kenosha pass

Amazing aspen, bugling elk, and prancing pronghorn. Those will always be my clearest & most enjoyable memories from my drive up to Kenosha Pass, Colorado this past Saturday (Sept. 19th). I made note of Kenosha Pass last year, after seeing some photos on Flickr, and have been patiently waiting for fall to roll around again so that I could visit this scenic spot myself.

The weather the last few days here in the Denver area has been chilly, wet, & blustery, but this past Saturday was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful day for a trip up into the High Country. Kenosha Pass lies at an elevation of 10,001 feet above sea level, and is about 65 miles southwest of Denver. I had decided not to stop at the pass on my way out, but rather to drive farther west out to Fairplay and then explore some dirt roads north of US 285 as I backtracked toward Kenosha Pass. So that’s what I did.

After reaching the outskirts of Fairplay, I picked a road at random, turned right, and headed north. Hmm, a few stands of colorful aspen, but not much going on. I did get the photo to the right, so this little excursion wasn’t a total bust.

I managed to make my way out to US 285 again and headed back east. I got to the little burg of Como and decided to explore northward again. Back a dirt road out of Como you’ll find the southern terminus of the Boreas Pass Road (which apparently goes all the way north to Breckenridge), which is where I turned around since I had the Mini… but just judging from the scenery out to the point where I turned around, I bet the entire Boreas Pass traverse would be a cool drive if you have a vehicle more suitable than a Mini Cooper for tackling mountain roads. I got the shot below, and also the one at the top of the post, north of Como.

(Oh, and it was neat because, everywhere I stopped along these lonely dirt roads north of US 285, I could hear elk bugling off in the distance. If you’ve never heard elk bugling, you absolutely need to head up into the mountains mid- to late-September, because it’s really something pretty cool.)

Back out on US 285 and heading eastward, I next came to the town of Jefferson. Another left turn and I was headed north again. After a mile or two, the paved road turned to dirt and branched off in a couple of directions. Time for more exploring, but not before pulling over at this point to watch some pronghorn and get a few photos of these skittish critters. They were only a short distance away out in a field, and watched me very closely the whole time I observed them.

After driving a ways and coming to another fork in the road, I randomly chose to turn right and I’m glad I did since I ended up back a narrow dirt road, near a llama farm, where I happily discovered the picturesque grove of aspen you see below. I wish I could’ve actually got out into the grove, but a barbed wire fence prevented any traipsing through woods. I was still able to get some nice shots from the roadside. In fact, this is my favorite photo from that day. (It also made Explore on Flickr. Yeah!)

Back out on US 285 (again) and heading eastward (again), I was now climbing back up to Kenosha Pass. There were maybe five cars parked at the pass when I came through shortly after sunrise, but now (about 11am) it was CRAZY! Cars parked all over, people walking, people biking, dogs frolicking, babies crying. But, hey, I was there, too, adding to the crowd, so I can’t really complain, can I? In all seriousness, I can see why this is such a popular spot— it’s some drop-dead, gorgeous scenery (see below) and it’s very easily accessible from the Denver-area for anyone with a car & the desire to drive up there.

I had planned on making the Kenosha Pass the first of three consecutive weekend explorations (the other two destinations being the Maroon Bells & the Mt Sneffels area) into the mountains, but with the crazy wintery weather we’ve experienced this week, I’m wondering if the cold & snow have ruined the aspen for any more autumn photography. Guess we’ll have to see.

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

lake helene hike

I went up to Lake Helene in Rocky Mountain National Park last Sunday (September 6th), but it’s not the hike I wanted to do last weekend. All summer long, I had it in mind to do Mount Elbert over the Labor Day weekend to send summer out with a big bang. And in Colorado, it doesn’t get any bigger than 14,433-foot tall Elbert. But the weather forecast was just looking too iffy for me to drive all the way up there and chance the long hike at that altitude, so I reluctantly decided to switch gears and just stay closer to home for a hike up in RMNP.

Lake Helene is a 3.2 mile hike (one-way distance) from the Bear Lake Trailhead. It lies at 10,580 feet, so the total elevation gain from the trailhead is a very manageable 1,130 feet. For a goodly portion of the way, the trail climbs through thick, tangled pine forest. Since I was hiking through the forest in the dark before sunrise, and since it was very windy, I actually dug out my bear bell and attached it to my pack. The wind was blowing steadily in my face, so the last thing I wanted to do was stumble upon some black bear & cub that didn’t hear me or smell me as I made my way up the trail. This was probably a needless precaution… but better safe than sorry.

