roxborough state park

I visited Roxborough State Park this past Saturday (June 19th). This was my third visit to this scenic park. Roxborough is well worth visiting multiple times, especially for photographers. Local landscape photographer John Fielder (recipient of the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams award) considers Roxborough “the most beautiful park in the Colorado State Parks system.” Besides being one of our most beautiful & most accessible state parks (it is only about fifteen miles southwest of Denver), Roxborough is also a Colorado Natural Area and a National Natural Landmark. All of this should tell you that Roxborough is a special place.

The main attraction at Roxborough is the park’s spectacular geologic setting. The tilted sandstone rocks are part of the Lyons and Fountain geologic formations & are similar to what you will find at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Garden of the Gods. Wildlife watching is also a popular pasttime at Roxborough. You’re almost guaranteed to see mule deer during your visit. This past Saturday morning, as I passed by the visitor center, a ranger told me I might want to make noise as I walked the trails because there’d been a couple of recent mountain lion sightings in the park, as well as sightings of a mother black bear and her two cubs. Wouldn’t you know it, but my bear bell was on my other pack, so I whistled while I walked around on the lovely, tree-lined dirt trails.

For photographing the colorful sandstone formations, you’ll want to be at Roxborough as early as possible in the morning, but since the gate doesn’t open until 7 am, you won’t be able to shoot at sunrise in the summer… unless you check the www.parks.state.co.us website for one of the park’s periodic 5 am openings.

If you head north from the parking lots & visitor center on the Fountain Valley Trail, you’ll come upon two must-stop spots for photography. The first is the Fountain Valley Overlook (below)…

The second spot, the Lyons Overlook (below), will be a bit farther up the trail…

At the Lyons Overlook, I made my way over to a rocky outcrop that is just a stone’s throw south of the “official” viewing platform. There’s a great view from up there, but I don’t know how smart it was to plow my way through the prickly shrubs & scrub oak since a) I scratched my legs all to heck and b) Roxborough is apparently known for its healthy population of rattlesnakes. Yikes.

May and June is a wonderful time to visit Roxborough. The vibrant green landscape matched up with the red rocks is a winning combination. There were some great wildflowers blooming when I was at the park last weekend (below). But Roxborough is open all year round, and I’ve always wanted to head down there in winter, after a heavy, wet snow, to photograph the fresh snow covering the red rocks… I haven’t made that trip yet. Maybe this winter.

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~ Rich

mills lake hike

On Wednesday, June 16th, I took the opportunity to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a mid-week hike. Before hiking the 2.7 miles up to Mills Lake, I decided to stop off at Sprague Lake for sunrise. Stopping at Sprague was part of my continuing quest to get a reflection shot there. But it turns out I was destined to be disappointed yet again. I got some nice alpenglow on the peaks of the Continental Divide, but the wind was up quite a bit and so the water was very choppy, rather than being the smooth canvas you need to get a reflection. Bummer.

Anyway, someone told me I need to watch the weather map and hit Sprague when there’s a high pressure system parked right over area, so I guess I’ll be glued to the Weather Channel the rest of the summer.

From Sprague, I went farther up Bear Lake Road to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead (9,180 ft). Without question, this trailhead is one of the most popular spots in RMNP to begin a hike— and, as I think about it, this must be the eighth or ninth hike I’ve started from this spot. Since it’s such a popular spot, the parking lot is sure to be full by midmorning or even sooner, especially on weekends. I love getting back to the parking lot after a six hour hike and, the second I step up to the Mini, someone pulls over and asks if I’m leaving. Geez, buddy, just give me a minute, okay? Maybe if you’d have got here at 5am, like me, you’d have got a parking space. Grrr...

Deep breath, Rich. Deep breath.

A bit of actual advice: If the Glacier Gorge lot is full, you can keep going farther up the road and try the Bear Lake lot. From the Bear Lake Trailhead (9,450 ft), you can take a short spur trail (½ mile) & hike back down to pick up the main Loch Vale Trail.

As you make your way up the Loch Vale Trail to Alberta Falls, you’ll pass through a wee aspen grove & also have fun crossing over a few wooden footbridges.

Alberta Falls (9,400 ft) is only 0.8 mile from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead, so it’s a popular destination for those looking for a short, easy hike. I got my shot here on my way up, even though the waterfall was still in shadow, because there was no one around to see me make a fool of myself if I fell in the water. On my hike out, there must have been two dozen people here, enjoying the view of the falls.

