I took this photo of an old snag tree in 1995 in southern Wyoming with a decent 35mm Canon camera. The tree is along a Jeep trail that in the early 1980s when I was learning to drive at the age of 12, I recall driving down the trail with my grandfather's old GMC ranch pickup. The trail went down from the top of a mountain to a small river below. About halfway along the trail turned very muddy as it went through a standing of Aspen trees that had a creek running through it headed to the river. One of the few times that my dad gave me advice was then when he warned me that, "Son, if you get a 4-wheel drive truck stuck, you've got a problem." We were on our own, so I took his advice and turned the truck around.
Fast forward to 1995, I had always remembered the trail and I wanted to see the river that it went to? It had always been in my mind. Well I found the trail again west of Encampment along Highway 70 (which is now a paved road but had previously been a dirt road). I didn't have a 4x4 this time, so I parked my car at the top and began to walk down the trail when nearby I came across this old snag.
Trees in Wyoming, especially up near 10,000 feet elevation grow very slowly. This tree had died a long time ago, and in my reasoning this old snag could have easily been growing before the mountain men, including my ancestors first came to the area in the mid-1800s to trade with Indians?
Well I had bought some black and white film for the trip, so I took this picture of the tree and this particular photo has always been one of my favorites. It was mid-afternoon and rain clouds were starting to roll in from the mountains to the south from Colorado. The lighting was just right as there was so much detail to the clouds, and the sun behind the clouds was shinning on the valley below. I remember thinking, "This will make a perfect picture."
Fast forward again to the summer of 2000, and I again returned to this old snag. Unfortunately I had found that the larger section of the tree had been cut down. I honestly was devastated to see that. I ended up returning home and I found the negative for this picture. I had several prints made off of it, which I had framed at a local shop. The frame shop owner commented that he figured that someone just wanted the wood for an art project, not necessarily to burn it. I hope so, but still, I'm sad to this day to think that this once beautiful, grand old snag in this gorgeous setting is no more. It stood for years here over the valley below through wind and many hard winters.
I recently bought a slide scanner so I scanned the negative and I hope you enjoy the picture and my story. I may spend some time in Photoshop cleaning it up as it shows some scratches from the original negative.
No time for doors, the car window was open and I dived in head first camera gear and all. He just looked at me and wandered off.
