Pink Snow

Now that we're home again, I am going to continue culling my catalog of photographs to share my favorites and tell their tales.

Also, Matt has been helping me start up a "store" if anyone would like to check out some of the things you can make with these pictures. You may have already noticed the link on this blog I added recently. It's a great site that pays the artist (me) a wee commission. My favorites are the shoes & the ties... If you'd like me to upload a particular photo there that I haven't gotten to yet, give me a shout. Thanks for your support!

The Photograph

The Story

For a few years there, we made an annual Labor Day pilgrimage to Yosemite backpacking with friends. This photo is from our first, and still, most memorable trip going 8 miles straight up from Tualame Meadows to Vogelsang High Sierra camp. Wandering above 10,000 feet, on a day trek up Vogelsang Peak we came upon untouched primordial looking pink snow. Quite literally, pink hued snow clinging to the sunbathed rocks in September. We speculated on what freak combination of natural events created this Wonka-esque scene, and ended up agreeing that the safest course of action would be a pink snow ball fight. So, quickly desecrating months of serenity, cupping hands around cold pink globs, we hurled them at each other, into the bright sky, and out across the mountain as far as our arms could manage.

Later, two of our crew talked with some rangers while dinning at the High Sierra restaurant telling them about our unique discovery. Turns out pink is the warning color of a particularly deadly toxic mold that grows on old snow. They hoped we were smart enough to stay clear... I'm not sure if the snow ball fight came up after that, but we didn't have anymore pink snowball fights, and I lived to tell the tale.