Alpine Glow

The mountains and sky have been turning a nice blue/purple the past few nights with the alpine glow.  The other night the sky turned purple with pink clouds for a few minutes allowing me to take these.  The color left just as fast as it came though and it only lasted 10 or 15 minutes.

Men of the Snow

No one signed up for my guided hike today, so that meant playing in the snow and building snow men.  After several variations and collapsed snow balls, we decided on a Father/Son combination out in front of the programs building.  Pictured with the snow men are my building partners and South American connection. 

Aspens

Took some pictures of the aspens the other day, finally got a few shots that I liked enough to print out.  Got 8x10's printed today at the local photoshop in Fraser.  Even though one hour processing turned into three, the photos came out great and I got a 15% discount.  I have uploaded the full files, so if you wish to use any of these for your computers background they will look great.  Hope everyone is having a good Fall or Winter depending if you are back east or out west.  It has been snowing all day here in the Front Range.

Back to School

For the past month I have been teaching Outdoor Education here at SMR with sixth graders from around the Colorado area, many who live outside the mountains in the eastern plains.  After just a few hours, I am hearing quotes like; "This is better than Christmas.", "I never wanna leave here." , and "I wish Outdoor School would last forever."  But my favorite quote came from a student of mine after finding out I lived on site and got to eat the food for free.  "Wow! You're treated like royalty!"  ... And sometimes I think they might be right.

Blue Ridge Summit

Found time after dinner to take a ride up the Blue Ridge Rd on campus.  A county road that hasn't been maintained and is in serious of danger of washing out if it's not taken care of after this winter's snow melt.  Got up to the top in time for sunset at 7:05 but the views were of the South and East, not giving me a clear shot of the sunseting.  None the less I got some shots of Byers Peak (13,500 ft) in the background and some other peaks that I'm not sure the names of.  Ryan acting ganstar and myself are in the other two photos.  The last is of the Commons (lunch room) where we eat the wonderful institutionalized food of Sysco Food Inc.  Nothing special today, just a few snap shots.   

Black & White Photography

Just started playing around with black and white conversion using photoshop cs, since I would like to take some black and white photos this winter of the mountains and snow.  It seems to me you can get a little more depth and contrast of the mountains in black and white.  Not sure how much I like these photos converted, I used photoshops Image > Calculations to do it.  I got the tips from Ken Rockwell's "Making B/W in Photoshop" to get me started.  Let me know what you think.  The contrast of the aspens color in black and white is so great that I think I'll be looking to do some more shots of them in the next week or so.  Maybe take a trip over to Aspen CO next weekend. 

Rainbows and Snow?

in 24 hours and both gone just as fast as they came.  Yesterday on the way to Winter Park there was a double rainbow over Tabernash, and then today at around 9 am the rain turned to snow covering the ground.  Both occurances, the double rainbow and the September 16th snow would seem out of place anywhere else, but here in the mountains they fit perfectly.

Safeway Vista

This photo of the moon rising over the continental divide was taken from the parking lot of the local Safeway supermarket in Fraser.  Just beyond the parking lot are two trout ponds open to the public, that no matter how busy your day is, you can always find a minute or two to cast.  I like this picture because it just shows how no one really cares what you drive when you have views like this from a supermarket parking lot.

Fall is Here

Little update on what's going on in CO.  The Aspen leaves are starting to change into a brilliant yellow, not the same as Fall foliage back in Northeast, but the contrast of pure yellow against the green lodge pole pines is pretty cool.  The weather has turned towards winter with more rain and cooler temperatures at night, but the days still manage to get up in the high 60's with all sun once in a while. 

After a Notre Dames control of our football team on Saturday, I have been getting some rippin since my friends are all Ohio State or Notre Dame fans...not to mention all the locals cheering for CSU.  Here's a pic of some of the aspens changin.. the pics aren't the best, i just snapped them quick of sheep mountain right up the road from me.

James Peak

Today I hiked to the top of James Peak at 13,350 ft.  The hike was beautiful and I even had time to head over to some lakes and do some fishing, where I caught a 24+ inch cutthroat.  I don't really feel like typing all that much today, so I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.