After a whirlwind four months – both at home and at work – I finally got a chance to write it all down!
When I last left my blog, I had just returned from photographing the solar eclipse in the Amistad National Recreation Area in Texas. Since then, I have gone hunting the aurora borealis, cruised around Colorado with family, and toured popular parks – and hidden gems! – in the Western Region.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
After crossing off a lifetime time photography goal in April, I had a few hours’ notice to cross off another lifetime goal in May: seeing the aurora borealis. Sure, it would not be in Alaska, but it could be cool to see, nonetheless.
If you’ll allow me to nerd out for a moment… For some quick background, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is a subset of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose job it is to monitor and predict space weather (a real thing). They do this using a complex array of telescopes and satellites, all of which are observing the sun, measuring the solar wind, and watching for changes in either.
Much like our network of observation stations can be used to measure and predict changes in weather here on Earth, these satellites can be used to predict (with a few hours’ certainty) when these solar storms will strike. And on May 10, the SWPC issued a warning for an imminent severe solar storm after a series of massive ejections from the sun.
Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the charged particles ejected by the sun, but it is also fairly weak on a cosmic scale. When these waves of charged particles hit the Earth, the aurora would be visible much further south than normal. Think of it like the space version of the storm surge from a hurricane pushing water further inland.
Now that you have read all that, I am sure you can imagine how distracted I was at work that day. Between accomplishing my normal tasks, I was also trying to figure out where and when to be for the optimal viewing chance.
I took a gamble and drove north with my girlfriend that night, trying to get closer to the predicted aurora areas while simultaneously putting some distance between us and city lights. I had never seen the aurora before, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to watch out for. We made it to Cheyenne, Wyoming, before we decided to call it a night and head home.
While driving back south, I saw a couple of cars parked near the end of an off ramp with people standing around in the darkness. That certainly piqued my interest, so I immediately began scanning my mirrors to see if anything was visible to the north. It was tough to make out in my vehicle, but there was a distinct – and intensifying – glow in the sky back to the north.
I gasped, scaring my girlfriend (sorry), and began looking for an exit. The closest one I could find was actually a rest area for the Colorado/Wyoming border, but it worked well enough. We stopped, got out, and were treated to the show of a lifetime.
But this was just the start of a fantastic summer. Less than a month later, it was primetime for some Milky Way photos! The new moon around the second weekend in June would bring dark skies. The only question I had was, “Will it be too cold at the elevations I wanted to visit?”
It turns out, yes!
My first location was near the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, at Poudre Lake. I thought it would be really awesome to get a photo with the Milky Way reflected in some water, and it looked like it was supposed to be a still night.
The issue with this plan is that Poudre Lake is at 10,700 feet. And in early June, it was still exceptionally icy. Not only does the ice not reflect light, but free-floating ice catches any breeze and makes waves. My shots here were… not good, I will not be sharing them.
It would be good to mention at this point that my girlfriend had come with me based in part on my estimation that we would be back in town by 3:00 a.m. We were on track to keep this schedule by the time we left Poudre Lake. But while we were driving, I had an idea; we could stop at another lake. I think she could tell how badly I wanted to get a reflection shot, so she very graciously agreed to stop.
We arrived at Lily Lake on the eastern side of the park by about 3:00 a.m. – a fact that was not lost on me. The Milky Way had already risen quite high, emphasizing how late we really were. Without wasting a singular second, we raced over to the northern side of the lake so we could look south over the water. I set up my camera and just let ‘er rip:
We made it back to Denver by about 4:30 a.m., only barely winning our race against the sun. I figured I should probably chill on all the photo expeditions for a while because I was expecting another series of adventures in a couple of weeks… a family visit!
Since I moved to Denver in 2021, I have really only been able to see my grandma around the winter holidays. She had planned a visit in the fall of 2023 but wound up not being able to make it due to illness. Sometime in February or March we began chatting about what a possible visit might look like or include, and ultimately chose late June.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it was already summer and she was here! Denver experienced an unusually hot heat wave that week, so we escaped into the mountains for most of her visit.
The first half of our Colorado tour encompassed Rocky Mountain National Park and the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. This was a special treat for me because my grandparents were the ones who brought me to Colorado and RMNP for the first time in 1998. The last time my grandma was in Rocky Mountain National Park was several years ago, so I had been looking forward to revisiting fond memories – not to mention, making new ones.
We arrived in Estes Park a little earlier than our hotel check-in time, so we decided to visit the Alluvial Fan. This is a relatively recent addition to the park, considering it formed within living memory. An earthen dam failed in 1982, creating a wall of water that carried all the rock and sand down the valley, forming the fan as it exists today.
Walking along the paved trails was a great way to acclimate to the higher elevation. And as an added bonus, my grandma was kind enough to let me put my film photography skills to the test!
We later saw a massive bull moose foraging for food in some ponds, but traffic, crowds, and distance prevented me from obtaining any noteworthy photos of him. We ended our first day with a bite to eat at Bird & Jim, a personal favorite.
Our second day was practically a nonstop adventure. We began with an excursion out to the Bear Lake Corridor of RMNP, stopping to walk around Sprague Lake. The (relatively) short, flat, circuitous trail is a good place to stretch your legs, made all the better by the fact that you end up where you began.
The trail around the lake has some nice variety, too, considering its size. We began by the stream that feeds the lake, meandered through trees and weeds, and wound up traversing a nice boardwalk over a marsh. And that is when we saw this guy:
I was surprised he was still there, given the time of day. I have typically had the best luck moose-spotting around dawn, but this was close to 9:00 a.m. The rising sun and growing crowds tend to drive most moose away by then, but a dude’s gotta eat, I guess.
