Beau Simmons American, b. 1990

Artist Journal Entry:
The ever so popular Mormon Row barns. This is a place I have photographed over and over again. In the spring and in the fall. Year after year. However, like my previous post about the Tetons, this was my first time visiting this historical place in the heart of winter. I can hands down say this was my favorite. During the winter the road that most people travel on which takes you right up to a little parking area about 75 feet from this barn, is completely snowed over. It's just under a mile of a hike but the difficult thing is navigating from where you park and how much snow you'll have to hike through. This was a morning yet again with -10F temperatures, light snowfall, and one very motivated photographer. I packed up my backpack with all of my gear and began preparing myself and my wardrobe accordingly for the trek out to this barn. With multiple layers, two sets of gloves, toe warmers in my boots, and a ski mask to keep my face as warm as possible, I started my hike around 5:00 am. After hiking through about two to three feet of snow, I arrived just before sunrise. My face covered in frost, I knew that having a camera out in these conditions wouldn't last long. Hurrying to set up the perfect composition, I was racing against not only sunrise but also the frost that had already formed on my camera and the fog in my viewfinder from my deep breaths. I have never seen this place so covered in snow. The air was still and it was nice to be the only one out there on this special morning.