Santa Barbara, California, USA --- Santa Claus and Woman Walking on Beach --- Image by © Bruce Burkhardt/CORBIS
A bright sunset casts a golden line across the ice covered water of the lake. 

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It's 8:03 and the sun has just popped up over the Cascade mountains. The golden rays of light begin to warm the boulders of Rattlesnake Ledge under my feet. Below, still cold and icy, Rattlesnake Lake must wait another hour or so before the eastern edge begins to feel the warmth from those rays. 

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While I was taking shots of all the surrounding area, the sun decided to play peekaboo and surprise me. I had hoped to get a picture right before it showed its bright eye, but now it was too late. Anyway, it is still beautiful and very welcomed! Perhaps it will begin to warm up the fog and lift it? 

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Another view toward the North East from Rattlesnake Ledge. The land is still dark though the sky is begining to brighten. This is an underexposed shot to try to show the amount of light visible to the eye when I reached the Ledge. My camera and lens will show it much brighter if left to its own adjustments. 

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This is the pre-sunrise view toward the North East from Rattlesnake Ledge. The fog that clothes the valleys is barely reaching up into this area from the left. In this edit I wanted to emphasize the fog's reach into the upper valley. The mountains ahead are part of the Cascade chain of mountains that traverse the entire length of Washington State. 

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This is the pre-sunrise view toward the North East from Rattlesnake Ledge. The fog that clothes the valleys is barely reaching up into this area from the left. The mountains ahead are part of the Cascade chain of mountains that traverse the entire length of Washington State. 

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The view from the lake at the foot of Rattlesnake Mountain up to the Cascade mountains where the sun will soon appear. It is a 2 mile hike (3,2 km) from the parking lot to the overlooking ledge and a gain of 1160 feet (353,6 m). 

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The view at 7:25 AM from Rattlesnake Ledge; the sun is about 30 minutes from rising. After a 1.9 mile hike in the dark, my dog Chloe and I arrived panting at the edge of the Ledge to see this sight. This shot was intentionally underexposed to get an all black mountain ridge. The sliver of light below the mountain ridge on the right third of the picture is a lake.

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Santa Barbara, California, USA --- Santa Claus and Woman Walking on Beach --- Image by © Bruce Burkhardt/CORBIS
Santa Barbara, California, USA --- Santa Claus and Woman Walking on Beach --- Image by © Bruce Burkhardt/CORBIS
Santa Barbara, California, USA --- Santa Claus and Woman Walking on Beach --- Image by © Bruce Burkhardt/CORBIS
See photo in original gallery.