We spent quite a while watching this moose graze on the weeds and grasses in the lake before he eventually scampered away. After some scampering of our own, we visited Prospect Canyon, Moraine Park, and the many overlooks on our way over to the Alpine Visitor Center to wrap up our day.
Our third day in the mountains actually began about an hour south, at the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. When I was planning this trip with my grandma, I had originally planned for this place to be our dedicated “moose spotting” destination. But, of course, we saw a moose the day before so there was nary a moose to be seen here.
I did crack out my film camera again to try taking a panoramic photo of the lake itself. I have to say, for it being my first time, I am pretty happy with the result.
I kept my camera on hand for our journey back to Denver – the long way. Since my grandma was visiting and I was off work, we figured, “Why not scoop over to the west side of the park and head back from there?” One minor obstacle to this plan, though, was the timed entry system for RMNP. We had reservations to enter the park around 11:00 a.m., which meant we had a bit of a deadline to meet.
However, thanks to the lack of moose in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area, we hit the road a bit early. And boy am I glad we did.
On our way to check out of our hotel in Estes Park, we passed St. Catherine’s Chapel on the Rock – one of my favorite photography subjects. Just beyond the chapel lies a coffee house which, since we had time, we decided to visit. While there, we befriended an employee who was opening the giftshop, who offered to take us into the chapel.
We immediately said yes. I was raised Catholic, so I have been in my fair share of churches. But this was something else entirely. The natural stone, the high windows, and the small space formed one of the most distinctive congregation sites I can remember.
I was too lazy to use my digital camera, but I hope you like these film shots instead. If only they did the chapel justice.
We couldn’t linger though, because we had places to be! Our timed entry was waiting for us in RMNP, plus we still had to pack. We figured God would understand our early departure and respectfully made our way back to the car.
After we completed our checkout and narrowly made the time to enter the park, we set off on our long journey back to Denver. For those curious, it typically takes about an hour and a half to drive from Estes Park back to Denver along the most direct route. By driving over to the west side of RMNP and heading south to I-70, we successfully added two hours onto that.
I suppose that depends on how you measure success. But we both thought the views would be worth it.
One thing my grandma did not have much experience with was Colorado's 14ers. Our route back to Denver took us right past the turnoff for one of only two 14ers with a road to the summit, which we deemed a worthwhile detour.
Mount Blue Sky was officially known as Mount Evans until September 2023. The first namesake, John Evans, was the territorial governor of Colorado from 1862 to 1865. And it was under his watch that Colonel John Chivington led what is now known as the Sand Creek Massacre.
The mountain’s name had been the subject of much protest – and generational pain – since, despite repeated calls to rename it. Finally, after a years-long process, it was renamed to Mount Blue Sky to honor the Arapaho and Cheyenne people.
The summit of Mount Blue Sky is, quite literally, breathtaking. On a clear day, a visitor can see all the way to Denver and the plains beyond to the east, and the Sawatch Mountains to the west. Unfortunately for us, we chose a particularly windy and cloudy day to visit.
We spent the next two days in South-Central Colorado, in the San Luis Valley. Frequent readers will recognize this as the home of both the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (GSD), as well as the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge (MVNWR).
My first visit to MVNWR was earlier this spring, during the migration of the sandhill cranes. The cranes were amazing, to be clear, but they also kind of stole the show. I was so excited to see them, I did not pay much attention to the other birds in the refuge. My grandma told me she had gotten into birding, so I figured this would be a great chance for both of us to go look for birds with fresh eyes.
We got there an hour before sunset; birds were everywhere! It took us about 0.03 seconds to realize why there were so many birds, though – there were also so many bugs! Even worse, in my excitement to get there, I forgot to pack bug spray. Suffice it to say, we enjoyed MVNWR from the comfort of my vehicle.
I was immediately enamored by the birds, especially one distinctive blackbird I had never seen before. We later learned it was (aptly) called a yellow-headed blackbird. I managed to catch a decent shot of one that landed near my car, see if you can figure out how it got its name.
We spent the majority of the next day further north, up at GSD. My grandma mentioned she had visited it when she was a small child, but had no memories of it. I think it would be fair to say she was even more excited than I was to be returning.
We stopped at the visitors center to learn a bit about the ecology of the park before we took the one road up to the picnic and parking area near the sand. The picnic area sits about a half mile from the dune field proper, with a vast expanse of flat sand in between. During the spring, this area fills with water and forms a seasonal stream only a couple inches deep, the Medano Creek.
I absolutely love watching the creek. Ribbons of water twist and turn right before your eyes, changing course in real time. Standing waves form, collapse, and form again. The sand shifts and washes away. And all of it unfolds at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It’s a real treat.
After we wrapped up at GSD, we set off back to Denver. Late afternoons and evenings driving back up I-25 are precious; the setting sun and mountains throw shadows miles long. I do not have any photos, since I was driving, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
My grandma’s flight home was the next day, which was bittersweet. It was great seeing her here in Colorado, but I knew I would visit her in Des Moines soon. Still though, I had so much fun reminiscing about old adventures and going on some new ones. Her departure marked the halfway point of my summer and, incidentally, a good stopping point for this already long blog post.
I’ll be back soon with a “part two,” but till then, I’ll be finalizing the first round of cards for the Colorado Postcard Club! Members get discounts on matted prints and two handwritten postcards with never-before published film photos. If you don’t have the wall space or interest in a large print, this is a great way to support the site. If you sign up before the end of August, you’ll also get the first round of cards I have slated to go out!
And if not, thanks for reading anyway. I know it takes time and effort – especially with a post as long as this one – and that support is enough for me. I appreciate you and I’ll see you in the next post.
Till then, fly safe!
Fun stories Zaak; the photos are fantastic!