JohnKS Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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macentropist wrote:
I would look to Cheyenne Canyon, Gold Camp Road, and Seven Springs in Colorado Springs, all, or most have moderate hiking trails, with some very nice vistas, and falls. A tougher trek might include a trip up the trails to top of Cheyenne Mountain, much rougher and some brief steep slogs, but very doable for this 60 year old coot. Do not forget a CPL filter, and i would be sure to bring a 3 stop ND, or even 6 stop ND filter for the falls.
If going to Garden of the Gods, i highly recommend being there at or before sunrise, the sunsets are non existent.
Woodland Park and Divide, Co. are on Highway 24 west of Colorado Springs, and are great places to be at sunset, and are fairly short road trips, especially if staying in the Manitou Springs area.
Have a great trip!...Show more →
macentropist,
Thanks for your suggestions and for the tip on the Garden of the Gods. We are actually staying in Manitou Springs and will not be far from the Garden. The CPL and ND filters are part of my travel kit.
John
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wayneng wrote:
I ran the same gauntlet as you a few weeks back except from Austin to Grand Lake - think the snow will be gone.
For relatively short hikes, I really liked the Bear Lake -> Nymph Lake -> Dream Lake -> Emerald Lake hike. Even when it was piled high with snow, it took us only 2-3 hours round trip with a lunch break (and no snow means no more slipping and falling). Lakes are probably finally defrosted now too.
Alberta falls is nice from Glacier Gorge (only a mile) but its a bit tight and there's a lot of people there.
On Trail Ridge Road, I really liked Medicine Bow Curve (next to the Alpine Visitor Center) - not sure what it would look like at night, but it's definitely breathtaking during the day and plenty of mountain and sky for the stars. Rainbow ridge and Many Curves Overlook aren't bad either with the valley below.
...Show more →
Wayne,
I'm looking forward to traveling Trail Ridge Road. I've made the trip 3 times before to Grand Lake. We have always found it enjoyable and did get a good look at some rams the last time we were there in the Rock Cut area. I've been on the trails you mentioned before and I'm sure we will visit them again. I'm hoping for some wildflower opportunities in the Beaver Meadow area.
John
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dgdg wrote:
I have been to RMNP twice, just recently this June and last summer.
For landscape photography I highly highly highly recommend Erik Stensland's inexpensive e-book on great landscape photography locations in the park. He has a nice online photo gallery as well which you should peruse. Many locations are very accessible and each is ranked and sorted for difficulty level.
http://imagesofrmnp.com/product/photographing-rmnp-ebook/
If you would benefit from a guided animal or landscape tour to take you places in the dark (and setup for sunrise/sunset) you might not otherwise attempt, I highly recommend Jared at Yellow Wood guiding.
http://www.ywguiding.com/
He is excellent and provided wildlife opportunities I would have otherwise missed. His schedule may be full now.
There are a lifetime of opportunities at RMNP for landscapes, but I'd say my favorite is trail ridge road for sunrise (some locations sunset). The classic turnouts like Forest Canyon Overlook and Gore Range Overlook offer great scenes and easy access to stay warm until you are ready for the shot. The morning glow on the snowy mountains is amazing.
I've always been tempted to take the Ute trail near the Alpine visitor center to a small pond that should be thawed by then. You can see it from the road. It has nice reflections, trees, and a view of the mountains in back. Maybe next time. I spent all my time looking for moose.
We hiked to a couple easy waterfalls this trip, but I'd say the Trail Ridge Road and other lake scenes draw much more interest to me.
We were there last week and the baby moose were only a few days old. I saw several and still processing the photos. Moose are plentiful along the Kawuneeche valley from sunrise to about 7:45am, then around 7:45am to sunset. Morning light is best. Have a tripod for low shutter speeds. The 100-400mm is a little short, but with a 1.4x extender you should be able to get some nice shots. Simply drive along the entire valley from Beaver Ponds all the way to the Grand Lake turnoff (exit) and scout every road that heads to the west.
Ptarmigan can be found if you hike along the snowy edge on the western portion of trail ridge road, but probably anywhere on the tundra. They key is you can walk on the snow from the overlooks, but not the tundra within 100 yards. Go in the am and be mindful of not hiking on the tundra. Binoculars help if they are still.
Feel free to PM me.
David...Show more →
David,
Thanks for the link to the ebook. I will need to look into that as a purchase before our trip. I've always thought the moose opportunities would be better near Grand Lake than Estes Park. Perhaps we will try and look for them the day we spend in Grand Lake.
John
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JimFox wrote:
6 days in RMNP seems like 4 days too many to me. I have been there hundreds of times, and to me, it's the least photogenic National Park there is. The problem I think is you end up just being in the mountains and to get clear shots of full peaks are really hard as they are all a long distance from the road and require a lot of hiking to get to and then hiking back for hours in the dark.
The San Juan Mountains are a million times better then the RMNP and offer so much more in spectacular mountain ranges, meadows, etc.
Don't get me wrong, RMNP is a nice place, with okay landscape compositions, maybe I am jaded. But just Google RMNP and you will see mostly bland shots, compositions that are very weak with few strong lines in them. Then Google the San Juan Mountains and see the difference.
Anyway, my 2 cents would be to spend a couple of days in RMNP then drive down to Colorado Springs for a day or two. And then head down to Ouray, Ridgway, Telluride and the San Juan Wilderness....Show more →
Jim,
Thanks for your suggestion regarding San Juan and the other areas. I guess I should have made this post before I made my reservations earlier in the year. Perhaps I'll rise to the challenge and find some good landscape vantage points to shoot from.
John
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Dustin Gent wrote:
Well i guess for sideline shooters, this is probably true about RMNP. but from what i have seen and the stories I have heard from backpackers, it is SPECTACULAR.
Dustin,
I hope to come across some of those spectacular areas while in the park.
John
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