The Story Behind the Highway to Heaven

The Owens Valley is basically the border between the arid high-desert and the cooler, wetter High Sierra, and is itself surrounded and therefore protected by two 14,000-foot mountain ranges. These facts are why the valley rarely has fog, so when it does happen it is quite a treat for those living there. Because of the geography of the area, it also makes for an interesting picture.

In this case, I drove a mile or so up Highway 168 just east out of Big Pine and stopped along the road at an elevation of just over 4,000 feet and at the mouth of a narrow canyon. When I stepped out of my car and saw this, I was frozen in place because of the beauty of it and thought I was looking at a road or highway to Heaven, what with bottom (the valley) obscured in fog and the tops of the mountains covered in snow peaking out above it as if they were floating. This is one of my favorite and best photos in my portfolio.