While planning to hike and capture images of Mount Saint Helens, I decided halfway there that the morning weather wouldn’t be ideal for a mountain scene. I pulled off the highway to use a bathroom near Yale Lake. As I contemplated where to go next, I was struggling to make a decision. The fog was dense, and visibility was very limited. However, after about ten minutes, the sunlight began to pierce through the fog, revealing that the light was going to be magical right in this spot.
I climbed down some rock stairs below the bridge to the lakeside, completely unaware of what awaited me there. Over the next hour, a beautiful scene unfolded, and I took numerous photos in this moody and captivating location. Although this was all an unexpected detour, it turned out to be one of my favorite moments of the entire year.