It took me a wee bit longer than I thought to get up to the lake, so I missed any alpenglow that might have lit up Notchtop Mountain at sunrise. As I was getting closer to Lake Helene, I also noticed the (almost) full moon was rapidly setting just behind Notchtop and might make a neat shot with the mountain & the lake… but I missed that, too. Stink.

Getting to the lake actually requires a short jaunt off the “official” trail, along one of the fisherman’s trails that winds through the trees & rocks & scrub. I found Lake Helene with no problem, but after I saw how tangled & messy the trees and undergrowth were in the area, I abandoned the idea I’d had to also try and find Two Rivers Lake. Two Rivers supposedly lays just a hop, skip, & a jump northeast of Helen, but I’ll save that bushwhacking for another day.

Anyway, just as I got down to Lake Helene, I broke away from the path when I reached a rocky streambed and followed that streambed south for a very short distance to the eastern shore of the lake. Because of the stiff wind, the water on the lake was so choppy that any kind of reflection shot was out of the question (or so I thought). I was determined to find some sort of interesting shot, though, so I hunted along the shore of the lake until I found a small pool of water that was sheltered by some rocks which were acting as a windbreak. As a result of those outlying rocks, the water in the pool was a bit calmer & I was able to get a reflection of Notchtop Mountain in it. A fuzzy, inexact reflection, but a reflection nontheless, by golly. Take that, wind!

I definitely want to head back to Lake Helene sometime. This is a marvelous spot, with the distinctive notch in Notchtop Mountain (12,160+ feet) just across the way. I’m certain that with a bit of alpenglow on Notchtop at sunrise, coupled with a mirror-perfect reflection of the peak, Lake Helene will produce a must-print shot that I’ll have hanging on my wall.

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

emerald lake hike

I hiked up to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park this past weekend (Saturday, August 29th). I had hiked up to Emerald last summer, but had been wanting to re-do this hike since getting my wide angle lens (Canon 10-22mm).

On my way up to Emerald Lake I stopped at Dream Lake for sunrise. There were two other guys who had arrived before me, and then one more guy with camera & tripod showed up… and he was wearing hip waders to actually get out in the water at the eastern end of the lake. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or amused. Anyway, this particular Saturday morning was pretty much a mirror-image of when I was at Dream in July, so— knowing I wasn’t going to get any kind of unique shot— I simply settled for getting a vertical shot with a nice reflection, then packed up & headed for Emerald Lake.

Emerald Lake is 0nly a 0.7 mile hike from Dream, with a 200 foot elevation gain. On the way up, I got a nice shot of Tyndall Creek as it flows down a steep rock face beside the trail (below). I used a neutral density filter to slow down the shutter speed (this is how you get that neat “streaming” effect with flowing water in a creek, waterfall, etc…) & then tone mapped the image in Photomatix.

Emerald Lake lies at an elevation of 10,100 feet above sea level, and is dramatically situated at the foot of Hallett Peak (12,713 feet) and Flattop Mountain (12,324 feet). It’s only a 2.6 mile round-trip hike from the Bear Lake Trailhead (9,450 feet), so this is a nice, easy hike. For photography purposes, this is a target-rich hike, since you also pass right by Dream, Nymph, & Bear Lakes. And up between Nymph & Dream, you’re also treated to a nice view of Longs Peak & Glacier Gorge to the south.

Once I arrived at Emerald Lake, I got a few shots (including the self-portrait at the top of the post), then sat down to enjoy the solitude— since I had the place all to myself!— and have a snack. When I’m hiking, I won’t spend any longer at some spots than it takes for me to grab my shots, and then I’m quickly on my way again… but at other spots I just have to stop for a bit & sit and enjoy God’s creation, and Emerald was definitely one of those places.

When I did finally head back down the trail, I stopped at Nymph Lake on the hike out and got a lovely reflection shot (being sure to get a bit different foreground than my shot from July). Just as a side note: It’s heart-breaking to see the damage the pine beetles have done to the trees around the lake. I haven’t been over to the western side of RMNP this summer, but I imagine it’s unbelievably devastated, since last year that side of the park was already much worse.

The shot below is Bear Lake… where I almost didn’t stop before heading for the car. When I got back down to the trailhead, I was just going to blow by Bear Lake, but then I thought, “Eh, c’mon, there was such a nice reflection at Nymph, you might as well walk over to Bear ,too, & take a look.” And I’m very glad I did. I wanted to get some kind of a different composition than I’ve shot previously here at Bear, and I think the shot with the rocks in the foreground & Hallet Peak reflected across the way accomplishes that.

As always, thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~Rich