Notchtop Mountain is one of Rocky’s most iconic features. While Notchtop can be seen from portions of Trail Ridge Road and Bear Lake Road it takes a little more effort to view and photography it up close and personal. The best way to view and photography Notchtop is to hike the moderate three plus miles to the area around Lake Helene from the Bear Lake trailhead.
This area around Lake Helene is filled with potential for photographers. Besides the spectacular views of Notchtop Mountain from Lake Helene, there are many other beautiful more secluded locations to photography both Notchtop Mountain, Grace Falls and the Odessa Gorge.
I often recommend this hike to photography tour clients who are both fit and looking to explore off the beaten path. It’s a great destination in Rocky Mountain National Park for sunrise and most of the time you will be the only photographer within miles. Last week I lead a client up to the area near Marigold Ponds for a beautiful sunrise shoot. As always the area did not disappoint and Notchtop looked glorious as the sunlight and high cirrus clouds filtered onto the dramatic face of the peak.
As is always seems to be the case here in Rocky, summer is progressing at a pace much more quickly than I am comfortable with. Summer always takes awhile to take hold here in the mountains and once it does it can feel like a mad scramble to try and take advantage of each day to the fullest extent. Add on days when the weather just does not want to cooperate and a busy schedule guiding clients in the field and summer really begins to fly by.
I always figure one can catch up on sleep and socializing when the first snow starts to fall but summer in Rocky Mountain National Park is about maximizing your time in the field and taking advantage of these beautiful days when the high country is easily accessible and the conditions for us photographers are prime.
This time of year I’m out in the field five to six days a week either shooting for my own portfolio or guiding other photographers around Rocky Mountain National Park. When you are lucky enough to get out that often you get to experience and observe Rocky on an acute basis. The weather conditions ebb and flow and often we have a few days laced together with great sunrise and sunsets with stretches of less interesting or more bland conditions. Less interesting conditions in Rocky being clear blue sky days with few or no clouds to add additional elements to one’s photographs.
July started off on the tame side. Many of the higher elevations in the park had lots of snow remaining even into the start of the month. Conditions were fairly tame to start the month of July but as the month ramped up and the monsoonal flow began to strengthen, the conditions got much more interesting. The back end of July blessed us with some great sunrise and sunset conditions, a good amount of rain showers and some a few nice mornings of fog and inversions.
All in all no complaints for me regarding July. I was lucky enough to get some great conditions for photography as were many of my clients I had in the field this month. The only thing I can complain about is that July in Rocky Mountain National Park is just too darn short, and unfortunately that holds true for August as well.