Freezing my fingers off at Lake Haiyaha

Last Sunday the 30th I went for a sunrise hike to Lake Haiyaha followed by Lake Emerald and above. I have already posted a few images from this trip here and here. I have several more nice images to share from Emerald later but first I want to share a few more images from Haiyaha. Haiyaha is apparently a native American word for rock, which is quite apt as the lake is bordered by lots of really large boulders left by the glacier that carved this valley and is still found higher up in tiny 'Chaotic glacier' which is more like a snowfield. It's visible in the image I posted before. As always I waited a while for the sunrise to come and got shivering cold too lately realizing that I had handwarmers in my backpack - another lesson learned ;-).

Hallett on ice. Buy a print. On flickr, On Facebook, On G+/Picasa.
Nikon D600 on tripod, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 at 24mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 100

The ice on the lake had all these domed structures over large rocks beneath the ice where it had frozen over before and the water level receded creating small pyramids or domes over the rocks.

Lake Hayiaia sunrise panorama. Buy a print. On flickr. On facebook. On G+/Picasa.
Stitched from 15 handheld images. Nikon D600, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 at 24mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 100.

The above image shows about 230 degrees of the view on the lake.

Hallett hat. Buy a print. On flickr. On facebook. On G+/Picasa.
Nikon D600 on tripod, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 at 42mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 100.

I like this more close-up view of the peak. Next up will be some images on the ice of Emerald. Those are my favorites from this hike.

Winter sunrise at Lake Haiyaha

Buy a print. On flickr. On Facebook. On Google+.
High resolution composite from 4 handheld images from a Nikon D600, Nikkor 24-85mm at 24 mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 100.

This image was one of many that I shot on a sunrise snowshoe up Chaos Canyon (where Lake Haiyaha is located) and up to Emerald lake and up after this sunrise. As you can see the sunrise was spectacular even if this hike was extraordinarily cold. It is really a privilege to be able to reach such places and see sights this gorgeous. The peak that is lighting up is Hallett peak, a prominent feature in RMNP but not often shown from the backside as you see here. In winter however, the sunrise hits it most prominently from the backside. In the map below, imagine the sunrise coming from about EastSouthWest.

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More from the Loch and Lake Haiyaha

Previously I posted a few images from The Loch here and here. Here are a few more that I took, as well as on my hike over to Lake Haiyaha. First this is at the outlet of The Loch:


Ice and Fire. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/10, 1/500s, ISO 800. I painted in a 1 2/3 stop graduated ND in Lightroom to darken the sky.
Relevant Google+ post. Image on flickr.

I really love the yellow glow over the mountain here. This is the Sharktooth. The name of which is much clearer when you take a look at it from the other side.
Keen observers will notice that I made a mistake here and left the camera at a high ISO that I used for family pictures the evening before. Luckily noise reduction in modern raw conversion software is so good that you don't notice even zooming at 1:1 so it's not a big deal at all and the quality of this image in print is just great.

Here is a horizontal pano that I shot on the same spot as where I took the iPhone panorama posted a few days ago.

Surround. Buy a print.
Technical data: Assembled from 10 images (2 rows of 5). D300 with 35mm f/1.8 DX at f/11, 1/100s, ISO 200. 1 stop darkening of the clouds painted in in Lightroom.
Relevant Google+ post. Image on Flickr.

This should really be seen large. As you can see, the sky is much more dramatic in the DSLR image than in the iPhone panorama, but the iPhone holds up well in the web image. Of course, when you make a large print of this 45 MP image (out of a possible 100 MP or so when rendered full resolution), you'll get incredible detail out of it. The iPhone panorama will not hold up to close inspection in that case. Of course only photographers really care about resolution. People who love the art of photography are looking far more to composition, color, and what kind of story the image tells. Both images work fine in that respect with the dramatic color advantage to the DSLR panorama in my opinion.


Echoes of Grandeur. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/10, 1/500s, ISO 800. I painted in a 2/3 stop graduated ND in Lightroom to darken the sky.
This is basically a horizontal version of the vertical high resolution composite I posted before. I like both perspectives but slightly prefer this handheld image.
Relevant Google+ post. Same image on Flickr.

After the Loch I was first planning to walk up to Andrew's tarn, but decided to walk over the small trail from Glacier Junction to Lake Haiyaha and Dream Lake. This was very nice and I shot some images of small waterfalls and a little pond I came across. Here is the outlet to Lake Haiyaha. The name Haiyaha apparently means "rock" in a native american language which is an apt name as the lake shore is riddled with enormous boulders hinting at its glacial origin. This is not the actual lake which is further behind, but I didn't take any images over there as it was very windy here and I doubt I could get any nice reflections on it. The outlet however was quite sheltered and offered some possibilities for reflections as you can see below:


Hallett peak reflection. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO200

Here is another one at a slightly different location.


Misty evening. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO200

On the hike over to Dream Lake from Haiyaha, you come across a very exposed ledge that is actually quite scary in winter with deep snow, but that always offers a great view of Longs peak. Here are two more images looking back from that point to Longs. Unfortunately, I did not get any sunset light on it (which is always quite dramatic) but the clouds were very dramatic so I decided to post them anyway.


Longs peak in the mist. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO200


Parting the clouds. Buy a print.
Technical data: D300, Tokina 11-16mm at 11mm, f/5.6, 1/25s, ISO200

If I don't decide to go back in time to my gigantic backlog of images, next up will be some images from Dream Lake and Nymph Lake at dusk.