This craggy 10,000 foot high volcano is the second highest mountain in Oregon. I made this image a few hours after dawn from Timberline Lodge, about 6,000 feet high up the southern slope of Oregon’s highest peak, Mount Hood. I used a 420mm telephoto lens to reach across a fifty-mile distance to bring Mt. Jefferson’s snow-splashed slope into focus. The soft texture of the morning mist carpets the rhythmic flow of the forested valleys that begin in darkness and gradually brighten as they approach Mt. Jefferson. The pinkish glow of early morning sun creates an atmospheric band of hazy coloration across the face of the peak. Later on, a higher sun would render this scene as crisp and clean as a picture post card. But in the early morning light, this hazy image offers more of an impression than a description. The Lewis and Clark expedition named the mountain in honor of US President Thomas Jefferson in 1806.