It’s been quiet here on the blog for the past few weeks. After a busy summer and autumn season here in Rocky Mountain National Park, both the Cameron Peak Fire and the East Troublesome Fire’s played spoiler to the end of the fall season.

The two fires which exploded at the end of October and burned nearly 30,000 acres of RMNP as well as large areas outside of Rocky. Snow finally appears to have brought both fires under control and each day that we move closer towards the winter season and snow cover on the ground is positive. In fact other than a few hot spots, there has been no growth of the two fires in the past week.

While the damage is still being assessed, we do know the fires caused significant damage both inside Rocky Mountain National Park as well as outside. Since this blog relates to photographing Rocky Mountain National Park, I’ll stick with what I know as of this writing.

On the west side of the park, the NPS office at the entry station burned down. Somehow, the two kiosks did not sustain any damage. The seasonal employees cabins across from the Green Mountain Trailhead also burned down as well. Portions of Trail River Ranch in Rocky Mountain National Park also sustained damage but Little Buckaroo Barn is ok as is the Holzwarth property.

On the east side of the park, the East Troublesome Fire made a run over the continental divide through Spruce Canyon and down into Upper Beaver Meadows and Moraine Park. To date, the only structure that I know that was damaged by the fire on the east side of Rocky is the Fern Lake patrol cabin which was destroyed.

Small portions of Rocky Mountain National Park are now open again outside the zones where the firefighters are still monitoring the fire, building containment and putting out any hot spots. Currently, the entire west side of RMNP remains closed with no known date of when it will reopen.

The east side of the park is open through the Fall River Entrance through Horseshoe Park and then up Trail Ridge Road to the Many Parks overlook. US 36, Bear Lake and The Beaver Meadows Entry station are currently closed. Old Fall River is open for hiking and bikes until December 1st at which point it will return to a trail until spring. Wild Basin is open to the winter gate and access along Highway 7 including Lily Lake and the Twin Sisters and the Longs Peak trailhead is currently open.

I was able to make a quick run up to the park earlier in the week just to kick off the rust and get out and explore for a morning. While much of the park is not currently accessible, its good to have portions of it back. We’re basically now in the winter season in Rocky, so Trail Ridge will remain closed.

With that being the case, the best locations for photography are going to revolve around smaller areas with access to much of the backcountry of Rocky currently being limited. I’ll keep things updated here as locations open up or I get any new information pertinent to the fires and damage inside of RMNP.

We’ve all done it. It could be something as simple as taking the garbage out, changing the oil in a vehicle or paying a bill. Procrastinating or putting things off for another day is just part of the human condition. Most of these items we put off will are not life or death and other than ending up in the dog house with your significant other, most of these are trivial.

This same dynamic can affect photographers as well. As is the case with our day to day responsibilities, it’s easy to pack up the camera after a good morning or evening and head back to the house, hotel, bar, coffee shop and call it a day. In fact, I would argue that much of the time this is an important process in allowing artists to refresh, relax and reflect on the process and allow for the creative process to rejuvenate itself for another sunrise or sunset.

Even though I’m a believer in moderation in all things, there are times when one needs to push a little harder, work one more composition or explore one more mile of trail. Why?, none of us is promised tomorrow so it’s important to take advantage of the moment.

This has become abundantly apparent the past few weeks up here in Rocky Mountain National Park. Fall is by it very nature fleeting. Now combine the ever retreating autumn season in Rocky Mountain National Park with two of Colorado’s largest wildfires burning through portions of RMNP.

The threat from both the Cameron Peak Fire as well as the East Troublesome Fire seemed to be abating as fire season was winding down. In short order, both these fires unexpectedly grew and exploded right as the autumn season was wrapping up. Both the towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake have been severely affected by the growth and destruction of these two fires. Overnight, peoples lives have been turned upside down. Over 25,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park has now burned and the park will remain closed until further notice. Photography is the last thing on many of our minds right now, and that changed in an instant.

Whats a beautiful image one day is often gone the next. But its not just fall that is fleeting, our existence on this planet is fleeting from the day we are born into this world. Autumn and the fires emphasize why one should live in the moment and not take for granted whatever time one gets to spend doing what they love. Change is a constant companion, dont put off for tomorrow what you can do today.

Sunday we finally had some rain and snow move in through the park in what seems like forever. Snow fell on the Cameron Peak fire and the park got a decent dusting of snow in the higher elevations. When this new system moved in and out of the region it brought lots of wind with it as well.

