Trees in Blushing Fog on Beaver Dam Trail
A red spruce family huddle together in a field of cotton grass at the lower end of Beaver Dam Trail in Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.
It was pre-dawn, a couple of days after the remnants of Hurricane Helene blew through the remote Dolly Sods Wilderness. The low clouds swirled around Bear Rocks at 4,000 feet of elevation, just a few hundred feet up the road from where I stood at the Beaver Dam trailhead. As the light started to slowly build, though, the clouds began to migrate towards me, eventually fully enveloping me and the entirety of the visible landscape below as it descended away from the road and towards Red Creek. It got a little darker in those moments before I struck out.
As I wandered along, turning to observe everything around me, I noticed that what I had hoped to photograph wasn’t going to work out today - the fog was simply too thick. But I kept going, regardless, picking my way along the sodden trail, looking for solid things upon which to step and opportunities for image-making that called out to me. Everything was covered in droplets of water from the rain overnight, and in places the trail was more like a creek than anything else. I was descending towards the drainage, and I wondered if I might eventually drop low enough to emerge from clouds.
Just around official sunrise at 7:10am, the light started to get much more interesting. A faint pinkiness began to build, evidence that things were getting colorful up above the low clouds. A few more minutes went by, and the fog took on a special sort of radiance, glowing, blushing and transforming the landscape. I got to work. Within a few short minutes and about 100 feet along the trail, I made these 3 images you see here.
I treasure these special moments in the landscape, and feel especially grateful when they result in small groups of images that capture the magic I experienced there.
Location note: Dolly Sods Wilderness is not for the faint of heart nor for the ill-prepared. It is a high elevation plateau located on the Allegheny Front in West Virginia. Access is many miles along very rough roads, cell service is sketchy most of the time, and conditions are changeable and harsh at times. Be prepared if you visit - with maps, supplies, a spare tire, and the knowledge to extract yourself from unexpected situations that may arise.
A solitary maple stands in a sloping field of blueberry bushes with a backdrop of red spruce in Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.
A golden willow gathers with other tree species in the Red Creek drainage in Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.
If you’re interested in learning more about making beautiful images of foggy landscapes, check out my latest ebook The Art of Fog: A Primer for Landscape & Nature Photography in Fog.