Being There

Much of what it takes to being a good photographer is -- as my friend and photographer Roger Wallace would surely agree -- being in the right place at the right time.

I captured the photo above at sunrise from the summit of Mount Hood on Father's Day, 2001. Having climbed the mountain most of the night, we -- my friends Tom Maloney, Tim Whitley and I -- arrived at the precipice of the summit at dawn.  This is the view looking west toward Portland.

After a long drive from Eugene, we starting climbing at around 10 p.m. and reached "The Hogsback" on the south approach to the summit about 4 a.m.  Waiting until the first signs light, we circumvented the bergschrund at the top of the Hogsback and slipped through the "Pearly Gates" to the summit at daylight.