My Favorite Colorado Landscape Photos This Summer
Colorado is probably my favorite place to visit, so that is why I chose to spend nearly 6 weeks there this summer. The visit began at the Music Meadows Ranch June when I visited the Music Meadows Ranch near Westcliffe. You can read more about that visit here. Early June is an excellent time because the aspen trees leaf out with their fresh, bright green leaves and I managed to capture this image of fog burning off near the base of this grove of aspen trees in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
What might be my most unique image of the summer was back in June atop a mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. My goal was to hike to the top of the mountain by the time the moon set between Longs Peak and Mount Meeker. You can read more about the story behind that photograph here.
My favorite hike along a river was along the Cache La Poudre River west of Fort Collins. The name of the river translates to "hiding of the powder" in French, which refers to an incident in the 1820s when French fur trappers, caught by a snowstorm, were forced to bury part of their gunpowder along the banks of the river. It is the only federally designated Wild & Scenic River that flows in Colorado, with 30 miles of its course being deemed as "wild". Wild rivers are the most remote and undeveloped, while recreational rivers often have many access points, roads, railroads, and bridges. The best hike to get that feeling of wilderness along the river is along the Big South Trail. Here I was able to create a panorama of the raging river.
Another of my favorite hikes was in Rocky Mountain National Park. On a morning in early July, I walked the trail leading to Chasm Lake near the base of 14,259 foot tall Longs Peak. Once again, it was another walk uphill in the dark to get to these scenic places above the tree-line. The sunrise here that time of the year is 5:38am! I was on my way to get to Chasm Lake for first light. There was one problem...the trail crossed a steep snowbank. You can see a faint line going through the snow in the upper right corner of the picture below. That is the trail I would have had to go across to make it any farther.
I didn't have any crampons or spikes on my boots to trek across the snow and it was a long slide down the icy slope if I did slip. I decided not to take the chance of risking injury and opted to explore my surroundings beneath the trail. After doing minor scrambling down some boulders, I discovered a nice patch of columbines within viewing distance of the appropriately named Columbine Falls. Although my original intention was to make it beyond the waterfall, it made for a nice consolation prize. In fact, this may have been a more photogenic spot had I continued to the lake. Sometimes serendipity can work out! Looking up the rugged face of Longs Peak from down here was a humbling experience for me.
One nice spot to hike to in Rocky Mountain National Park is Sandbeach Lake. My favorite thing about this photo was the log that was floating in the still water. Another great lake in the park is Dream Lake, which has been called the most photographed lake in Colorado that can only be reached by foot. The steep face of Hallett Peak makes nice for a backdrop to this scenic lake. The only lake that probably gets photographed more often is Maroon Lake and its view of the Maroon Bells, which can be reached by road.
I often try to make it to above treeline for sunrise, like this scene looking east from the Front Range of the Rockies west of Boulder. There is something magical about watching it fade from night to day at a place like this.
The treeline is usually between 11,000 and 12,000 feet above sea level in Colorado. Once you get to about 12,000 feet, the open tundra spreads out before you. The alpine buttercup is a common tundra flower in Colorado. Although short and small, they can put a nice display of yellow and other colors of wildflowers are plentiful as well.
I also saw an assortment of wildlife, including mountain goats, elk and moose. On my way up from Dream Lake to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, I saw a young elk, as well as a young moose at Kenosha Pass.
I will be returning to Colorado for its fall color that peaks in late September. My next blog post will be from the Canadian Rockies. Stay tuned for that coming up in early September.