Rime Ice and Alpenglow
Chasing Winter Light
Building on my last post, Planning for Magic, where I explored winter photography in detail, I now want to share some more Catskill moments that unfolded during the first week of 2026. I had originally planned to camp overnight to maximize my time with the landscape, but once again the forecast told a different story and I found myself negotiating the prospect of overnight ice storms and a stubbornly low cloud base. These conditions loomed over all three days that I’d carefully set aside, so once again it had to be a pivot giving me the freedom to go to different locations, once I’d worked out where sunrise or sunset might prove most promising.
A nearly evening at Huckleberry Point
Finding a workable window for sunset proved difficult, with forecasts in the northern Catskills looking markedly worse than those to the south. A persistently low cloud base was also predicted across the region, so we chose to stay below 3,000 feet, thinking that a viewpoint along the escarpment that rises steeply from the Hudson Valley could prove fruitful. The hope was to find interest in the lower slopes, where light and weather might still align. Huckleberry Point, with its open southern views, felt promising, even though I knew the sun would slip behind the adjacent mountains shortly before sunset. We arrived at the ledge about half an hour before sunset to find intriguing conditions, a subtle wash of color was developing in the sky, whilst a quiet glow filtered through the mountain profiles to the moisture laden valley floor. Maybe this would work after all!!
Unfortunately a glance in another direction, up into Platte Clove and towards Jimmy Dolan Notch, told a very different story.A snowstorm was pushing down the clove, its leading edge already poised to blot everything out. As we were enveloped in a snowy vortex I hoped it would be brief, that once over and it had blown through normal service would resume. Unfortunately it lasted just a little too long and the density of the cloud as it blew out of the Clove was too thick to record anything meaningful in the gathering twilight. However I am happy with he photograph below which recorded that delicious light moments before it was obliterated by the storm - I just can’t help wondering what might have been!
I held my breath during a seven minute window of wonder!
It was exciting to think that a nice overnight stay in a warm apartment beckoned when we got back to the cars instead of the normal chilly hammock on a windy hillside! As I thawed out over dinner I was able to plan the next morning’s sunrise hike and decided that Giant Ledge in the Central Catskills looked promising. I’d had an absolutely fabulous Summer morning there back in August 2023 and thought that its sweeping eastern and northern views could prove successful this time around. It’s a 2 mile hike from the trailhead with around 1100ft elevation gain over its distance, the ledges should be easily reached in time to see the sunrise. So it proved, it was a beautiful hike in the dark, nothing was moving and we were well sheltered from the wind coming out of the west. The path was well trodden and icy but the depth of snow had smoothed out the normally gnarly rocky surface and was easily traversed. As we began our last climb, away through the trees there was an early glimpse of color in the sky then around 3000ft it became obvious that every surface was covered in rime ice - this was getting interesting.
We made the preferred ledge about 20 mins before the time of the actual sunrise, got a brew going and settled in for the show. Nothing had prepared us for what was to follow. As the sun started to appear over the horizon the magic happened and over the next 7 minutes one of the most breathtaking sunrises that I’ve ever had the privilege to witness unfolded right in front of us. Cue the happy dance and frenetic shutter clicking as I moved around the space looking for compositions not wanting to miss a moment.
Look at it one way and it’s easy to think that I had got incredibly lucky, as a number of elements were combining to make this the most magical sunrise, but I’d like to think that the choice of Giant Ledge as the destination was just a little more than luck. I’d like to think that the being able to build on my experiences last Winter has given me a little more know how and put me in the right place at the right time this time around.
However, there’s no doubting that the conditions were optimal. First of all a large dense bank of cloud in the sky above me was going to act as a huge, natural soft box, bouncing the light around the view in front of me. Secondly and intensifying the soft box effect, the rime ice is going to scatter the light, filtering out the colder blue parts of the spectrum and emphasizing the vibrancy at the red end of the spectrum. Thirdly there was moisture in the atmosphere in the middle distance and what looked like a weak bank of falling snow, this had the effect of diffusing the direct light from the sun and enhancing that already delicious glow. Finally the low angle of the sun plus the sliver of clear sky that it was rising into exaggerated and concentrated the direction of it’s light into the view in front of me.
No time to consider all of this though, because it wasn’t going to last long, at some point the sun was going to disappear into the cloud bank and the light was going to die. Best get on with the picture taking!
In the end the show lasted just 7 unforgettable minutes and as the light flattened out my thoughts turned to how easily it could have been to miss this breathtaking show. Getting up at stupid o’clock, for a hike in the dark, up a mountain, with a heavy winter pack that is also laden with heavy camera gear isn’t easy to do especially when the temperature is below zero and there is no guarantee of any result, but for some reason I am driven and will continue to do so whilst ever I can.
As the sun disappeared my eyes turned towards Overlook Mountain and the Northern Catskills., the low cloud base was frustrating but there was a brief glow that lit up the contours of the land in the middle distance. On another day I would have been totally thrilled with this image but as I reluctantly put my camera away I just couldn’t get the magnificence of those amazing 7 minutes out of my head.
2026 has started with a bang, can it get any better than this?
As the year moves on and the seasons change the land under my feet is going to change, but light is light and whatever is to come in 2026 I sure hope to continue my quest to pursue and take the best photographs that I possibly can.
Happy New Year
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See you next month.