Mountain Gazing

The following photo, besides being found here on my blog, can be found resting in a frame on top of my brother and his wife's television in their living room. It was a wedding gift from me to them. It wasn't entirely a surprise because they had told me they wanted some of my photography, so I printed a few of my favorite photos and put one in the frame. So there it sits, reminding me of a road trip and the vast distance between me and those mountains.

When my friends and I started road tripping during college, I had half seriously/half jokingly thrown out the idea of driving to all 49 driveable states. So during our first road trip freshman year, the idea was somewhat laughable. But as college progressed and we drove to more and more states, the idea became a possibility and then a reality.

In setting out for our final voyage, we had already seen a lot up until that point. El Capitan in the midst of a snow-covered Yosemite, the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, and our nation's capital building in Washington, DC. But I don't think we really knew what to expect on our final drive up north. We had no idea about the moose, buffalo and bighorn sheep who grazed alongside the highway as if watch passing cars was watching their favorite primetime show. And we certainly didn't know about the constant and casual appearance of no-name mountains that would garnish well-known names if they were in the lower 48.

I guess that is what makes this photo so impressive to me. It wasn't a well known mountain. And even though it is quite majestic and noteworthy, as far as I know it doesn't even have a name. It is just another one of the many striking, precipices along the route to the great white north. I have to admit that while taking that last college journey, I found myself gazing absentmindedly at the mountains we drove through. They captivated my attention even when I didn't know it. It was in those moments that I wondered whether or not those who lived there even noticed them anymore. Had they become desensitized to the grandeur out their back door, or did they catch themselves gazing in wonder at them the way I did?

I love Ansel Adams and I guess this photo is my small tribute to his influence on my nature photography. Though he has left an indelible mark on my photos, I actually took this from the inside of our van as we were driving 70 mph down the road. I think he would heartily disapprove. And who knows how much better the shot could have been if I simply had gotten out of the van. Que sera, sera. I guess that's what you get when you road trip in fast forward.

No-Name Mountain, Yukon, Canada