Golden Storm Break
North Rim, Upper Bidwell Park, Chico, CA
Creating a New Look from an Old Favorite:
This spot is right where the trail turns, and this oak tree stands dramatically by itself. For some time, I’ve envisioned this location with a storm breaking, the sun setting and North Rim trail looking like a creek.
On this day we were getting lots of rain and sustained winds of 30mph. The storm was supposed to end a couple hours after sundown, but wind can speed that up. At 4:45 things settled enough for me to go outside and by 5:15 it was obvious I needed to get to the park. I cooked a quick dinner, packed it with my camera equipment and was driving by 5:50. The clouds were coming apart with sun breaking through sporadically. As I parked the truck under a dark cloud the rain started.
Looking at the horizon there appeared to be a break where the sun would get through. This was highly motivating and helped me set a fast pace. When I crested the hill and could see the tree, everything was in full sun and I started to run. With only steps to go the clouds filled back in. A version of this had happened to me roughly a dozen times in the last 2 months. I got the shot ready and set up the tripod (which was immediately blown over). With the rain stopped, pollen was now being jet fired into my eyes, and it was definitely allergy season in Chico. Over the next 15 minutes I eat my dinner while leaning against the tripod and hoping for a break.
When everything started to come together, I was experiencing mixed emotions. The wind was so strong, going with normal settings was resulting in blurry pictures. After making some adjustments everything looked great! I got a new pair of hiking boots for Christmas. This spot is only 1.5 miles round trip from the parking lot. I went up here so many times trying to get this shot that by the time it finally happened, they were broken in!