Snake River Overlook is open year around, making it a reliable winter “go to location”. The entire river bottom below is closed to human entry and areas like Mormon Row are difficult to reach without hiking or snow shoes. The river bottom closure eliminates Schwabacher Landing and Blacktail Ponds as a landscape opportunity. With few aspens and cottonwoods visible, I never found it to be a good fall subject⏤there are so many better places at that time of the year! The setting full moon can be part of the scene in January and May. Clouds can be a great asset, or a terrible nemesis. I usually only take the photos when I can see the peak of the Grand, but sometimes that just means waiting for the clouds to clear. I’ve left home early many mornings to see great light and clouds forming, only to have a thick fog bank move in, or clouds roll over the top of the range. Photographers “earn” these shots! It’s usually very cold, and the wind chill can make things feel even worse.
When Ansel Adams took his famous shot from this location, there were few trees blocking the view of the river below. That was in the ’40s. Over the past 80 years, the scene looks much different! In another 10 years, we may not see much of the river at all.
