They are both from 3 to 5 stop HDR processing. I purposely left the second one darker as i liked the color.. but yea, it is a little darker than it needs to be. Especially when the other is right there for comparison.. otherwise you probably wouldn't notice it. I also used a GND on the sky in both shots....
Got a lot of good shots that day.. lots of good ones on the trail also. It was a good hike!