Posts Tagged ‘Colorado’
A day in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
We spent June 5th last year in parts of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver. There was still snow on the mountains and in some places on the ground close to roads.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
Monday mountains 3
On the many Mondays in January you’re seeing mountains.
I rarely use a polarizer, but I did to convey the drama of clouds over the Rocky Mountains viewed from Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado on June 8, 2017.
P.S. As Tom noted in a comment below, this sub-range of the Rocky Mountains is known as the Sangre de Cristo.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
That snow and ice I mentioned last time
Yup, still plenty of cold white stuff at the higher elevations in Rocky Mountain National Park on June 5th. The two-lane road through the park was clear and dry, but in one place I caught sight of a parked snow plow, and piled up in several other places right along the road I saw walls of white that I assume arose from the work the plow had done some days earlier. Striations don’t come from geology alone.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
That stream I mentioned
Oh yeah, here’s the rushing stream I mentioned yesterday, the one we saw on June 5th near the aspen grove along US 40 in the Rocky Mountains. My guess is that some or even a lot of the water was due to melting ice and snow from the surrounding mountains.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Pale tree trunks in the Rocky Mountains
On June 5th we were driving north on US 40 toward Rocky Mountain National Park when I pulled over to photograph a rushing mountain stream. Adjacent to it was this grove of trees, presumably aspens (Populus tremuloides), that made for a pleasant sight.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Six minutes later
I’m sending out this post six minutes after the previous one to show you how the clouds looked six minutes later above Morrison, Colorado, on June 4th. I took this follow-up picture at 8:34 PM Mountain Daylight Saving Time.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Just after sundown on June 4th
Just after the sun had gone down on June 4th behind the mountains to the west of Morrison, Colorado, I hurried to find a place where I could pull over and photograph this colorful blimp of a cloud.* The time was 8:28 PM Mountain Daylight Saving Time.
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* I originally wrote “this colorful cloud zeppelin.” Then I changed it to “this colorful cloud blimp.” Later I wondered if it should be “this colorful blimp cloud.” Finally I hit upon the happy solution “this colorful blimp of a cloud.” Now if I could just figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin….
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Just a mile south of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is Red Rock Canyon Open Space. While its formations aren’t nearly as well known nor as extensive or impressive, the rocks do offer up some pleasant colors and intricate patterns. Here are two panels of stone that caught my attention on June 7th. As far as I know, the hole in the center of the second picture is natural.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
After the rain
After the rain started on the afternoon of June 6th at Garden of the Gods, we went and looked at the exhibits inside the visitor center, then drove northeast to the other side of Colorado Springs so we could check into our hotel. A couple of hours later, when the sky seemed to have cleared up somewhat in the west, I called the visitor center and was told that the sun had indeed broken through over there. We drove the 8 miles back to Garden of the Gods and took advantage of the remaining late-afternoon light. You won’t be surprised to hear that for me that usually means taking more pictures. Other visitors had the same idea, as you can see in the photograph above. (I may cast a long shadow as a nature photographer—oh, the conceit—but my shadow isn’t among the ones included here.)
The remaining daylight gradually dwindled, so I staked out a place and waited to see if we got a good sunset. Slowly some colors crept into the early evening sky. The photograph below gives you an idea of the peak colors we saw.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 