It is easy to be sort of afraid of rain — worried that you might get your clothes wet, you could slip, it isn’t good for your gear. In our civilized lives we usually stay inside when it rains, and when we must go out we scurry between dry places. But when the rain comes to the mountains, at least in most cases, it can be better to embrace it. Back in my serious bicycling day, those of us who road all year long had a saying: “Once you are wet you are wet.” It reflected the recognition that — accounting for keeping warm enough — ultimately getting wet isn’t that big of a deal. And, yes, I was getting wet when I made this photograph.
We had been pretty much stuck in camp for close to 24 hours when a truly major weather system came through unexpectedly, raising creeks and threatening to flood our tents. On the second day we were ready to get out and make some photographs, light rain be damned! I walked to a nearby prominence, from which I had an open view of our alpine surroundings — and I stuck it out long enough to make this photograph of a squall working its way down from the ridges above.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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