A backpacker climbing through sunlit lodgepole forest above Mono Creek toward Silver Pass.

Morning Commute

Mono Creek, John Muir Wilderness, California

The climb out of Mono Creek after the zero day, legs relearning their job. Forest interiors are the hardest Sierra subject — chaos in every direction — until the morning sun cuts shafts through the lodgepoles and hands you an aisle. I waited for the figure to reach the lit gap. Auto ISO ran to 5600 in the shade and I let it; grain in the woods bothers no one, least of all the woods.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 17mm · f/5 · 1/1000 · ISO 5600

July 13, 2025

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