Wildflowers above the Hitchcock Lakes with Guitar Lake in the distance, from the west slope of Mount Whitney.

The Other Side

Hitchcock Lakes, Sequoia National Park, California

Descending the west side of Whitney, the crowds gone, the JMT properly begun. The far lake is Guitar — that evening's camp — with the Hitchcock Lakes stacked between. One lens teaches you a habit: when you cannot zoom to the view, you walk to the foreground. I knelt into the flowers until they anchored the bottom of the frame and let the lakes recede in order, near to far, like a table of contents for the afternoon.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 17mm · f/5 · 1/1000 · ISO 180

June 30, 2025

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