This morning, we set out to conquer the entire Track and Tower hiking trail. This marked a special occasion for us, as this is the second time in our lives to have completed this difficult trail. On this adventure, I brought my Pentax KP with my “Nifty Fifty,” which was the only lens I used for all of these shots with a polarizing filter. We started out by signing the Visitor’s Register at the trail head.

Register

And so began our journey. These are some of the snapshots I took along the way.

Tree reflection

Gnarled Root

Dam Ahead

Following is my first ever attempt at stitching 3 images together to create a panoramic photo. Right click and open the image in a new tab if you would like to see greater detail. Dam

Step down

Waterfall

Waterflow

Root on path

Sally on winding uphill path

Mossy log

Diagonal mossy log

Climbing stairs

Climbing more stairs

At the top

Following is my second attempt at a panoramic by stitching 5 images together. Right click and open the image in a new tab if you would like to see greater detail. The view

Mushroom

Mossy rock in the sun

3 rock piles in the river bed

Sally at the sign

Holy tree

Winding roots

Some kind of round flower

Crooked stairs

This was the hottest day yet. We were nearly 4 hours on the Track and Tower, so when we returned it was lunchtime. After lunch, we spent the rest of our day cooling off in the lake, being grateful for such beauty in this world.