View allAll Photos Tagged frontrange
Torreys Peak 14,267 Feet - Dead Dog Couloir - Solo
The couloir only has a climbing window of 3-4 weeks(Avalanche risk in the winter and then in the spring it melts out quickly). Last year I attempted it and it was knee deep slush. Today the temps were in the 30's when I reached the Apron at 3:45 a.m. Firm enough but, I did sink to my crotch several times too.
From the base to the top it's 1,800 feet up and the slope angle is anywhere from 40-58 degrees. This photo is the steepest section.
Rocky Mountain Front Range and Denver Basin, Colorado.
The color "magenta" is described as purplish-red, reddish-purple, purplish, or mauvish-crimson. Magenta and fuchsia may be used interchangeably to describe this tertiary color.
This sunset was oddly eye-catching. On March 3 in the Denver area, the temperature dropped to -6F (-21C), the coldest temperature for this date in 130 years, or in 1880 when the state of Colorado was only three years old.
I don't understand what meteorologic conditions may have contributed to these optics. But they likely relate to "radiational cooling," a temperature inversion in the Denver Valley, the snow-covered ground, and cold, dense air.
These optics persisted for several minutes. About when the color appeared to fade, the shades of magenta brightened and faded repeatedly. (I kept setting down my camera believing this phenomenon was done, only to see brightening again.) This image is of the final glow of this magenta sunset at 10F (-12C) on March 4.
Easy until you get near your destination at Garden of the Gods Park. Trail is to your left then turns right just before the rock formation. A nice short hike with a big reward.
Snowy Spring Day, Rocky Mountain Front Range, Colorado.
I don't routinely see crossbills here. But I believe the small flock of such pairs is in search of food after several dry months in the mountains. In other words, they irrupted, or arrived suddenly in our area.
Their bills are eye-catching as the tips are crisscrossed. They are specialized to extract seeds from pine cone scales. The crossbills, a type of finch, are feeding from the cones we have on our mature pine trees here. I've seen them eating buds on our flowering trees as well.
I love their "kip-kip chee-chee" bird songs, too. They add to the pleasant Springtime Symphony of a variety of birds here now.
I wonder if they are perhaps nesting (10-40') above in these trees as well. Time will tell!
Emerald Lake sits at the base of Hallet Peak(left) and Flattop Mouintain(right and in the clouds) at 10,100 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
I am so ready for some warmer weather! It's been a very cold and snowy February. (But that's what you get for living in Colorado) But that being said, it sure makes some beautiful winter landscapes! This was on my way to work. Lon Hagler Reservoir frozen for the winter. The sunrise was so beautful lighting up the landscape!
"Aphidophagous" Lady Bird Sharing Space with Black Ants, Chaparral Near Rocky Mountain Front Range, Colorado
I certainly can enjoy the mountains with friends and family but, being solo in the back country is extremely peaceful. There is a world of difference between solitude and loneliness. I gravitate towards solitude. It's amazing how much more you see, hear, feel and smell being alone.