San Isabel National Forest

• William Wallace.

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After getting the classic mountain landscape shot of Maroon Bells and their reflection in the morning light, we drove to the flatter half of Colorado. We took highway 82 through independence pass to Salida for the night. My plan was to get to twin lakes and then capture some beautiful fall shots before the sunset. As we got there, I parked at the lot and we set about exploring the impromptu trails along the lakeshore.

I was trying to find a composition that would be relatively free of human developments but will still provide me with a view of the lake as foreground and Mountains as the main subject. This location is known to be windy, so the lake was choppy, and I doubt even during the morning the water would be still enough for a reflection shot. Finally, I found a spot from which it looked the view would be perfect but I had to cross a gulch to get there and it was not a dry gulch. But I decided to brave the ankle-deep water and get to the other side and that’s when I heard it, the unmistakable sound of a rattle. As I got close to the gulch the rattle started to get louder. Even after looking carefully everywhere I couldn’t find the danger noodle anywhere and that made the situation even scarier. I don’t know If I will be able to describe the feeling here. I was not sure if moving would warrant a bite, I grew up in part of the world that has a lot of snakes and I know the basic rules to follow when encountering a viper but seeing the snake is kind of important first step in all those rules. Finally, after staying still for what seemed like an hour but in reality probably only a few seconds, I decided to trust the volume of the rattle and slowly stepped towards the way I came and the rattle progressively became quieter. So I didn’t get the shot I wanted but learned an important life lesson that day and went back to the trail to get this shot.