Virtual panorama of Ulloa's Rings from the summit of Whiteface Mtn.

	I had gone up to Whiteface Mtn. to bike up the toll road with my son, Carl, in late October of 1998. When we got to the toll house at the beginning of the toll road, the summit was all socked in with clouds. I had planned to photograph the sunset from the top, but thought it would probably be a washout and was tempted to leave the camera in the car - and just enjoy the bike ride... After some discussion my son said, "Dad you'll regret it if you don't take it..." So, I put the camera pack and tripod on my back, and started biking up. In the back of my mind I kept thinking - if it clears, this could be really spectacular - but little did I know! We arrived at the summit about an hour later to find the clouds breaking a bit over the top, with some views openeing up occasionally. As the sun started setting, the clouds began dissapating more, and we were suddenly treated to the wonderful atmospheric phenomena known as Ulloa's Rings also known as the 'Spectre of the Brocken'. As the sun broke through the opening in the clouds, our shadow was cast onto the receding clouds, and surrounding our shadow was this beautiful circular rainbow. Film helps capture the effect, but can't begin to encompass the feeling of being there and viewing this wonderful rainbow around your shadow. The 'rings' disappeared and reappeared several times over the next half hour as I set up the panoramic camera at a couple of different places to photograph one of nature's finest spectacles.