Yesterday, I trekked to St. Charles, and deposited a boxful of new pieces at Framations. Being framed for the wall are:
Printed on metal, Sarah and Amy are mounting these images:
And finally, I dropped many new works into the sale bins. These images are matted, and ready to be installed in your favorite frame:
As always, these images — and many others! — are available at my online gallery.
I’ve been busy lately preparing new images. Tonight, I’ve dropped many of them into the online gallery!
As always, these images — and many more! — are available through my online gallery in a variety of sizes.
Near Rabbit Ear Pass, I found this line of Aspens glowing in the afternoon sunlight. They were almost electric in color; in black and white, they are stunning!
Becky and I hiked to Adams Falls near Grand Lake CO. Unfortunately, it was near midday, so the light was really harsh. Once I got back with my images, I found this one, and thought it felt much nicer with an antique look to it.
A five hour push is all that was left to drive today.
As part of the drive, we crossed the Colorado border, and stopped at the roadside sign for it on I-70. I bet I’ve passed that sign half a dozen times in the last few years, but I’d never stopped and shot it before. It was cold, cold, cold, with the temperature sitting around 55, and pretty high winds exacerbated by the gust front of passing big rigs. But, it was the first time I’ve been cold in months.
Have I mentioned how I love cold weather? 🙂
I was on the lookout for my first peek at the Rockies as we drove. I’d thought I could see them in far western Kansas, but it was just past Limon CO before I saw my mountains. Without the snow atop them, I suppose they just blended in, making it hard for me to spot them. But when I saw them, my heart skipped a beat, and I got excited about getting up into the mountains at the end of the drive.
And as we pulled off I-70, and started up the mountains, we crossed through Berthoud Pass and stopped for a while. When I was there in June, the snow was big and deep, and had folks skiing and snowboarding on it. This time, it was warm. Maybe even hot. Hmmm, he says, that wasn’t what I was expecting in the mountains in fall.
We drove on into Fraser, finding the condo looking just about the way I left it in June. This was Becky’s first look at it, and I think she got pretty comfortable quickly. Not long after we got there, the family from Golden stopped in, started dinner, and we all sat down at the conclusion of planting our flag temporarily in the Rocky Mountains.
On the grounds at Berthoud Pass, there’s a warning about blasting that could happen to lessen the potential for an avalanche. Folks that have stopped there have decorated the sign with all kinds of stickers, making the sign that much more interesting!
After several days of acclimating to the higher altitude, I decided it was time to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park. It’d been several years since my first visit to RMNP, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I got to the park pretty early, and discovered that the entrance at Grand Lake was under construction, making for a free entry into the park. Sweet! I talked with a ranger at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, and learned that the paths down to Bear Lake were pretty snow packed still, so I decided just to trek up to the Alpine Visitor Center. Last time I was at the park, I’d done the same thing, but had come from Estes Park, so this was completely new territory for me.
While Trail Ridge Road was clear (although closing nightly at 8pm due to freezing and erosion), there was a bunch of construction going on. Both on the way up and the way down, I ended up stuck in construction traffic. Man, is there a lot of roadwork up there!
I stopped at the Coyote Valley Trailhead, and took a little hike next to a creek. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any megafauna, but I did see a couple of geese. Of course, I coulda seen those in Da Lou! Still, it was a nice hike.
Once again, I was surprised at how much snow there was as I drove up to the Alpine Visitor Center. By the time I’d gotten there, I was driving next to snow that was 6-8′ high. In fact, the park folks were using heavy equipment to clear the snow from the site. It was even cold enough to be sleeting on me while I was there. Pretty dang impressive. It really is like being at the top of the world.
I finished looking around up there, and headed back down toward Fraser to get some lunch. I finally got to Timberline Thai, which did not disappoint. I had some amazing Pad Thai Woon Sen (with shrimp) that rivaled the dishes I get in St. Charles. I’m really surprised to find Thai food as good as that in such a small place!
So, a successful day today. I think I’m gonna head back to Da Lou tomorrow though. Beck’s off to the lake, and I’ve been on the road a week. It’s time to get back on the long drive, and head home.
Traveling through Rocky Mountain National Park, I found this vista at the Alpine Visitor Center. Despite it being early June, the park personnel were still clearing about eight feet of snow from this 11,000 foot wonderland.
While visiting the Devils Thumb trailhead in the Arapaho National Forest, I found this great little stream carrying the meltoff down the hill. The rocks at the bottom of the stream gave the water a great red color.
Visiting my in-laws in Fraser CO, I was fortunate enough to witness the Moon setting over Byers Peak. To me, it looked like a big snowball descending down to the mountain’s slope.