Colby Brown - Day One

Heading north on I25 from Denver, we checked the local weather forecast for Pinedale, WY and hoped that the weather would hold.

While 60 degree days with sunshine and 40 degree clear nights sounded good, Pinedale sits at an elevation of roughly 7200 feet. Our destination, Titcomb Basin, stands well above 10,000 feet, which could make our nights camping in the high altitude wild interesting to say the least. To add to the fun, the Wind River Mountains are known for their freak Fall snow storms that come without much warming.

 For this trip we brought a Canon 5D Mark II, 1D Mark III, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L, 15mm Fisheye, 100mm Macro, 580 Ex II Flash and a tripod. While some photographers might find this gear list a bit excessive when it comes to weight, I prefer to cover all my bases. I have gallery work up in various places throughout the US and you never know what kinds of photography work will sell better in different regions.

The 7-hour drive from Denver flew by and soon enough we had made it to the Elk Heart Trail Head, just North East of Pinedale. The fresh alpine smell and lack of people on the trail spurred us on for the 3-hour hike to our first camping spot, ironically called “photographers point”. Really just an open meadow amidst the forest, “photographers point” offers most visitors their first major views of the jagged peaks of the Winds.