Two Rivers Lake Endurance Test

If you were expecting a shot of aspen groves along the Bierdstadt Moraine awash in color, were going to have to wait a few weeks. While this is technically the last weekend on summer, autumn is quickly approaching in Rocky Mountain National Park. The tundra is starting to turn red and lots of the ground cover and foliage along some of the creeks is starting to turn yellow. Currently there is very little doing with the Aspen tree’s in Rocky. Sure there are a few rogue trees spread apart that are starting to get a hint of yellow, or the occasional branch of a tree that has peaked but I would say we have at least another 7 days or so until we see any significant color around the Bear Lake area. Other areas of Rocky such as the Bierdstadt Moraine are still 99% green and have a long ways to go before they peak.

My goal this morning was to not only to see what was doing as far as the color change goes, but also to try to photograph Two Rivers Lake. The weather looked promising this morning with clear sky to the east and clouds overhead. The hike towards Two Rivers Lake started out placid enough. There was a slight breeze at the Bear Lake trailhead but by no means gale force winds. It was at about the 1.5 mile mark that it started snowing lightly. By the time I made it to the Marigold Pond area it was spitting snow and rain and the winds were howling. I arrived at Two Rivers Lake about 45 minutes prior to sunrise. While many landscape photographers like to highlight their travails and difficulty accessing and producing their photographic work, I generally find it to be part of the job and fodder for good stories down the road.

This morning however, was different and required all my will to sit still and see how the sunrise would develop. It seemed pretty apparent to me that Notchtop Mountain would not be making much if any of an appearance this morning, and that the wind would continue to ratchet up until all areas of the lake had small whitecaps making a reflection impossible. Most of the clear sky to the east had been covered by clouds and a decent sunrise was looking more and more like a bust. After standing along the shores of Two Rivers Lake for what seemed like an eternity in the rain, snow and relentless wind, the sunrise lit the base of Notchtop Mountain for a minute or so. I managed to get off 6 frames of this scene before it disappeared. It was certainly challenging holding my neutral density filter still while the 4 second exposure elapsed. Even more difficult was keeping the driving snow and rain of the front element of my lens and filter. The other 5 shots were ruined by the rain droplets on the lens, but one of the six frames was not. I cant say it was the shot of Two Rivers Lake I envisioned, nor can I say I’m ready for the colder weather that’s starting to bear down on the park, but I can say I’m glad I reluctantly pulled my camera out of my bag at the last second to capture this view.