Fall Aspens

Some say a boat is a hole in the water where you throw money. I would say that a Jeep is a mud puddle where you hide credit card receipts from your wife. I always wanted an off-road vehicle. Ever since I was a kid. But practicality always got the best of me. One day, I deluded myself enough to think that I could justify this purchase for my photography habit. “Now I can go where no photographer has been before…” I know, I know. As I already stated, “Delusional.” So, Scout and I jumped into the Jeep at 5am and headed straight up into the Sierra. Higher, and higher the road got narrower and narrower, steeper and steeper. In four low now. Then locked them out as the tires slipped up a little side trail just as the sun peaked its first ray over the ridge to reveal the last stand of Aspens left with color. Scout and I jumped out and I rushed over to frame up the aspens over Lake Tahoe. And as soon as I found my spot I planted my tripod only to find that some other poor photographer had indeed gone where hundreds of other photographers had apparently gone (Jeep or no Jeep) before, and sadly left their tripod lying on the ground at my feet. Crestfallen, I climbed back in the Jeep with Scout and proceeded back down the little trail, down Brockway Summit, curved around Carnelian Bay, and out of the corner of my eye stood a magnificent stand of Aspens. I pulled over, (no 4-wheel drive required) hopped out and framed up this shot of white aspen bark with splashes of yellow paint daubs. I walked the 50 yards back to the jeep. Hopped in and hit a few mud puddles on the way home to clear my conscious.