As it always is with fall in the high rockies, one quick blast of weather and hillsides go from golden brilliance to down and brown. So was the case with this new system which stripped what remaining fall color there was and ushered in the brown season once again. This last system put mostly to an end what was one of the strangest autumns in Rocky I can remember in sometime.

Not only were we in the midst of a pandemic, but late summer into early fall in Rocky Mountain National Park was absurdly dry. We had very little rain and very little in the way of interesting clouds or weather for what I would estimate to be well over two months. Basically from August through October with the one exception being our early season September snowstorm, we were suffering not only from drought like conditions but also severe clear with little in the ways of interesting cloud cover and skies.

The Cameron Peak fire broke out in mid August and the hot and dry conditions allowed it to spread and grow quickly. Smoke from this fire has been hanging over Rocky Mountain National Park and the Front Range of Colorado ever since. Just 19 miles north of the Cameron Peak fire, The Mullen Fire broke out in September and only added to smoke, ash and haze.

As a photographer during what is normally considered the best season of the year to photograph, you try to adapt and go with the flow. If 2020 has taught my anything its that you really need to appreciate your time and freedom as well as learning to make the best of a bad situation.

So while the haze and smoke from the fire, combined with clear skies and non-dramatic skies with weather made it difficult to get motivated or find subjects to shoot, I kept pushing myself to get out in the field and see what I could come away with.

As I always say, field time is always better than office time and if you can push aside your preconceived notions of what you think you should photograph and how the conditions should be and instead work with what you have, I think you will find you can come away with quite a few images that you’ll be pleased with.

So while autumn 2020 in Rocky Mountain National Park was the strangest and most difficult year I can remember photographing in the park, We had some of the most vibrant colors I can remember as well. Overall, fall 2020 worked out nothing like I would have imagined but I’m happy to report that even with the difficulties, I came away with many new images that will eventually be added to my portfolio.

I apologize for the lack of updates to the blog the past week or so as i’ve been busy spending as much time as possible out in the field. The fall season in Rocky Mountain National Park is without question my favorite time of year but its also the most hectic. Autumn is both short and frenetic and this means lots of time spent trying to not only chase the light, but also chase where the best color and photographic opportunities are located.

While one location on west side of Rocky Mountain National Park may be hitting peak one day, weather events or just time can cause it to be past peak the following day. That likely means another location in Rocky, likely on the complete opposite side of the park may be hitting peak the following day and one spends quite a bit of resources trying to stay on top of the frenetic pace while also enjoying and savoring the season.

As it stands now, we are in the backend homestretch of autumn fall color seasons in RMNP. We have had incredible stretch of warm dry weather in the park. This has been beneficial in the fact that the fall color season has certainly extended a little longer than it normally would in many areas. As of this writing there is still some decent fall color on the Bierstadt Moraine for example. Normally, I would expect this area to be well past peak come the second week of October but the lack of very cold weather and snow has allowed for trees not stripped by the winds to remain golden a little longer.

While the warm weather is helping to extend the autumn color which is now best in the lower elevations of the park such as Moraine Park, Beaver Meadows and Horseshoe Park, the dry weather has allowed the fire situation to continue to be dire. Currently, the Cameron Peak fire continues to burn just north of the park. While its 43% contained at this point, the lack of moisture allows it to continue to flare up while also putting a good deal of smoke into the air over Rocky when wind directions are favorable.

Adding a double whammy to the fire situation around Rocky is the Mullen fire which is burning on the Wyoming and Colorado border area. Currently the Mullen fire is burning about 18 miles north of the Cameron Peak fire. The Mullen fire is not contained and this fire is much more active than Cameron and it has also been contributing to very smokey and hazy skies over Rocky.

Last but not least has been the dome of high pressure that has been parked over Rocky for what seems like weeks. This high pressure system with warm days, moderate winds and clear blue skies all day has not been conducive to dramatic sunrise and sunsets. We seem to be regularly going 7 to 10 days with completely clear skies at sunrise. Combine this with smoke from the two fires and capturing grand landscapes in Rocky Mountain National Park this fall season has certainly been a challenge. In fact, in my 22 years of photographing RMNP, I cant recall an autumn season that has been as challenging to photograph as this season has been due to both the smoke and clear skies.

Even though its been a very challenging fall season (why would we expect 2020 to make anything easy?), there is still plenty to photograph. The autumn color while about average when it comes to the large deciduous trees like aspens and cottonwoods has been average, but the underbrush and scrub has been spectacular this year. Intimate fall scenes are where its best this year as you avoid the clear skies and smoke concentrating on the smaller landscapes less dependent on dramatic lighting.

