What better way to start the week in Rocky than up a timberline in summer. A few blog posts back I was preaching how the area at timberline in Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite locations to shoot, especially in prime summer conditions which happen to be right now. So with that said, and the cloud forecast looking like Monday’s sunrise would have clouds over the north and west sections of the park, I headed out once again to a favorite alpine tarn.

Setting off from the Alpine Visitors Center well before sunrise, the skies were mostly clear. As I headed out along the tundra trail, I could see clouds starting to form and move in from the north and west. As we photographers know, good forecasts or not, trying to figure out where the clouds are going to be and where one has the best chance to add some additional elements into the landscape such as colorful clouds is a fools game at best. Even so, the game here is to place to your bets on a location based on the forecast and take your chances.

I arrived to my location a good twenty minutes before sunrise. I setup my camera with the small seasonal tarn located below and with the spectacular Never Summer Mountains in the distance and waited. As the earths shadow that precedes the sunrise began to glow over the Never Summer Mountain of Rocky Mountain National Park, I could see a defined bank of clouds to the west. A few other clouds floated over RMNP and the mouth of Forest Canyon and the headwaters of the Big Thompson River.

Even with some wildfire smoke in the air from fires in western Colorado and Utah, the cloud setup and predawn light looked like we should have a beautiful gentle sunrise over Rocky. The skies turned red and pink and the Never Summer Mountains to the west glowed red as they always do still covered in remnants of snow from last season. As I clicked away and enjoyed this beautiful July morning in Rocky Mountain National Park, I though to myself it just doesn’t get much better than this.

With summer in full swing in Rocky Mountain National Park, it’s time to take advantage of the perfect conditions to head out on a hike to one of your favorite locations. As a photographer, I plan my hikes and destinations based on where I think the most potential for a good image is or a location I have not visited or photographer successfully.

While I have favorite locations in Rocky that I try to visit a couple of times a year, it’s just not physically possible to always be able to visit and photograph locations each year. If you want to keep growing your portfolio on a given location, you have to constantly push yourself to get to new places or try again at locations you may not be happy with previous results.

Fern Lake is one of those places for me. One of my favorite hikes in RMNP is to hike the nearly eight miles from Bear Lake down to Moraine Park. This hike takes you past some of the most iconic scenery in Rocky Mountain National Park while also brining you through alpine and sub alpines zones of the park which adds nice variety. A lot of people like starting in Bear Lake because once you arrive at the top of the Odessa Gorge, its pretty much all downhill from there.

It’s been a few years since I’ve made any attempt to photograph Fern Lake. Both the Fern Lake Fire in 2013 and the East Troublesome Fire in 2020 damaged the areas around Fern Lake. I’ve had both Spruce and Fern Lake on my revisit list but have been too busy photographing other areas of the park to get a chance to get back.

Yesterday seemed like a good day to revisit Fern Lake for the first time in quite a few years. While we have had quite a bit of wildfire smoke around, it appeared the smoke should be manageable and that we had a decent chance for some clouds around sunrise to add some interest to the scene.

I headed out from the Fern Lake trailhead a little after 4:00 AM and was at Fern Lake by 5:20 AM. For those who have spent a lot of time in Rocky Mountain National Park, Fern Lake often holds great memories. It’s a great spot to fish, It’s a great day hike from Bear Lake or Moraine Park and some of the most accessible backcountry campgrounds are located around Fern Lake and Spruce Lake. Because Fern Lake is near the middle point between Bear Lake and Moraine Park, its a great place to stop, eat lunch and just hang out on a rock and take in the sights.

While Fern Lake is all those things to visitors and hikers in Rocky Mountain National Park, I find it to be a very difficult and frustrating location to photograph. It’s often breezy here, there is lots of dead trees from the fires and there are very few locations where one can get a clear unimpeded view of Notchtop, The Little Matterhorn and Gabletop Mountain. Trees and snags abound and trying to keep the viewfinder clear of distracting objects at Fern Lake is tricky. If the winds are gusting as they were yesterday, only the outlet of Fern Lake offers a sheltered enough spot to possibly provide a reflection. Take this all in account and one see’s while photographers will often end up at Lake Helene, Odessa Lake or even Cub Lake as opposed to photographing Fern Lake.

So I had low expectations when I arrived at Fern. The winds were gusting and the main part of the lake was choppy. I found one small area near the outlet where I could just squeeze in a reflection and keep the viewfinder and edges of my composition clear of dead trees, and other visual distractions. It was clear at sunrise, but luckily about 20 minutes or so after sunrise some nice clouds started to form and pass over Gabletop and the Little Matterhorn. The wind settled a little bit and the early morning light added some pop and color to this mountain scene.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the image. Sometimes you can only photograph what the location gives you, there are no secret compositions or ultra wide angle lenses that will make it any more dramatic. In this case, Fern Lake was Fern Lake and that was just fine with me and the millions of other visitors to Rocky who hold a special place in their heart for this iconic spot.

Photographing sunrise and sunsets is always a bit of a gamble for photographers. Figuring out exactly where to be when that sweet light hits can become an endeavor all onto itself. Being a quarter of a mile in either direction could result in having some of the most inspiring and epic lighting ever, or the opposite and ending up skunked questioning one’s choice of location. That happened for me yesterday, as I gambled on the potential of a dramatic sunrise in Rocky Mountain National Park occurring over the west side of the park as opposed to the east. I made the wrong choice as sunrise on the far east side of Rocky yesterday was beautiful and dramatic and more or less a dud on the west side of RMNP where I had setup.

