Tundra Vibes

Finally the wildfire smoke that has blanketed most of Colorado on and off for the past couple of weeks abated somewhat on Thursday morning. The fire danager is still extreme in the area so please be careful when enjoying RMNP. Here we see the Never Summer Range of Rocky Mountain National Park just as the sun begins to illuminate part of the ridges and peaks as seen from the Forest Canyon area. Technical Details: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 24-120mm F4 S VR Lens
Well a bit of good news is in order with the wildfire smoke over Rocky Mountain National Park abating a little over the past few days. With that there is still tremendous concern about the fire danger in the area. Rocky Mountain National Park is always under State 1 fire restrictions which means no open fires or flames except is campfire rings in picnic areas and campgrounds. With the warm weather and high winds, we are also under a red flag warning as of this writing so its very important to stay vigilant.

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.

Beautiful clouds float over the alpine tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park at sunrise on Thursday morning. Portions of the layers of clouds are being lit by the beautiful soft light of sunirse diffused by the lessened amount of wildfire smoke present over RMNP at the back end of this week. Technical Details: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 24-120mm F4 VR Lens

Thursday I was able to get out on Trail Ridge Road with improved skies and hike out onto the tundra for what was a decent sunrise. While it had great potential, the skies over the Never Summer Range from the Forest Pass area never exploded with color. The Never Summers got some great light just after sunrise and I’m it felt great to be out with a lot less wildfire smoke present. One can see in the image above, the tundra is already starting to turn gold and red in some areas. Fall is nearly here at ~ 12,000 ft. and all the seasonal kettle ponds are quickly drying out.

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.