It’s that time of year already in Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge Road finally opened for the season on the afternoon of May 31st. One of the later opening dates from my recollection in recent memory. With Trail Ridge Road finally open for the season (The Alpine Visitor Center and Store are still closed as of this writing), it’s unofficially the start to the summer season in RMNP which means access and opportunities for photography greatly improve.
When Trail Ridge reopens for the season its like seeing an old friend after a long absence. Over the course of the long, snowy, windy and cold winter the landscape, mountains and wildlife that live in these high alpine zones continue on with very little human interaction. But with the opening of Trail Ridge Road, its like a window or door to the park has been opened, welcoming visitors to Rocky Mountain National park with open arms and the feeling or renewal or rebirth.
While there is still a lot of snow to be found in both the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park and pretty much any location over 10,000 ft after what was a healthy winter of snow and precipitation, this harsh and unforgiving environment will move quickly now to melt away the snow, turn the alpine tundra from brown to a vibrant green and cover the ridges with wildflowers of all varieties. In as little as a month or so from now, most of the snow will be gone, the grasses green, the alpine tarns unthawed and free of ice and snow and alpine sunflowers will be budding up on the tundra.
I’ve been busy photographing many of the lime green aspen trees that just look beautiful right now between 9000 and 9500 ft. There is a short window with the aspens before they turn a darker green so I’ve been taking advantage of this short window which has prevented me for heading up and over Trail Ridge Road since in opened for the season.
Yesterday was my first of what will be many runs up and over Trail Ridge Road until it’s closed for the season sometime in late September or October or in the even of a really warm and dry fall possibly November.
In typically Trail Ridge and Rocky Mountain National Park fashion, the early season weather over Trail Ridge did not disappoint. The wind was howling at 25-30 mph, rain and snow were falling periodically and lots of low hanging clouds hugged the hillsides and mountaintops. ‘What could be more perfect than this?’ I thought as I headed over Milner Pass with the idea of heading down the Kawuneeche Valley or possibly even up the East Inlet.
Rain and snow altered my plans and I looked for a location where I might get some drop under light and sun once the sunrise occurred around 5:30 AM. I settled on Medicine Bow Curve as waited in the cold and spitting snow as Specimen Mountain and the Never Summer Range were covered in both dappled sunlight and snow showers at daybreak. The headwaters of the Poudre River below me still covered with lots of snow and the tundra brown from a long winter still had the making of a landscape that couldn’t be more representative of the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park in late spring.
While it was cold, windy and snowy, as I triggered the shutter on my camera, I couldn’t feel more excited and thankful for it to be the summer season, one that always starts with great excitement, anticipation and hope for a few months of great adventures, experiences and photography.