What separates a great photographer from a hack is the ability to channel and inner vision that helps create great imagery. I know exactly where this trail is, and Sterl's ability to make something fairly ordinary into something like this continues to have me shaking my head.
The mixture of greens is amazing! I would say POD but they tend to be huge whips or someone hucking a drop (not that there's anything against that). It would be nice for a change