A Dream at Dream Lake

This image from Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park was captured at daybreak, with the iconic view of Hallett Peak on the left (south), and... more

by Eric Glaser

Title

A Dream at Dream Lake

Artist

Eric Glaser

Medium

Photograph

Description

This image from Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park was captured at daybreak, with the iconic view of Hallett Peak on the left (south), and the craggy southeast face of Flattop Mountain on the right. Well below the saddle between the two mountains, and up in the next basin you see, is Emerald Lake - a lake with an entirely different personality.

The photo was made right after an overnight early-season snowfall in late September. Note the first tentative sunbeams of light dancing on the landscape as the storm slowly cleared, and the touch of blue sky that suddenly appeared above this most sublime part of the Continental Divide. The silence of the soft, unfrozen lake that morning contrasted eerily with the swirling winds above.

You're at ten thousand feet and up here, so this can be an unforgiving place, with long brutal winters and raging winds that can last for days. But not for this moment. To have been up there alone, as I was that morning - with only a pair of human eyes and a camera that could never hope to faithfully record the scene in all its glory - was to stand in awe in one of nature's grand cathedrals.

Dream Lake (elevation 9,905 ft / 3,019 m)
Hallett Peak (elevation 12,713 ft / 3,875 m)
Rocky Mountain National Park
Colorado
United States

Copyright � Eric Glaser. All Rights Reserved.

Uploaded

October 23rd, 2010