Hikers in a vast basin of broken rock and snow patches near Muir Pass, black and white.

Moonscape

Muir Pass, Kings Canyon National Park, California

Same climb, wider view, two people. Near Muir Pass the scale becomes difficult to photograph honestly — everything is enormous and nothing offers a reference, so a human scale has to do all the measuring. A 1/1600th of pure reflex; the figure walked into the one bright patch and the frame assembled itself. Days like this you are less a photographer than a lookout.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 22mm · f/5 · 1/1600 · ISO 160

July 8, 2025

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More from Muir Pass, Kings Canyon National Park, California

Two backpackers crossing a snowmelt creek below Muir Pass, snowfields on the peaks above.Black and white photo of hikers on the barren rock approach to Muir Pass, Kings Canyon National Park.

More from JMT

Half-second exposure of a cascade in golden evening light at the Palisade Lakes below Mather Pass.View through the stone window of the Muir Hut over the barren lake country north of Muir Pass.Black and white photo of southbound hikers walking the barren shore of Wanda Lake toward Muir Pass.Dark deep water of Sapphire Lake beneath a sheer granite wall in Evolution Basin, black and white.