I had to alter my vacation plans a bit due to extensive wildfires and thunderstorms in the west, but decided to return to the Cirque of the Towers in the wind rivers range. i did make a couple trips out last year, and was excited to return to one of the most beautiful mountain range anywhere. I had not previously completed the loop, so I planned a 3 day excursion to finish the cirque loop this time. the first evening i arrived at the waterfall in front of the cirque. i set up camp and proceeded to capture a few images at sunset and even one afterwards, under a full moon. there were many clouds passing through and so star images were not possible. i also caught the sunrise on the peaks of the towers.
Sunset
Full Moon
Sunrise
The second day i climbed over the cirque pass to shadow lake. this was a steep climb with some great views of the valley below, but a bit risky due to slippery rock scree. if i were to do the loop again i would take texas pass. once to shadow lake, i set up camp and had an early dinner. It was a popular camping location for about 20 other hikers as well. we were treated to a beautiful sunset with the sun peaking through the cloud cover just before going down. this was followed by an intense thunderstorm, with lightning strikes every 20 seconds or so for over an hour. I happily set up my camera on a tripod with 60 second exposures to capture a few, before the hail starting coming down hard.
the third day was greeted with clear skies, but the morning light was not favorable for many photos. i packed up early and headed out. on my next visit here i will have to go out to pyramid peak and other nearby lakes. it looks amazing there as well. overall it was an amazing experience and i want to return again soon.
