A day of hiking to Kingston Peak, Teig and I stopped over at the snow field below the summit to play a bit. He loves the snow and there was abundant amounts on this summer day in the Front Range mountains of Colorado.
Traildog at Kinston Peak Snow Field
Teig and I were exploring the tree line below Kingston Peak in the Front Range Mountains of Colorado. The low clouds were moving up the slope to us and soon engulfed the ridge in it’s cool mist. The experience was calm and pleasant. I do love changes in weather when you are hiking in the mountains.
Traildog in Mountain Fog
Badlands National Park in South Dakota has some green areas. One of those areas is in the arroyos in between the hills in the park. This vast badlands is broken by the lush green areas in these low lying locations that gather moisture and rain from the hills.
Green Arroyos in Badlands
A beautiful yellow flower that grows in subalpine Colorado. These particular flowers were found in Mammoth Valley in the James Peak Wilderness of the Front Range near Golden. The mountain blooms this year were spectacular.
Colorado Subalpine Yellow Sulfur Paintbrush
Even photographers and their dogs have fun!
An early morning exploration of Capitol Reef National Park in Central Utah. Scenic drive road sits up against the WaterPocket Fold and is beautiful as the sun’s light begins to light the park. A lone car heading towards the village of Fruita sped by as I photographed the sandstone faces. It’s a wonderful time to be in the park with no crowds to displace the serenity of this majestic location
Light Streak in Capitol Reef
Devil’s Tower is a symbolic American western icon. It’s cut rock faces have lived in rock climbers dreams as well as native american folklore. This National Monument should be considered on any traveler’s list if they intend to explore the American Mountain West. It sits in Northwest Wyoming and a hiker could spend an entire day hiking around the base and nearby area. Catching the grazing bison in the early morning excited me and I really dig this photograph.
Lone Bison Grazing before Devils Tower
Traveling the backroads in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado can deliver up some surprises. We were coming back to Denver from summiting four 14ers in the Mosquito Range and I cam across this old truck near a cabin in the mountains. It just hit me as a quintessential Colorado scene. I stopped and composed this photograph. Not sure what the make or year of the truck is but it had been well used. I love how the chrome still sparkled but it was rusted all over. Just gives a person a feeling of vintage respect.
End of the Season
Autumn brings a beautiful change to the aspen groves in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Exploring these woods near Kenosha Pass are always a treat. Textures abound with wonderful color. The transformation from the warm summer to the bitter cold of winter is a cherished journey for all Colorado landscape photographers.
Aspen Shedding Leaves
Hiking to the 12,000+ foot Summit of Glacier Peak I ran into a beautiful meadow of Rocky Mountain Wildflowers including Alpine Daisies near the top. I had to relax in the meadow and take some photographs. Glacier Peak is a moderate and gentle summit located near Georgia Pass in the southwestern region of Colorado’s Front Range. Stradling the Continental Divide, Glacier Peak surveys a lot of territory. It is archetypal of the summits in this region possessing a relaxed demeanor much like that of nearby Whale Peak. Glacier Peak is visible from US 285 near the small town of Jefferson; it rises as a “Squaretop” ridge on the northwestern mountainous boundary of South Park.
Alpine Daisies on Glacier Peak
Teig found a meadow of yellow Aspen Sunflower Flowers just off the trail to French Pass in the Colorado Rockies. Aspen Sunflower is a member of the Sunflower Family. The plant typically grows in meadows and clearings in pine forests at elevations between 5000 - 10000 feet. Teig blends in with this meadow and was almost ready to take snooze in the sunflowers.
Labradoodle in Sea of Yellow Alpine Flowers
On a beautiful fall morning in Bryce Canyon National Park. Taking a short hike up to Inspiration Point, I stopped on the way to capture this view of the Amphitheaters. Bryce Canyon is a mesmerizing location and even with the crowds an artist can find their inspiration. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks.
Viewing Bryce Canyon Amphitheaters
An elderly couple traveling the Narrows on the North Fork of the Virgin River in Zion National Park. The Narrows is the narrowest section of Zion Canyon and one of the world's best slot canyon hikes. Here, the majestic walls of the main canyon close in to form a tall and narrow canyon with beautiful dark corners and the Virgin River flowing around you. With beautiful flowing water and barely any direct sunlight reaching the bottom, this is the slot canyon that all other slot canyons are compared to. This gorge, with walls a thousand feet tall and the river sometimes just twenty to thirty feet wide. It is a popular hike in the park and when I did it was just after a few rainstorms and there was significant flow and water in the stream. I could not see the stream bed because of the red muddy nature and stumbled into some deep pools. The walking sticks this couple had is a very good idea.
Women traveling the Narrows on the North Fork of the Virgin River in Zion National Park. The Narrows is the narrowest section of Zion Canyon and one of the world's best slot canyon hikes. Tourist rent wet shoes and walking sticks to travel down the river during heavy flows as it was in this photo. There were heavy rains the night before and the narrows were swollen in the river bed.
Teig and I on our way down Mount Bross on a late August day after doing four 14ers that morning. Mount Bross is a high mountain summit in the Mosquito Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,178-foot fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, 4.1 miles northwest of the Town of Alma in Park County, Colorado, United States. Mount Bross is named in honor of William Bross, who owned property in the area. Some of the history from wikipedia of the mining on the mountain is “On March 9, 1869, Daniel Plummer and Joseph Myers, both of Alma, Colorado, filed claim on the first silver mine on Mount Bross. They named their holding "The Dwight". The adjoining Moose Mine, which Plummer and Myers filed in 1871, became the most productive silver mine in Park County. A native of Pennsylvania, Myers later became a town trustee in Fairplay, the county seat of Park County. The Dolly Varden Mine, discovered by George Brunk and Assyria "Cy" Hall in 1872, ranked second in silver production to the Moose Mine but outpaced the Moose in the richness of its ore. At the time the Dolly Varden opened, Hall was the sheriff of Park County” The mountain was closed to hikers in 2005 but many still sneak to the summit on a beautiful day.
A hike up Hunter Creek from Aspen Colorado affords the adventure with numerous small waterfalls to check out near the trail. This small waterfall wasn't far up the trail to the canyon and was quiet and serene in the early morning before the hikers get on the trail. I find these locations and times fulfilling for the soul.
Teig was enjoying this slot canyon in southwest Utah. Willis Creek Slot Canyon is located off Skutumpah Road in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I enjoyed the shapely walls and delicate colors in the Navajo sandstone as it closed in above me. I also loved peering down rocks that the orange-tinted creek has smoothed over time. The smooth and curvaceous rock walls of the narrows, which have been carved by thousands of years of flash floods. I felt small as the narrow walls tower 100 feet above.
Redrocks Park outside of Denver Colorado after a huge spring snow storm. This is the rim trail to the north of the park. What a wonderful and quiet scene. Morrison Colorado is a quaint town and know for Redrocks amphitheatre. Built in the depression and still a phenomenal place for music and entertainment.