After being sidetracked exploring and photographing some of the early fall color already showing in Rocky Mountain National Park, it was back to getting out on the trail and taking advantage of the beautiful weather and still summer like conditions found in the park.
Yesterday, I made the sunrise trek up to Two River Lake for sunrise. The trip was two fold, one to get out on the trail and enjoy whats left of summer, and the second was to get out and see how the autumn color was progressing in the area around Notchtop Mountain.
As far as the fall color goes, there is very little to speak of in the underbrush. Some of the underbrush has just started to change but I would say we have at least two weeks until it starts looking good.
For the first objective, sunrise at Two River Lake was stunning. The wind was blowing pretty good by the time but with nice clouds driving over the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, things looked promising. I petered around trying to decide where to photograph as there are a number of great options in and around this area of the park. I settled on Two Rivers Lake because there was a small section of the lake where the water was sheltered from the wind and a reflection was possible.
Low hanging clouds and some light rain wrapped over the summit of Notchtop Mountain. The pre-dawn light was casting a warm glow on the base of Notchtop. To the east, the horizon was clear and I could tell it was going to be a banger of a sunrise. Sure enough, within a few minutes of sunrise, Notchtop Mountain, Flattop, and Gabletop turned fire red. The low hanging clouds wrapped around Notchtop turned a brilliant purple and red creating one of the more dramatic sunrises I’ve photographed in 2025 in RMNP.
Not a bad place to spend the morning and while it would have been absolutely perfect if there was no wind, I’ll take the clouds and lighting we had yesterday morning just about any day. So if your heading up to Rocky for the long holiday weekend, dont forget to look for some of the early fall color and here’s wishing you some great light!.