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In 1893, poet and author Katharine Lee Bates boarded a train in Massachusetts headed to Colorado Springs. Escaping the sweltering New England summer, she planned to soak up the region’s dry, mild climate and serve as a guest lecturer at Colorado College. During her stay, she made her way to the top of nearby Pikes Peak where she stood in awe of the scenic grandeur of the surrounding mountains and plains. This view from the summit inspired her to write the poem “America the Beautiful”, which is regarded as the second national anthem.
Odessa Lake sits at 9,475 feet above sea level in Rocky Mountain National Park. Little Matterhorn in the foreground and Notchtop Mountain left center.
Autumn, November, Morning, Colorado Rocky Mountains Front Range
The temperatures plummeted during a recent Arctic storm (a.k.a. "extreme temperature fluctuation," or about a 60F+ sudden drop). It happened at a time when deciduous and coniferous trees had not yet "hardened off" for the cold wintertime temperatures.
When such an extreme weather event occurs in Colorado, as it did both in October 2019 and again in late October 2020, these leaves have an unusual, colorful "freeze-dried" appearance. Some leaves actually turn black. Trees can be badly-damaged or die from such events, with south facing trunks splitting open from ice expansion within the trees.
Also, conifers' needles may "blow out" when the internal ice accumulates and bursts the needles open. The needles then have a bleached appearance. This color change usually happens about 10 days after the extreme event.
It's difficult to witness and experience the loss of many trees and bushes at once. Those plants that survive may continue to struggle, never recovering fully.
This image captures a fun moment of photographic good fortune.
Having embarked on another one of my late afternoon photo bike rides with my a6000, I wasn't expecting to be able to capture any sunset at this point, as the sun was obviously dissappearing behind this large cloud bank over the Colorado foothills.
However, as I rode back in the direction of Boulder along N. 73rd St. approaching Niwot Road, there was a great sweeping formation of dozens of geese that had just taken flight from Dodd Reservoir, just out of sight to the left in this photo. That sure caught my eye. Suddenly I noticed the incredible display of sunbeams shooting out from the clouds at the same moment I realized there would be successive waves of geese departing the reservior, all following the approximate trajectory of initial larger group. I quickly stopped, checked my camera settings, and started firing away, as the geese took a variety of paths through the sky. I was lucky that one small group flew into this nice compositional spot! Because the aperture was relatively small for deeper depth of field, I didn't have to concern myself with lock-on auto-focus for each group of geese. That sure helped! I hope you enjoy it!
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Sunrise on the Front Range of the southern Rocky Mountains, looking over Boulder Colorado and up the Boulder Creek watershed toward the Continental Divide. Strong northwest winds are blowing snow off the divide, obscuring some of the higher peaks.