my alpine loop began QUICKLY. After hiking 7 miles up a fire road, the trail immediately took me up about 2,000 feet to Wiwaxy Gap - a scenic pass with great views of the surrounding area. After reaching the gap, the sun began to strike some of the peaks of this area. The wildflowers in this shot stood out to me. I loved how the trail bisected the two main subjects of my image - the small, alpine flowers and the looming, dramatic mountains contrasted each other very nicely in this scene.