Overlooking the upper part of the main Mt Whitney trail and Consultation Lake at sunset by Joel Baldwin

Canon SX10IS

The hike up the main Mt Whitney trail is one amazing vista after another. This view, just 30 feet off the trail, is presented to the hiker just before reaching Trail Camp, 12,000 feet in elevation. You cross a stream, climb a slope, come around a corner, and here is your first and best view of Consultation Lake. On the extreme left of the view you see bits and pieces of the trail as it is coming up from the trailhead with a sliver of the Owens Valley visible in the distance. The eastern most section of Trailside Meadow is in view as well as most of the gully that goes left to right up from the meadow up to the outlet of Consultation Lake on the right. Campers can hike down to the lake and set up camp at lake level, as can be seen by several parties who have done just that.

This shot is composed of 2800 images taken over 2 hours. As can be seen by the change in exposure from left to right, the start on the left was fairly well lit, but was starting to get dark by the end on the right. In fact the sun went down behind the ridge line just after this shot was completed. It was a bit overcast, with the cause of the slight patches of banding being the variances in sunlight as the patchy haze blew by overhead.

This is a classic case of "Should I take the shot NOW, or wait for it to get better later?"
I was worried that the next day would be stormy and that this would be my only chance to get this shot. As it turned out the next day was flawlessly sunny and I probably should have waited. On the other hand, I wouldn't have been able to do the hiking that I did the next day if I had instead done this shot!

How many campers can you find?
How many hikers can you find?