Alpenglow on the Kinsman Range

After turning around from my sunrise summit attempt on Mount Lafayette, I was a little discouraged. High winds and low visibility made me feel unsafe pushing past treeline to the top of Franconia Ridge. However, the conditions were perfect for the photos I wanted to take: snow covered trees and clear eastern horizon for the sunrise.

I was convinced that, although I had made the right choice to turn around, my 3:30am trailhead start and several thousand feet of climbing was going to be a wasted effort. However, as I stomped down the Old Bridle Path below Greenleaf Hut, the frosted peaks of the Kinsman Range and Mount Moosilauke across Franconia Notch began to light up with warm golden alpenglow. It wasn’t the photo I had planned, but the sunrise on the Kinsmans with the rime and snow covered trees in the foreground was a fitting reward for my effort.