Regardless of how challenging the photography has been in Rocky this Summer, it’s been a real life and death struggle for many Colorado residents. As of this writing, there are 8 wildfires burning in the State.

The second largest fire in the history of Colorado, the High Fire, is burning 20 miles or so northeast of Estes Park and has already claimed 191 homes and one life. To compound that, a house fire in Estes Park yesterday, just a few hundred yards from the Beaver Meadow entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park quickly burned 21 homes before being brought under control. Lastly, the Waldo Canyon fire is burning out of control just outside of the Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs.

The atmosphere along the northern Front Range has been filled with smoke for a few weeks now. Because of the smoke, much of the early morning light reaching the mountain peaks is diffused and lacks intensity and pop. Today, the smoke was as thick as it has been in weeks.

In an ironic twist, the smoke combined with high clouds rewarded me with a beautiful sunrise. Just above Nymph Lake, I was able to capture this image of the Sun rising through the smoke from the High Fire and clouds to the east. The colors were spectacular and the Sun rose as a blood red orb over the high plains.

While the sunrise was spectacular this morning, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the heat subsides and rain falls from the sky. Let’s hope the weather pattern changes and we start to see some moisture out here in the tinderbox that Colorado has become.

Perhaps it’s the lack of parking at most of the trailheads, or the windy and narrow dirt road used to get to the trailheads. It’s more likely its the fact that you cant drive a car right up to the many hidden treasures to found in Wild Basin. To me at least, Wild Basin has a much more understated beauty than many of the other areas of the park.

Wild Basin makes you work before revealing itself. The alpine lakes of Wild Basin are some of the most beautiful in all of Colorado, let alone Rocky Mountain National Park. Want to see Mount Alice and Lion Lake up close?. Well then your going to have to commit to a 14 mile round trip hike to do so.

Even for those not feeling spry enough for a 7 mile hike up into the beautiful alpine wilderness of Wild Basin, the lower regions are beautiful in their own right. The North Saint Vrain emanates out of this Basin on the south side of Longs Peak. The banks of the North Saint Vrain as well as many of the other creeks and streams found in Wild Basin are loaded with more subtle photographic opportunities.

Wild Basin is packed with great water features for photography. The trick is trying to find compositions that are not to busy or cluttered. The Pine Beetle infestation has felled many tree’s along the banks of the creeks. This means lots of log jam’s and dead tree’s strewn in and along the creeks, which of course can make photography of Wild Basin’s water features both interesting and difficult.

Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls are some of the more popular water features in Wild Basin. I settled on Ouzel Falls when I headed into Wild Basin last week. Wildflowers are starting to bloom along the creeks now and the spring runoff is starting to ebb making photography of the North Saint Vrain a bit more manageable.

I finally settled in on this image just below Ouzel Falls. It certainly does not have that smack you in the face beauty as a location such as Dream Lake, but images like this typify Wild Basin to me. Wildflowers, water, downed timber and rock’s entrenched deep within a subtle but beautiful area of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Some of my friends, family and fellow photographers wonder why the fixation with photography and in particular Rocky Mountain National Park. I don’t have a perfect answer for them, but both photography and Rocky Mountain National Park continue to be an obsession of mine.

For me, it’s the thrill of the unknown. Even though Rocky is a location I spend much of my time exploring, I leave feeling like I have not even scratched the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless and no two days or sunrises are ever the same.

I had no idea what I would walk away with this morning at Cub Lake. Rocky was quite breezy when I arrived and the outlook for clouds in the sky or a colorful sunrise did not look promising.

Regardless, I was still pumped up for the hike and the potential on the ride up. Getting out on the trail in the pre-dawn hours regardless of the ultimate outcome is therapeutic to the soul. Rocky Mountain National Park is just to majestic a location to walk away empty handed, image or not. It’s mornings and experiences like these that keep me mesmerized with photography and Rocky Mountain National Park. What get’s you out of bed at 2:30 AM?

Landscape photographers love Moraine Park for it’s impressive views of the snow covered Continental Divide. The Big Thompson river meanders through Moraine Park making for great subject matter. Moraine Park is also host to an abundance of wildflowers which will begin to bloom in early June.

Wildlife photographers flock to Moraine Park during the fall Elk rut. Hundreds of photographers line the roadway’s and trails in and around Moraine Park to photograph the herds of Elk and this put on their mating display early in the morning, then late again in the evening. Mule Deer, Coyote, Fox and a large variety of Avian life keep Moraine Park popular with photographers all year.

Moraine Park has an interesting past as well. Moraine Park was homesteaded by some of the Estes Valley’s earliest settlers. Abner Sprague’s, one of Estes Park’s earliest settlers, guide, and hotelier, had his original homesteading plot located in Moraine Park. During this period of time, Moraine Park was known as Willow Park.

Abner Sprague eventually sold his homesteading plot to a cousin and settled a new claim opening a lodge near present day Sprague Lake. Abner Sprague would eventually reclaim the property he had sold in Moraine Park to his cousin and there he would run Steads Ranch and Inn as well as Sprague’s Lodge.

Spending a morning hiking through present day Moraine Park it’s hard to imagine that not all that long ago Moraine Park was a vacationers paradise. Steads Ranch had it’s fare share of modern world amenities and billed itself as a resort hotel. Steads had a large in ground pool, a golf course, stables, croquet, beautiful lobby and restaurant. Paradise at Steads could be had for a mere $8.75 a night or $58.20 for the week for a single room in 1953. The National Park Service eventually reclaimed this property in the early 1960’s and began restoring the area to it’s natural state.