After passing Alberta Falls, the trail continues climbing up through the forest, with a couple of places where there are some rock shelves with great scenic views north & east. Continuing south, the trail becomes rocky & open as it runs beside Glacier Nobs, then it reenters the forest a short distance before you come to the junction between Loch Vale Trail and Glacier Gorge Trail.
Hang a left at the trail junction and the Glacier Gorge Trail will take you up to the northeast shore of Mills Lake. Once you reach the lake, you’re rewarded with a breathtaking view to the south, up to the impressive headwall of Glacier Gorge, including the flat summit cap of 14,259-foot Longs Peak. (The trail follows the eastern shore of the lake and then continues for 2.7 miles to Black Lake.)

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I was exploring along the shore of the lake and, in a sheltered little “inlet,” I came across the reflection you see below. Stumbling upon a decent reflection at Mills was an unexpected, yet very welcome, surprise. It’s funny how things play out sometimes: I mean, I had hopes of (finally) getting a reflection at Sprague, but was disappointed… and I had no thought at all of getting a reflection at Mills, yet that’s where I found one. Go figure.

Mills Lake (9,940 ft) is named for Enos Mills, the “Father of Rocky Mountain National Park.” Mills campaigned tirelessly for years to promote the idea of establishing a national park in the area. Then on September 4, 1915, all of his hard work paid off when Mills attended the dedication ceremony opening the new Rocky Mountain National Park. Yeah! Thanks, Mr. Mills!!! One very cool thing about Enos Mills is that he summited my favorite mountain, Longs Peak, thirty times by himself (in every month of the year) and chalked up over 300 additional ascents as a guide. Wow.

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~ Rich

gem lake hike

I hiked up to Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park this past Monday morning (Memorial Day). This small pond, hemmed in on three sides by steep granite cliffs, lies at an elevation of 8,820 feet above sea level and is a 1.7 mile hike from the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead north of Estes Park. Unlike most mountain lakes in RMNP, this small pond isn’t stream-fed, but instead is just a shallow (only five feet at its deepest point), rocky bowl that collects rain water & snow melt.

I wanted to be at Gem Lake for sunrise, so I did most of the hike up in the dark. This is a popular, well-maintained trail so I didn’t have any real trouble following it by the light of my headlamp, although navigating through one sandy area took a bit of guess work. Later, on my way back down to the trailhead, I could see by the light of day that at that spot there are several ‘unofficial’ paths that branch off to explore some boulders which offer bird’s eye views of Estes Park.

Anyway, on the hike up, I made it to the lake in plenty of time for sunrise. While researching this hike, I hadn’t found very many good photos of the pond and I have to admit that one of the reasons I decided to head up there was to challenge myself to come back with some better shots. From my research, it looked like there would be a nice view across the lake of Longs Peak… if you could somehow climb up to a vantage point somewhere on the granite cliff that rises above Gem’s northern shoreline. From somewhere up on that cliff, I was sure you’d be able to see Longs Peak out beyond the “notch” in the cliffs on Gem’s southern side (this “notch” is where the trail arrives at the lake). So I followed the trail as it went along the sandy western shoreline and then, at a point just beyond the lake, I looked around on the cliff face to my right & found a likely route up the steep outcrop. I climbed up and made my way back south to a vantage point high above the lake. And, sure enough, there’s a pretty cool view across the lake from up there.

Truth be told, unless you’re willing to scramble up the cliffs to a high vantage point like I found, Gem Lake really isn’t anything to write home about. The real reason for most people to do this hike will be the unbelievably spectacular views of Estes Park, Longs Peak, & the Continental Divide found along the trail. But, like I said, my reason for doing this hike was to challenge myself to bring back a few cool shots from Gem, so once I was finally perched above the lake just before sunrise, I was excited to find the moon setting over Longs Peak and see it reflected in the still water. I think this might be my favorite shot from the hike.

Over the next two hours, I scrambled around the granite outcrops a bit, getting shots from three different vantage points above the lake. Other than trying not to drop all my camera gear down the cliff, this was a peaceful time & I enjoyed the solitude as the sun rose and lit the scene. During that entire period, I only saw two other people at the lake and both of them were just hiking on through, headed for other destinations.

On the hike out, I scrambled up a tilting rock face just below the lake (on the west side of the trail) and got the shot you see below of Estes Park, Twin Sisters, & Longs Peak. Hiking up in the dark, I missed the breathtaking views the trail offers, but I sure took pleasure in them on the hike out. There’s one point on the trail where the entire panoramic sweep of mountain peaks from Meeker & Longs all the way west to Notchtop Mountain is there in front of you. I can’t recommend this trail enough, just for these views.

And, yes, of course, I had to get a shot with Paul Bunyan’s Boot!

One final note: You don’t have to pass through an entrance station to get to the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead... or the Cow Creek Trailhead, from my Bridal Veil Falls hike last month... so you can do these hikes for free!

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~ Rich