As it stands I would expect another week of decent fall color in parts of Rocky. The wind is forecast to pickup this week and it does not look like we will have any decent cloud cover until the backend of the week. Currently the best fall color is on the east side of Rocky. The Bierstadt Moraine and Boulder Brook area are decent but look for the lower elevations to provide the best color the next week. So keep an eye on the weather and your viewfinder on smaller, more intimate scenes and you should still be able to come away with some great shots. Lastly, don’t forget the trails area still snow free and the lakes and tarns still open so traditional summer type images may also yield great opportunities once the fall color is past peak.

Summer continues to fly by here in Rocky Mountain National Park. August has now come and gone and one of the best months for photographers has now arrived. With the calendar page flipping over from August to September, the first day of September left little to the imagination on what lies in store for us as we begin to say goodbye to summer.

After having an above average temperatures for the months of July and August, and the Cameron Peak fire burning just outside the northeastern boundary to the park since August 13th, the morning of September 1st brought some much needed relief.

The first of two strong cold fronts moved in through the park on the night of August 31st into September 1st. Rain fell over most of Rocky Mountain National Park but just above 11,500 ft, that rain turned to snow. For the first time this season, the high peaks of RMNP had a nice dusting of snow on them.

The combination of snow along with the alpine tundra that is found at nearly the same elevation made for a nice combination of color and contrast. Snow dusting the peaks and reds and yellow alpine tundra displaying its fall glory helped to change the scenery for a change. No smokey or cloudless skies this morning, just some light snow on the peaks and the tundra looking colorful as it was amplified by the moisture on the grasses.

While its hard to know if this is the start of a weather pattern change here in Rocky Mountain National Park or a one off, it was an unmistakable change in the weather that could be felt as we moved into what is regarded by many, as the best month of the year in the park.

Just like seeing and old friend, heading back up into Rocky Mountain National Park after a nearly 70 day hiatus felt great. In one sense it felt surreal heading back into the park after all the craziness of the past two plus months of closures and lockdown. In another sense it felt just like riding a bicycle again.

While the park reopened on Wednesday May 27th, I did not head up until the morning of Thursday May 28th for my first visit since the lockdowns occurred from the pandemic. NPS did not remove the barriers and get the roads opened until after 6:00 AM on 5/27 so it was not possible to be inside the park for sunrise which occurred at 5:38 AM.

Much of Rocky is still closed and there is limited access to other locations. I expect more things to open in the near future but the park service is dealing with limited staff and housing for its seasonal workers as they filter back. Currently Trail Ridge Road is not open (Rainbow Curve on the east side on the Colorado River Trailhead on the west side). Wild Basin remains closed and its unsure if Old Fall River road will open to automobile traffic this year.

Starting next week, June 4th to be exact, Rocky Mountain National Park will have a timed entry permit system enacted between the hours of 6:00 AM and 5:00 PM. If you are planning on visiting the park between those hours you will need to go online, pay a $2 fee and reserve a time slot to enter Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is allowing about 13,000 visitors a day to enter. 90% of the reservations need to be made 48 hrs in advance although the park will allow a small amount of passes to be released 24 hrs before entry.

I’m still trying to figure out my photography tour service into Rocky Mountain National Park and how I will be conducting photography tours moving forward. My commercial use permit to operate in RMNP will allow me access to the park anytime so this will benefit clients of mine who would like access to the park and possibly were unable to secure a permit in time.

Figuring out how to maintain social distancing both in a vehicle and on the trails where I often have to assist clients hiking and climbing over obstacles is more difficult. Much of this will come down to prospective clients comfort level, photographing, hiking and traveling through the park with me. I’m telling all prospective clients to contact me and we can discuss the difficulties and realities of scheduling a photography tour in Rocky Mountain National Park during the current pandemic.

With that said, my tour business has taken a big hit already due to the closure and pandemic. I plan on being out in Rocky Mountain National Park as much as I can be this summer and will use the free time I now have to explore and photograph areas of the park I have not visited recently or have wanted to revisit. I’ll do my best making lemonade out of lemons and hope we will see some return to normalcy by the end of the season and hopefully into next year. In the meantime I’ll be photographing and enjoying getting back out into Rocky more than you can imagine. Stay tuned here and I’ll update conditions and status often. If you would like to schedule a photograph tour feel free to drop me an email with your questions and I’ll be happy to answer any and all questions.