50.0

Time: 3:23am. Speed: 68mph. Pair of underwear: First. Hair: as usual, a disaster. Streaking down I-84 in my trusty 4Runner, I was encouraged by the high, thin clouds that I could just make out in the waning moonlight. Deeper into the Gorge, I started to notice more and more stars disappearing, and the first pangs of doubt crept into the few tentacles of my mind that were actually awake. Would it really be possible to get skunked AGAIN? I knew Ryan was probably wondering the same thing, though knowing him as well as I do, I figured he was already on location. He always gets to our photo spots before me... except for that one time when he slept through an epic sunrise in the Walmart parking lot.... There aren't that many stars left on the horizon, and that's not a good sign. But what about straight up? Pitching forward in the seat I can see that there is still a good amount of open sky. All we need is a small gap on the horizon and.... there she was. Bambi. In the middle of I-84. At a range of about 30 feet. Pair of underwear: Needing second. I ripped the wheel left and instantly detected that this was no sports car. The roll was noticeable, terrifying, and increasing. A counter correction was required, and this was quickly joined with an increasingly high pitched "SHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!" BAM. I was still driving in a straight line, though the steering wheel was displaced 45 degrees to the right. Needless to say, this shot is NOT from that morning. It took several more sunrises and sunsets before I finally got some good conditions here. When I started typing this, I had been planning to use this shot as a "Welcome to 500px" tribute shot for my good friend Ryan Dyar, but as I get further into it, I realize that I should probably use it to apologize to the little baby deer that were left without a Mommy thanks to my 4Runner. I can just imagine them sniffing around, waiting for her to come back and take care of them.... little deer tears in their eyes... softly crying as it gets dark and cold and lonely. I don't handle these things well. I'm going to go light myself on fire now.