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Friday Slide Show: Hiking Twin Peaks
2 February 2024
Last weekend as the weather warmed into the 60s, we jumped into our hiking boots, grabbed the Nikon D300 with the 18-200mm lens (which gives us a 300mm equivalent reach) and set off for Twin Peaks.
It had been a long time since we climbed the hill. The path climbs into the shade of eucalyptus trees pretty quickly before yielding to the first views. After you cross the road, you're exposed on the sunny hillside before you cross the road a second time to climb a steep path with loose rocks.
That takes you back to the road that circles the peaks. You walk along the side protected from traffic but not skateboarders.
On to the view of the city and the bay and back around to a view of the ocean before descending the way you came. Takes about an hour without a camera as an excuse to stop.
We didn't have a shot list. We've been up the hill many times. It was a great subject for camera test shots in the days when digicams were all the rage. And it was always great exercise, either by bike or foot.
This set of images surprised us, though. It was like nothing we had seen before.
If you can't step into the same river twice (since the water moves), you can't climb the same hill twice, either. The rocks slide, the flora dies and grows back, the birds find different updrafts.
But things looked different to us for another reason.
We're older. We look at things differently. The grand vistas, the stunning views are still admirable but not compelling. The allure of the spectacular had faded as our appreciation for small beauties brightened.
We realized as we edited these, we were shooting ourselves more than the peaks. The images said more about us than the place itself.
It was a strange transformation, perhaps, but one we enjoyed. Because it means there's no reason not to hurry back up the hill to see what we'll find next.
