HAZ Fall Photo Workshop Day 2

Even though I had consumed no alcohol the night before, I woke up feeling quite similar to those who had. It was probably good that we scratched the idea of a sunrise shoot as there might have been a number of intoxicated photographers on the Kachina Trail that morning. After breaking camp, we head up to the Abineau/Bear Jaw TH at about 11:30.

Todd was only planning to do Bear Jaw as not to push Kai too hard, so we joined him up that route. The pace was rather blistering as we were trying to get the steep inclines over and done with. Most of the aspens were still green, but the stand at the top of the Bear Jaw was as magnificent as ever. At the Waterline junction, Todd was at his turnaround point, as was Jon with the rest of his crew waiting at the TH.

Coming up the Bear Jaw seemed to suppress my sickness, but standing in the cold shade at the junction brought it back swiftly. I wanted to get moving again, so Joel, Randy and I decided to do the full loop. Unknown to us, the women of the wine followed casually behind. We took a slower pace on the Waterline, enjoying the gentle grade and the nice golden aspen stands. The snow capped summit of Humphrey's soon came into view, and sun reflected harshly off of it's blanket of white.

At the Abineau Trail junction we stopped to snack, sunbathe and enjoy the open views to the north. Janelle and Liz caught up to us on the descent through the avalanche path, and the handful of us finished the descent together. Despite our relative states of being, it was a great hike, and allowed us to get a decent dose of fall foliage.