You cant win them all is what I say to myself when this happens which is mostly my way of coping as I will obsess the rest of the morning wondering how I ended up in a less than optimal position when a sunrise unfolded. Truth is, dramatic sunrise and sunset light while awesome, is a bit overrated. As a photographer you will have many times where you are not in the right place, or the light is not working as you anticipated. The test of course of great photographers, is to use the light you have and to create compelling images of the landscape regardless. With that in mind and a heavy dose of cope weighing my camera backpack down and tail tucked, I figured a hike up to Big Meadows would at least help me get over my pouting.

Big Meadows on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park is Rocky Mountain National Park largest meadow. It doesn’t get the notoriety that many of the other iconic locations in Rocky get, but I find it one of the most fascinating and beautiful locations in the park. That beauty does not necessarily translate to your classic mountain images, but there is always something cool to photograph or experience.

Big Meadows is huge. When you arrive from either the Green Mountain Trailhead or Tonahutu Trail you are struck by just how large it is. The Pine Beetle and the East Troublesome Fire have damaged many of the trees in and around the meadows, but the grasses are strikingly green and verdant in summer, beautiful Tonahutu Creek meanders through the meadows and Nakai Peak towers over the meadows on the northeast side. Moose are common as are deer and elk. Wildflower are abundant in the meadows and hillside as are many different types of birds and raptors. I find Big Meadows spectacular and inspiring.

While many will hike through Big Meadows on their way to other locations in Rocky Mountain National Park, both hikers and photographers alike should take their time exploring the beauty found in this meadow. Sure Big Meadows was my second choice yesterday, but after spending the morning coping with missing out on sunrise, there really was no other place in RMNP I wanted to spend the morning at than one of my favorite spots in Rocky.

Just back from a great morning in Rocky Mountain National Park. One of those mornings where I had little expectations for sunrise based on the forecast. I’ve been either traveling or have been entertaining visiting family the past three weeks so getting any kind of flow going has been difficult. It’s been a combination of weather, late nights or early obligations that have contributed to disrupting my normally obsessive routines.

So even with the weather looking clear and warm this morning with little chance for a colorful sunrise, I gave it the old college try. My motto has always been you just have to consistently keep showing up and unexpected things will happen. With this in mind, I figured I hike up to the Lake Helene area to keep both my legs in trail shape, enjoy the beauty of summer in Rocky Mountain National Park, and maybe with a little luck, come away with an image or two.

I’ve fallen into the trap of looking at all my various weather apps that I use and concluding there is no chance for a dramatic sunrise or sunset so I might as well stay back in the office and work images, reply to emails or update my web site. One of the worst feelings in the world is watching an awesome sunrise unfold over RMNP from the comfort of my office. I hate when this happens and if its because I let the forecast hold me back, it can really ruin my week.

As I started up the trail this morning, it still looked clear. About a mile up the trail or so at one of the overlooks that look back east towards Bierstadt Lake, I could see a few clouds starting to form in the sky. I was actually kind of surprised how many clouds had started to move in over the park so quickly.

I picked up the pace and arrived in the Lake Helene area about 15 minutes prior to sunrise. I particularly like this area because not only is it spectacular, the hike is great, but more importantly you have some choices on which direction to shoot depending on the clouds and light. You can shoot southeast over Marigold Pond if the light is good, north and northeast over Odessa Gorge or northwest directly towards Notchtop, Gabletop if conditions are more or less perfect.

When I arrived at the overlook over Odessa Gorge, the clouds were just about perfect. Densely packed puffy clouds hovered over Odessa Lake and The Gable. There were some decent clouds to the southeast and a few over Notchtop but the best light was going to be over Odessa Lake and Odessa Gorge from the overlook.

Viola!, a morning in which I had low expectations turned out to be pretty darn awesome in RMNP. Both my first shots over looking the Odessa Gorge were beatiful and after shooting first light there, I hustled down to Lake Helene and managed to capture a few images of the rippled surface reflecting Notchtop Mountain while dappled light and clouds reflected in the waters of Helene. Bottom line, you just need to get out and shoot, and like they say up in Ithaca, New York, Rocky is Gorges!.

Hard to believe it but we are already past the Fourth of July here in Rocky Mountain National Park. While the official start to Summer already occurred a few weeks prior, I always consider the July 4th holiday to be the official start to Summer in RMNP and what I think is the best time of year in the park for not only exploration and travel, but for photography.

By July 4th, nearly all the readily accessible areas of Rocky Mountain National Park are free of snow. Some years there still may be snow around below 11,000 ft, but on an average year, all but the most stubborn or shaded sections of trails will be snow free. Lakes and ponds will be free of ice and the alpine tundra will be green and really starting to explode with wildflowers. Streams and waterfalls will be running at a decent clip, but not the torrents that they were only a few weeks prior from snowmelt. Lastly, the monsoon season and afternoon thunderstorms will be firing off making for interesting light and conditions in the afternoons.

Summer is my favorite season in Rocky, but it always seems to progress much to quickly. Summer in RMNP, is quick and rapid. One day the alpine tundra is covered in snow, then next it is exploding with wildflowers and what feels like a short time later, is experiencing its first snow all over again as the grasses turn from green to red welcoming fall.

For photographers in Rocky Mountain National Park, the pace can feel hectic. You never get to all the locations you want to photograph, and even if you do, mother nature and the weather dont always cooperate. Wind, cloudless skies and or cloudy skies, all conspire against our preconceived perceptions of just how the summer is going to go and what new images we imagine we will be adding to our portfolios in the off season.

The important thing to take note of during this amazing time of year in Rocky Mountain National Park is to enjoy the season for what it is. Short, hectic, physical and most importantly spectacular. Take a moment to relax and enjoy Summer in Rocky. Try not to plan out each and every shoot but also take the day and conditions for what they are and adapt with it and move with the flow. While the season may be short, and some of your goals for images may be left for another summer, stop and enjoy what is an amazing time of year in Rocky.