The slopes of Mount Meeker (left) and Mount Lady Washington (right) glow warmly in the winter morning sun as the upper-most reaches of Longs Peak and The Diamond are just illuminated (center), Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Longs Peak is the tallest mountain in the Colorado Front Range, and the closest mountain over 14,000 feet to the population of Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. Being within the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park, Longs Peak is also the destination for many people flying into Colorado from parts elsewhere in order to have a go at summiting one of the most accessible and tallest mountains in the lower 48 states. The easiest route to the summit is a Class 3 scramble called The Keyhole route, and is steep, narrow, and exposed in parts. The views are spectacular no matter which way a person ascends, but the The Keyhole route can be very crowded, even on a late-summer Monday.
From this distance though, all human foibles are invisible and the massif simply appears imposing, glacier-carved, and magnificent.
Tags: Colorado Colorado Rockies Front Range Landscape Longs Peak Mount Lady Washington Mount Meeker National Park Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountains Southern Rockies U.S. National Park Winter alpenglow alpine clouds cold dawn high country high elevation morning morning light mountains panorama snow snowscape sunrise Longmont United States
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As part of a half-assed just turning 40 attempt to get in shape for an upcoming South America backpacking adventure, I have been wanting to do some training hikes to get the body used to carrying 45 lbs again. Of course, the whole full-time job and kids scenario, combined with the fact that it's been the middle of winter and daylight hours are scarce, has meant that training has been relegated to the wee hours at either end of the day. Hence I find myself at this particular vantage point, at 22:00 h in late January, perched on a slope on the south side of Eldorado Canyon, with the town of Eldorado Springs nestled at the foot of Shadow Canyon in the foreground. A fairly full but waning moon has just risen high enough above the clouds to illuminate Bear Peak (on the far right of the massif in front of us).
In the early 1900s, Eldorado Springs was serviced by rail from Denver, and the Springs were a popular day trip destination to swim in the cold pools and explore the canyon.
Tags: stars night nocturnal moonlight long exposure clouds streaming clouds Eldorado Canyon Eldorado Springs nightscape Flatirons Bear Peak
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Tags: moon sunrise dawn clouds Flatirons Boulder
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Morning alpenglow lights up the Ship's Prow, which is reflected in the near perfectly still waters of Chasm Lake, in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Ship's Prow is an iconic piece of granite that separates the east face of Longs Peak from the north face of Mount Meeker, and is at an elevation of just under 12000 feet. To get here for sunrise, we started hiking at 3:00a. The light of the full moon made for a memorable hike.
Tags: Ship's Prow Longs Peak Rocky Mountains Rocky Mountain National Park alpenglow alpine alpine tarn alpine lake Chasm Lake sunrise dawn mountains Colorado Colorado Rockies Front Range reflections golden hour golden light
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From this point westward in Colorado, the Great Plains suddenly begin their transformation into the Front Range, the first vanguard of the many that comprise the northern portion of the Southern Rockies. Prairie flowers and Ponderosa, with a monsoonal influence (hence the dark clouds). On this particular day, the moon was rising as the sun set in the west.
Tags: Front Range Great Plains wildflowers moonrise moon Boulder Boulder County Boulder Open Space Colorado sunset clouds cumulus clouds storm clouds
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