It was a pretty darned chilly evening around the campsite on the last day of September and in some ways I wanted to be inside. I could not however ignore the show unfolding outside. Wave clouds had setup over the mountain peaks to our east and they had this amazing silver color to them. I had hoped that sunset would color them orange but that never materialized. As is though, they were pretty awesome looking. Taken near Estes Park, Colorado.
Fog shrouded sunrise
A crazy cool scene this morning. Blue skies started things off and then this thick fog rolled in limiting visibility to 30 feet at times. It made for some pretty cool scenes to say the least. Here, it is thick enough that the sun looked like a pale circle on the horizon. Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
The road into the fog, fall colors and snow
A collection of two seasons in one in Colorado’s high country a couple of weeks ago. The leaves were still bright yellow but a wintry storm brought fog and a light coating of snow to altitudes over 10,000 feet.
It was a sign of the changing seasons and it seems appropriate to post today since lower elevations where I live are set to receive our first snowfall of the season tonight and tomorrow. Certainly I love the different wildlife and photo opportunities that winter brings to the Front Range but I am not so sure I am ready for the cold. 😉
Rainbow caps off the season’s camping
A nice little scene following an afternoon thunderstorm at our campsite in Estes Park, Colorado this past Friday. In the wake of the storm, the sun reappeared to the west and to the east a good-looking rainbow appeared. This weekend pretty much puts a wrap on our camping season which is always a bit of a bummer. We will be anxiously awaiting that first trip of the spring! Only six months to go or so. 😉
Sunrise illuminates one of the first high country snows of the season
For a brief time Sunday morning, the sun made a much desired appearance in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. About an inch of the white stuff had fallen overnight and the cold was keeping visitors away. That was perfectly fine with me as I got to enjoy an amazingly quiet and peaceful morning taking in this scene.
As the sun crested the horizon it illuminated Mount Audubon (right) and the adjacent peaks with its golden light. Low clouds clung to the mountaintops and bits of that gorgeous Colorado blue sky appeared.
A sign of the change of seasons
Quite a day yesterday in Rocky Mountain National Park… Not long after I took this I was wanting to head back down to the east side of the park where we were camped but they closed Trail Ridge Road literally 30 seconds before I was there.
With the rest of my family down below and the rangers being unsure as to when the road would open, I ended up taking the long way around – a three and a half hour diversion. Ugh!
I reckon on the plus side for my readers is that I do have some cool pics to share this week. 😉
So there was just a wee bit of snow along my morning photo drive today
So there was just a wee bit of snow along my morning photo drive today. 😉 Unfortunately the wildlife wasn’t as abundant as the white stuff for me but I still had fun.
Rolling thunder on the Great Plains
Work and life’s commitments don’t allow me to storm chase near as often as I would like. However, every now and then, I get lucky and Mother Nature brings a storm right to me. Such was the case this past Friday as I went for a photo drive after work.
A nice little thunderstorm popped up and while the storm itself wasn’t anything extraordinary, it did make for a very pretty scene. This same storm cell would go on to intensify and drop hail up to an inch in diameter only about 10 miles from where this picture was taken.
The Mile High City capped with clouds
While it does look kind of cool, thankfully this isn’t typical for Denver. Those of us that live here are used to seeing far more sun and warmth this time of year.
A late season storm brought cold, a lot of rain and a bit of snow to the Colorado Front Range this past week. Just to the west in the mountains they were measuring the snowfall in feet. It was a bit of a shock to the system of residents.
In reality, snow in May is not that unusual although this system was stronger that normal for this late in the season. Certainly I hope we are done with the white stuff for the season but Denver’s latest snowfall in history occurred on June 12, 1947 so you just never know.
Evening sky turns into a rainbow of colors
I was expecting a typically gorgeous Colorado sunset on this day not long ago but it was the pre-show about a half hour before that was the best part. Iridescent clouds appeared and turned the sky into a rainbow of colors. It was an awesome one seen from my backyard.
Cloud iridescence is caused by clouds (usually cirrus) that have small water droplets or ice crystals in them causing the light to be diffracted, or spread out. The phenomena is much like the rainbow colors seen with oil in water.
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