It must have been an amazing experience to have visited Steads Ranch. While modern world amenities are nice, I have to say I much prefer Moraine Park restored to it’s natural setting. For the most part, very little signs remain of Willow or Moraine Park’s past history. Moraine Park’s biggest threat today are from the overabundance of Elk which eat and damage much of the fauna in the Park.

One of the old vestiges that harkens back to the Steads Ranch days are some of the older Ponderosa Pine tree’s that remain. There is one particular Ponderosa in Moraine Park that has always fascinated me. It’s divides into two sections and has been twisted and twirled by winds and weather. Large branches have been remove by lighting but even still, this sentinel of Moraine Park stands tall and beautiful.

This tree has stood witness to many events in it’s day. It stood watch when Steads hosted thousands of tourists at it’s swimming pool, golfers played rounds near it’s base, and fisherman walked the banks of the Big Thompson searching for trout. On this cool spring morning, with a fog and dew lifting over Moraine Park this tree now stands over a setting more becoming of it’s beauty and dignity.

Having the photography Gods shine down on you can be one of the most rewarding experiences one can have in the field. Of course you have to make sure your actually in a position to take advantage of the conditions your presented with. There is not a worse feeling than watching an amazing sunrise a half mile short of your intended destination, and I’ve been party to that on more than one occasion.

The end of last week was cloudy, cool and rainy on the Front Range. It was cool enough that the snow line was hovering around 9000 feet. Above 9000 feet, heavy wet snow was falling, even though the temperature was right around the freezing mark. It was supposed to stay cool and wet from Friday right through Sunday.

Knowing full well, that’s it’s hard to keep the Colorado Sun hidden behind clouds for an entire 3 days, I figured we could have an interesting sunrise. Even if a good Sunrise failed to materialize, I love shooting water features and other more intimate landscapes under the diffused and cloudy light. All the conditions were setting up for a no lose situation for photography.

With the conditions in mind I planned on hiking up to Emerald Lake above Dream Lake to photograph sunrise. This summer, I’m trying to avoid Dream Lake like the plaque. Not because Dream Lake is not one of the most beautiful alpine locations in all of Colorado, but very much for that reason.

So starting my hike from the Bear Lake trailhead, I had no intention of stopping or photographing Dream Lake. There was a nice fresh layer of snow coating all the tree’s and the Ranger cottage leaving Bear Lake. Fog and clouds were present over the lower lying areas of the Plains below, but clear blue sky was present above Rocky Mountain National Park.

Arriving at Emerald Lake after the 1.5 mile hike in, I found the surface of the lake to be frozen over with a thin layer of ice and snow. I would not be getting a reflection shot of Hallet in Emerald Lake, but the lake’s frozen surface with fresh snow looked intriguing enough. I was disappointed that it was looking like a cloudless, clear blue sky morning. As if on queue with my shutter firing off at first light, some clouds started to appear above Hallet.

I photographed at Emerald for 25 minutes or so. I was able to capture a beautiful red hue lighting Hallet, with clouds skating overhead. A small band of fog even formed over the surface of the frozen lake making for some nice images. Satisfied with the images I had captured of Emerald Lake, I packed up and headed back out towards my vehicle, the hike of course, would take me right past Dream Lake.

I’ve photographed Dream Lake plenty, for photographers Dream Lake can be like a moth to a flame. It’s hard not to be tempted by it’s idyllic scenery, symmetry of Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain rising above. As I hiked around Dream Lake on my way out from Emerald, I half heartedly attempted to ignore the unfrozen and placid lake surface. I looked for some images of snow covered trees reflecting in Dream Lake, but found none that interested me.

I was making every attempt to photograph images other than the iconic image of Dream Lake from the eastern outlet. As I neared the eastern outlet, the moth in could no longer resist the flame. This was especially true when I stopped to look back at Hallet and Flattop and noticed that the early morning cloud cover was quickly intensifying over the Lake.

It was at that point, that I could no longer resist temptation. I hastily flung my backpack off and quickly started making images of this beautiful morning. As soon as I framed Hallet and Flattop reflecting in the glass surface of the lake, I was grateful I temporarily at least ended my Dream Lake embargo.

I was treated to rain, snow, and fog all in the last few days. While it’s been grey and dreary down here around Boulder and most have my Sun worshiping friends are experiencing withdrawal symptoms from lack of Sun the last three days, I’ve been reveling in what I consider great weather, for photography at least.

I had some of the most amazing conditions on Saturday which I’ll share in my next post. For now, I’ll leave you with an image I made this morning in McGraw Ranch area of Rocky Mountain National Park.

I spent last week wandering around the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Wild Basin is a lesser visited section of Rocky located in the southeastern half of the Park. It’s a favorite photographic destination of mine. While there are beautiful alpine lakes in Wild Basin, they require one way hikes of up to six miles or more to visit. Wild Basin requires a bit more effort than some other areas of the park if your looking for peaks reflecting in lakes.

What makes Wild Basin so interesting to me is all of the creeks, streams and falls that course the area. In many ways it can feel more like your on the wetter western slope of Colorado, than the drier eastern facing mountains. The North St. Vrain, Cony Creek and Ouzel Creek all make for great subjects in the spring, feeding many of the interesting water features located in Wild Basin.

Wild Basin is a good change of pace for me. The scenery in the lower half of Wild Basin may not be as dramatic as other areas of Rocky, but it’s unique and rewarding to scamper along the boulders of the creeks looking for interesting and unique images.

I prefer to head to Wild Basin when it’s rainy and overcast. The diffused lighting is great for photographing the streams and forest. I could spend a lifetime of cloudy days photographing and exploring along the banks of the many creeks.