Sequoia National Park with Nicole Vaunt
Added 2015-10-18 17:28:20 +0000 UTCAfter Fossil Falls we were supposed to take our trip north to Mono Lake and then Yosemite, but the whether forecast for the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's looked miserable. Waking up in a tent to sunny skies and 100 degree whether is miserable, trying to create photos in such conditions is doubly miserable, so after a couple minutes of checking out our atlas we decided to call and audible and head to Sequoia National Park instead where we could camp above 6,000 feet and in cooler temperatures. None of us had ever been, and so our adventure began.
Sequoia was definitely new experience as far as National Parks go. I am very used to making sure that I hit places off peak season, but we arrived in the park early June. The campgrounds were filled to the brink, we thought that getting photos without people passing by would be nearly impossible, but amazingly off the General Sherman trail we encountered almost nobody.
We had some amazing trees to ourselves for photos. I tried very hard to use Nicole to give scale to the trees, and although the days were sunny the trees provided plenty of shade for nice even light.
Around sunset we walked down to a small grove where my friend Steven photographed some lifestyle images of Nicole. I wandered off on my own when a small black bear came around the corner. I grabbed out my camera and started taking photos of him munching on the leafy greens of the meadow. As the sun descended layer more and more bears started wandering out of the forest. One bear became two became four became six. It was a crazy moment. My adrenaline went through the roof as I struggled to capture the amazing moment and so many amazing bears. Eventually we were forced to leave as the bears became too numerous to keep track of, and we feared our path back would be blocked by one of the many bears.
Sequoia was a pretty amazing experience, and I am incredibly glad the heat at Fossil Falls convinced us to change our plans. Some times magic is just a a few thousand feet up into the mountains.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rgreobkbfws4e5l/AAAU1Aoyqf32xnZU5MqzdjnFa?dl=0
