I’d set the alarm for 3:45am, but I woke up about fifteen minutes before that, so I decided to just go ahead and roll out of bed. A bite of breakfast, wash my face, check I have all my gear, and I’m out the door a few minutes before 4.
No traffic to speak of on US-36 W (Boulder Turnpike), and very quickly I was rolling through Boulder. Twelve stoplights. A couple of times, I’ve zipped right through, no red lights. This morning I hit one. Still, in no time at all, I was blowing out the north end of town, heading for Lyons.
Heading north out of Boulder, I noticed the sky was beginning to lighten just a bit over in the direction of Longmont (home of PBR rider, Kody Lostroh). In short order, I arrived at the little burg of Lyons and, remembering they’re serious about their 25 mph speed limit, I geared down, even though it was 4:30am and not a creature was stirring.
Exiting Lyons, I felt an irrepressible smile begin to creep onto my face. There are very few things in life more fun than zipping up the winding road from Lyons to Estes Park in a Mini when there’s no one else out & about. I just always pray I don’t come cooking around a corner and find a mule deer standing in the road.
No deer (or elk) apparently want to be a hood ornament on this particular morning and I passed through the Beaver Meadows Entrance Station of Rocky Mountain National Park at exactly 5am. My plan was to be at Bear Lake for sunrise and I was right on schedule.
Up at the end of Bear Lake Road, I found four or five other vehicles in the parking lot, but to my surprise I had the lake all to myself. Especially on summer weekends, there are always a few other early bird photographers scattered around the shoreline, but not this morning. I found some rocks on the north shore of the lake to use as foreground & set up a composition that included Longs Peak over across the way. Still no one else around. Cool. There’s no breathtaking alpenglow accompanying the sun’s climb over the horizon, no pastel colored clouds heralding the dawn of this new day… but I have Bear Lake all to myself and suddenly this is no ordinary sunrise, it’s a private performance God is putting on just for me. Thanks, God.
When I planned my trip to the park, I had toyed with the idea of hiking up to Bierstadt Lake from Bear Lake, but after spending about forty minutes photographing at Bear Lake, I decided to ditch the hike and instead go back to the car & head over to Trail Ridge Road and see what was what.
On my way back down Bear Lake Road, I stopped at Moraine Park. Moraine Park is the large, wide-open meadow along the Big Thompson River & Cub Creek. It’s kind of confusing to call it a “park” since it’s in RMNP, but apparently it was a late addition to RMNP and retained its name. So it’s a park within The Park. While wandering around Moraine, I met a nice guy (even though he was shooting with a Nikon) from Indiana. He pulled up a shot on his LCD of a big bull elk he’d photographed the evening before as it was crossing the Big Thompson. It was a great shot, with the snow-capped mountains in the background. I couldn’t help but think, “Man! I’ve been up here two dozen times and never got a shot like that & this guy is here one day and hits the jackpot. Grrr.” Let it go, Rich. Let it go.
After shooting some trees in Moraine (I like trees), I headed for Trail Ridge Road. If you’ve never been up Trail Ridge Road, it’s incredible. It’s the highest continuous paved road in the U.S. (12,183 ft). Trail Ridge traverses RMNP from east to west, from Estes Park to Grand Lake, crossing the Continental Divide at Milner Pass. It’ll take you up above treeline and into the starkly beautiful alpine tundra where it’s like you’ve entered a whole other world. The mountain views all along the road are spectacular. When you visit Rocky Mountain National Park, you must drive up Trail Ridge Road. (Note: The road is closed each year from about mid-October to Memorial Day weekend.) Stop at all the overlooks. Hike up Heart Attack Hill above the Alpine Visitor Center at Fall River Pass. Check out the Tundra World Nature Trail above the Rock Cut Parking Area. Take it all in and you’ll be treated to views you’ll never forget.
Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~Rich
1 comment:
Great entry on your blog Rich!! I have started out that early a couple of times myself. It is definately worth it, if you can crawl out of bed that early.
I have not been up to Trail Ridge yet this year, but plan on it soon. Probably in the next couple of weeks, and will travel over to Granby on the way home. I need to get up there and check on our place and open it up for the summer.
You have definately got some great shots from that trip!! Keep them coming.
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