Rocky Mountain National Park

My mother and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park on July 12^th. Two days before, Christina had flown into California from Hong Kong, and we arranged to meet on Friday, the night of the 11^th. Christina and I don't tend to spend much time on the same continent for more than 6 months at a time, and because of the horrid timing of her arrival, we only had that night available. So we did what any sane people in that situation would do: we stayed up all night, and I found myself staggering into San Jose International Airport with 3 hours of sleep.

Some 8 hours later, I found myself driving on trail ridge road, some 12,000 feet above sea level, with my tripod, my new camera in tow, struggling to acclimate to high altitude without the advantage of any time spent sleeping in between. The skies were blue, with clouds seemingly wrapped around various structure.

Clouds over tundra After the storm

The skies and the tundra weren't the only attractions, though. There were also rock formations:

Mushroom Rocks

Walking along the tundra was hard, and we had to stop often to rest. But the euphoria of walking among the clouds and being high up more than made up for it. And being late in the afternoon, walking just 15 minutes along the trail would leave all the crowds behind. The high altitude and harsh cold wind probably helped keep the crowds away too.

The tundra wasn't the only attraction along trail ridge road.

Evening alpenglow from trail ridge road. I was at an overlook waiting to get a good picture of the clouds over the mountains (below). It was one of those days where you kept waiting and waiting and nothing ever happened, but then a single look at the right moment brought me this picture.

Sun setting behind storm clouds.

Post-sunset afterglow. This was one of those copy-cat pictures. I'd stopped at a place where I had taken pictures the day before when an elderly woman with a tripod got out of her camper and took a few pictures towards the town of Estes Park. Inspired by her, I did the same, but those pictures were uninspired. Looking up as I scrambled back to the car, I saw the beautiful yellowish glow behind the trees, and quickly bracketed three exposures before driving back to camp.

Wildlife:

Ground squirrel Stellar Jay (identified by Cait Macanliss from this photograph)

If you have a couple of days available, make sure you take the ranger-led hike (it's only $10 for the whole day). She'll at least show you the state flower, the Colorado Columbine.

Colorado Columbine. This picture was taken by jumping off the trail towards the columbine. It took a while for me to get my foot out of the picture, compose the shot, and then take it. It was difficult to get the mood of the sunlight being just on the flower and not on anything else.

But my favorite hike was one I took by myself up to see the alpenglow on Longs Peak:

Moments before sunrise, Longs peak Alpenglow was one of those moments where I shot and shot picture after picture but still didn't take enough different pictures. I got to the junction to Chasm lake about 15 minutes before alpenglow hit Longs peak. I judged (rightly) that I didn't have time to make it to Chasm Lake to grab the alpenglow there.

Alpenglow on Longs Peak.

Waterfall along trail to Chasm Lake. These was one of those spontaneous shots when I realized that the early, reddish glow would simply be gone by the time I came back.

Chasm Lake. By the time I got to Chasm Lake, the sun was up in all its glory, making Longs Peak slate gray and almost boring. I used a polarizer to get rid of the glare, and to deepen the blue behind the peak.

Hiker walking along trail in tundra on trail to Chasm Lake. Scrambling back down from Chasm Lake, I decided that it was possible for me to take a different route down. 15 minutes later I found myself hanging off a ledge with my fingers and the edges of my boots cursing my lack of skill. I watched as a hiker walked past below me. Deciding that I would never have such an opportunity again, I pulled my camera out of my bag, leaned back against the rocks, and took a picture at the widest angle of my zoom.

Notes: all photographs taken with Canon EOS Elan II with 24-85/3.5-4.5 USM, Lens Hood, occasionally polarizer and/or tripod. Film was either Fuji Velvia or Kodak Elite II/100. Photographs were scanned by ADI onto PhotoCD, and then dithered down to JPG by Adobe Photoshop, optimizing for maximum download speed. (The actual PhotoCD scans look way better) I guess it's a good thing that optimizing for download makes pictures look bad, because that way people don't steal my pictures.
piaw@www.midwinter.com

	Evening alpenglow from trail ridge road. I was at an overlook waiting to get a good picture of the clouds over the mountains (below). It was one of those days where you kept waiting and waiting and nothing ever happened, but then a single look at the right moment brought me this picture.
	Sun setting behind storm clouds.
	Post-sunset afterglow. This was one of those copy-cat pictures. I'd stopped at a place where I had taken pictures the day before when an elderly woman with a tripod got out of her camper and took a few pictures towards the town of Estes Park. Inspired by her, I did the same, but those pictures were uninspired. Looking up as I scrambled back to the car, I saw the beautiful yellowish glow behind the trees, and quickly bracketed three exposures before driving back to camp.


Ground squirrel	Stellar Jay (identified by Cait Macanliss from this photograph)

	Moments before sunrise, Longs peak Alpenglow was one of those moments where I shot and shot picture after picture but still didn't take enough different pictures. I got to the junction to Chasm lake about 15 minutes before alpenglow hit Longs peak. I judged (rightly) that I didn't have time to make it to Chasm Lake to grab the alpenglow there.
	Alpenglow on Longs Peak.
	Waterfall along trail to Chasm Lake. These was one of those spontaneous shots when I realized that the early, reddish glow would simply be gone by the time I came back.
	Chasm Lake. By the time I got to Chasm Lake, the sun was up in all its glory, making Longs Peak slate gray and almost boring. I used a polarizer to get rid of the glare, and to deepen the blue behind the peak.
	Hiker walking along trail in tundra on trail to Chasm Lake. Scrambling back down from Chasm Lake, I decided that it was possible for me to take a different route down. 15 minutes later I found myself hanging off a ledge with my fingers and the edges of my boots cursing my lack of skill. I watched as a hiker walked past below me. Deciding that I would never have such an opportunity again, I pulled my camera out of my bag, leaned back against the rocks, and took a picture at the widest angle of my zoom.