Hart Prairie 6-2025

I have been photographing in this area for over 50 years and change is slow but constant...the grove of aspen trees which at one point had a designated nature trail has been violated by the expansion of the ski area and now there is a chair lift in the middle of the grove...I did a good job framing out the towers, chairs and cables...I planned to photograph the grove and surrounding area late afternoon into sunset and the next morning move to an area further down the mountain...I found that area closed the next morning at 4:15am and drove back up to the ski area knowing the sun would be rising on the opposite side of the mountain...I got out of my truck in the very early, breezy, chilly dawn and looked to the east and could see the clouds streaming over the peaks so I waited for them to be illuminated by the rising sun...I was next to the main trail that hikers use to get to the top of the peaks and around 5am a few brave souls started arriving to start their trek...