first sunrise

“The First Sunrise,” taken by Jonathan Zaharek, a 24-year-old professional landscape photographer from Lake Placid

By JONATHAN ZAHAREK Special to Embark

Deep in the heart of the High Peaks Wilderness lies a vast range known as the Sawtooth Mountains. This area is the largest tract of trailless mountains in the Adirondack Park. The tallest being Sawtooth 1 (aka Raker Peak at 3,877 feet) and second being Sawtooth 2 (aka Cutter Peak at 3,820 feet).

In August, I set out on a grueling 26-mile, two-day bushwhack to climb four out of the five peaks in this wilderness, with the main objective being to be on the summit of Sawtooth 2 for sunrise. Up until this moment, there had not been a single public documentation of an individual ever being on this summit for a sunrise. Although there MIGHT have been only a few in history who might have made this trek, it’s very understandable why this has not yet happened. It’s hard to know. Nonetheless, this image above is the first officially documented sunrise from the summit of Sawtooth 2. This is a rare view. In order to make this happen, I primitively camped in the wilderness of course, which in itself is already a challenge out there and this is the only way to make this happen. Bushwhacking requires experience and navigational skills and it is not recommended to those without any of that, especially out here. To see this journey in more detail, visit my YouTube channel. Learn more at www.jonathanzphotography.com.