That’s not snow falling out of the January sky. Those are stars. Everywhere I looked, there were stars.
Last Sunday night tucked in a little lodge up on Mount Hood, we celebrated a friend’s birthday. At 7,000 feet, we enjoyed meals, drinks and a fire. And while Silcox Hut itself is charming in its rustic, communal ways, it was the quiet and isolation of stepping outside to make a few pictures I’ll remember most.
Earlier in the day I’d spent three hours grinding the skis over snow and ice, on a lonely uphill workout from the little town of Government Camp up to Timberline Lodge. It was only five or six miles and 2,000 feet, but it felt like a marathon. When I reached Timberline, I dove into the heated pool and then slipped into the hot tub and cracked open a can of Hopworks Abominable Winter Ale. Moments later, snapped from the brief cloud of comfort, I joined our group for a snow cat ride 1,000 more feet up the side of this volcano to the hut.
Like the flash of a meteor zipping through the sky, our time there raced by and it was suddenly mid-morning and time to depart. I’ve been staring at this picture trying to return to the calm and the quiet beneath the moon and stars.
all content © Tim LaBarge 2013