Bells Canyon Waterfall

This HDR panorama was created with twelve images, four sets of three.

It had been four years since I’d been to this location, which is strange considering what a magical destination it is, and how close it is. The trailhead is a twenty minute drive, and the hike is about an hour up, if I don’t get too caught up in the scenery along the way. I think it’d been that long because the last time I was there, in June 2006, I made such a beautiful image (first image in my Wasatch Mountains Gallery, “Bells Waterfall”).

In 2006, I was there at exactly the right time, what I considered the peak seasonal climax for this location; shortly before the Summer Solstice, at sunset, on a night when the setting sun wasn’t obscured by clouds.  At this time of year the water is really flowing from spring snowmelt, and the sun, near its northern terminus, strikes the waterfall and granite towers at sunset, but leaves the canyon between in shade. This effect helps to simplify the image and really sets off that crimson sunlit water falling.

I spent the night on top of the Pfeifferhorn in order to take this image at sunrise. Not really a great place to camp, but I wanted to be able to stay put after a sunset photo session and just slide out of my bag to photograph the sunrise. This was the second time I spent the night on top of a mountain, at over 11,000 ft. elevation. The chance for unique photography is enhanced by the fact that most people don't ever see summit views at the edges of the day. I love how the high western wall of Hogum Fork hides the Salt Lake Valley. Only the Oquirrh and Stasbury mountains in the distance. This view into the heart of the Lone Peak Wilderness, in close proximity to over a million people, is truly wild.