It's always satisfying to discover new places. Last year while planning a roadtrip through the American southwest with my fiancee I came across a pin on Google Maps marked "Hot Creek Geological Site," with accompanying photos that looked enticing from an artistic perspective, and more reminiscent of the geothermally active Iceland than anywhere I've been in the USA.
It's near Mammoth Lakes, California, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains (a range I particularly like), and we had the chance to visit it on our way through.
I woke up in the dark of a very cold morning and set up my tripod while the stars still shone. The crisp air blended with the geologically warm water to create clouds of steam, warming the air and sometimes obscuring the view of the mountains behind. It was a pretty scene to behold, shivering in the dark with numb fingers waiting for sunrise. I took photos as daylight crept into the sky, capturing frames from different times to blend into this one image.
I'm certainly not the first photographer to go here - subsequent research has shown it to be a popular Instagram location, and indeed I wasn't alone even on that frigid December morning - but for me it was still satisfying to have happened across this otherworldly oasis, just off the beaten track. It makes me wonder what other wonders we pass by thoughtlessly when we stick to the highway rather than slowing down and taking the dirt road.
