A View From A Hill
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:32 amWe're all familiar with the idea that things tend to happen in threes. That's the way it was for me and this Chameleons song the last couple of weeks. First I posted the nifty Radio 1 live version in a thread here, then it comes up on my iPod on my recent flight out to Cali, and it comes up again on my drive from LA to Yosemite...weird. So then no way it's not going to be stuck in my head...nor the idea that it would make a kickass song to fire up from high on an isolated hill. I'm thinking the perfect place is at sunrise from Sentinel Dome, one of the few places in Yosemite with a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. To do that though, I'd have to do my best impression of bear or cougar food by hiking the two miles to the top of the dome...alone...in the dark. Stupid.
But worth it! It's a freaking rush to be up there at 8000 feet in the crisp air with absolutely no one around...although I can't shake the feeling of being watched. Anyway, at the very top, there's this weird mixed glow from the predawn sky and the nearly full moon, just enough to light the stump of the now-dead Jeffrey Pine in this flat blue light:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678077.jpg">
The actual sunrise itself doesn't disappoint either, sneaking up over the back side of Sierras and giving this cool tiered shading to the foothills east of the valley:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678081.jpg">
Time to break the silence and fire up the iPod to "A View From A Hill". I can only describe that song set to the following scene of the rising sun's tendrils reaching into the eastern valley as brain-melting. The combination gave me chills to the core! Woooohoohoohooooo!!!
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678088.jpg">
West toward the valley entrance, the early light was also making constantly shifting geometries on the cliff faces and valley floor...more trippy visuals for other Chameleons tracks that followed:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678096.jpg">
It was only until the sun fully rose that I noticed I actually did have company. Much to my horror and dread, I looked around the dome to find like five of these squirrels literally staring right at me!
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678099.jpg">
I could only think of Philly's foreboding tales of the evil they have wrought in the world. Fuck, what was to become of me?! Then to my great relief, upon closer inspection it turned out they weren't squirrels at all but nature's benevolent counterbalance to rodentdom's dark side...friendly chipmunks. Phew! I could swear that one of them looked like he wanted nothing more than me...a fine view of El Capitan in the glow of a new day:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678104.jpg">
Buoyed by this encounter with my newfound chipmunk friends, I of course had to return at sunset to fire up one last Chameleons song, "Up the Down Escalator". It was another rush and the perfect tune to watch the sun's fire light up Half Dome at day's end while my friendly rodent companions climbed upon my shoulders to bob along to the song's majestic chords:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678112.jpg">
But worth it! It's a freaking rush to be up there at 8000 feet in the crisp air with absolutely no one around...although I can't shake the feeling of being watched. Anyway, at the very top, there's this weird mixed glow from the predawn sky and the nearly full moon, just enough to light the stump of the now-dead Jeffrey Pine in this flat blue light:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678077.jpg">
The actual sunrise itself doesn't disappoint either, sneaking up over the back side of Sierras and giving this cool tiered shading to the foothills east of the valley:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678081.jpg">
Time to break the silence and fire up the iPod to "A View From A Hill". I can only describe that song set to the following scene of the rising sun's tendrils reaching into the eastern valley as brain-melting. The combination gave me chills to the core! Woooohoohoohooooo!!!
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678088.jpg">
West toward the valley entrance, the early light was also making constantly shifting geometries on the cliff faces and valley floor...more trippy visuals for other Chameleons tracks that followed:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678096.jpg">
It was only until the sun fully rose that I noticed I actually did have company. Much to my horror and dread, I looked around the dome to find like five of these squirrels literally staring right at me!
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678099.jpg">
I could only think of Philly's foreboding tales of the evil they have wrought in the world. Fuck, what was to become of me?! Then to my great relief, upon closer inspection it turned out they weren't squirrels at all but nature's benevolent counterbalance to rodentdom's dark side...friendly chipmunks. Phew! I could swear that one of them looked like he wanted nothing more than me...a fine view of El Capitan in the glow of a new day:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678104.jpg">
Buoyed by this encounter with my newfound chipmunk friends, I of course had to return at sunset to fire up one last Chameleons song, "Up the Down Escalator". It was another rush and the perfect tune to watch the sun's fire light up Half Dome at day's end while my friendly rodent companions climbed upon my shoulders to bob along to the song's majestic chords:
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/83678112.jpg">