With some major changes in the weather pattern at the back end of this week in Rocky Mountain National Park, one can hope that we are on the cusp of possibly clearing out the pesky wildfire smoke that has been making photography difficult for the past month or so. Cooler weather with some decent chances of moisture the end of this week and into next week should improve conditions as well as make for a few interesting sunrises and sunsets.

With the weather pattern changing, I hiked up to Bierstadt Lake hoping for some interesting light. Bierstadt Lake has in my opinion, one of the most spectacular views of the continental divide and its a fun little hike as well. I also wanted to see if there was any signs of fall color along the Bierstadt Moraine as I’ve seen a few trees here and there starting to change color. It’s not uncommon by Labor day to have the stray aspen tree here and there start showing of some golden color.

I arrived at Bierstadt Lake well before sunrise. I was quickly greeted by the Bierstadt Airfare, which to those who know, are the Mallards that will greet you along the shoreline shorty after you arrive. They will also swim around right in the reflection of the lake if its going to be a spectacular sunrise (this is of course not totally accurate!).

There were some nice clouds floating over Rocky but the wildfire smoke was still present. Sunrise itself was muted by clouds over the eastern plains of Colorado which has been another common occurrence this summer. Just before sunrise however, the high level clouds picked up a nice salmon hue due to the diffusion from the wildfire smoke. It wasn’t exactly the dramatic sunrise I was looking for but it was beautiful nonetheless.

I’ll be sure to updates and keep and eye on how things are progressing in the park going forward but either way you cut it, Rocky short and sweet summer is quickly coming to an end and fall is knocking at front door.

With that out of the way, hopefully atmospheric conditions will improve in the area and with some cooler weather and possible rain slated for Sunday, give aid to the larger wildfires burning in the state and bring us some must needed moisture. In what has been a very hot, dry and windy summer in Rocky Mountain National Park, some traditional mountain weather and rain would be welcome around these parts.

I’ll never get used to how short summers are on the alpine tundra. The speed that the changes occur are striking. A month ago the alpine tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park was carpeted with wildflowers and alpine sunflowers. Now its turning golden and red and many of the summer wildflowers are now past peak. This is just one of the penalties of wildfire smoke in the region. It takes an already painfully short but spectacular season in RMNP, and steals a few days or weeks away. Thats why at these elevations, you can never take time for granted or plan on returning another day. The time up here is always now and never later.

After a week on the coast of Oregon, It was back up to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning to see whats shaking. Sunrise looked like it had some good potential this morning with a possible lenticular type cloud forming along the east ridge of the continental divide. While lenticular clouds often give dramatic sunrises, they are caused high winds aloft, and more often than not high winds below which makes photographing RMNP more difficult.

Frankly, I just wanted to get back into Rocky and get a feel for where things are after a week away. I’m a creature of habit and even a few days away for my normal routine can feel like eons to me so the sooner I can get back in the flow the better.

On top of the high winds forecasted for this morning, we have also had a ton of wildfire smoke here on the Front Range of Colorado. Wildfire smoke makes it difficult to photograph in RMNP as it diffuses the light without any of the typical benefit of diffused light. The light can wind up being very flat, very harsh and make any image or iconic scene in Rocky Mountain National Park look like uncle Bob shot it with his polaroid camera back in 1978.

I find there is one exception where wildfire smoke can actually benefit some scenes and locations in Rocky. The one area where it ‘may’ help is backlighting. Backlit images, or images shot almost directly into the sun may help to bring out the layers between the sky and ridgelines. Furthermore it may help the color palette in that it either diffuses some subtle changes in color or may cause other colors such as reds to have even more pop.

As soon as I drove through the Beaver Meadows entrance station this morning I knew regardless of wildfire smoke that the possibility to photograph certain locations where going to be off the table. When I drove over the causeway on Lake Estes this morning, the lake surface was fairly smooth and it did not appear windy, once I passed through Beaver Meadows is was an Armageddon like scene quickly. The wind was howling, grasses and trees swaying and once out of the card the strong smell of wildfire smoke permeated the air. There was a nice cloud bank setup over the east side of the park so at least I had that going for me!

Back down to Rainbow Curve where the color on the eastern horizon of the Colorado High Plains was already turning red. The large rock pile and hill just west of Rainbow Curve provides a decent wind break so that one can often photograph and keep their tripod firmly planted on the ground to assure sharp images.

As the day dawned over Rocky Mountain National Park, it was apparent the smoke was thick, the wind was howling but we had some great color in the eastern skies the last about 20 minutes. The colored skies and wildfire smoke sifting and falling between the ridgelines helped to accentuate the layers over the mountains and foothills on the east side of Rocky and beyond. Overall, not a bad return but I’m really looking forward to having this entrenched layer of smoke clear out of the park. How about a rainy, foggy morning?

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.

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.

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!.