Monthly Archives: February 2016

Earth and Mars

Just like my birthday falling on the 29th, I was in the mood for something unusual this time. I think we have all been there when we reach a temporary plateau defined “as a state of little or no change following a period of activity or progress.” Well, this definitely described my situation.

I thought long and hard and decided to head to a place off the beaten path only a few hours from home. I looked outside and noticed it was mostly overcast and wondered if a sunset would even be an option. I decided to go anyway as the weather changes by the minute here in the Southwest part of our country. In fact, the closer I got to my destination, the more the cloud cover started to dissipate. By sunset, there was only a small remnant left off in the eastern horizon. Regardless, as long as I had the saturated sunlight to work with I knew everything would be fine.

The desert sky takes on a beautiful glow well after sundown and that night was no exception. Rich blues, reds, and violet colors painted the late evening sky providing for a nice backdrop to the unique landmarks that make the desert so unique. The weather was unusually warm for this time of year so the long exposures were easy to manage.

My favorite location was the Mar’s like environment It was the perfect combination where the beautiful atmosphere of Earth meets the harsh but colorful landscape of a Mars. I posted this shot even though I know it isn’t spectacular but rather, its the simplistic beauty that caught my eye.

I posted other shots of my adventure  here and on the home page that I hope will provide you with the several perspectives.

Thanks for viewing and hope to catch up with you in the field sometime soon!

Engineer North Face Sunset

After an awesome day cross country skiing, we were rewarded with this beautiful sunset over the north face of Engineer Mountain located in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado.

I couldn’t have choreographed a better day! Hope this picture helps you share in this moment…

The sun set just to the right of Engineer peak providing for quite a fiery red lightshow at the horizon.

 

 

 

 

Animas River – True Colors

 

The Animas River begins it’s journey at the tops of the beautiful  San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. Unfortunately, it became breaking news recently when the EPA accidentally released millions of gallons of toxic mine waste out of the GoldKing Mine near the town of Silverton, CO.  Videos and pictures circulated the news and web for many months showing the toxic orange stained water flowing through several states, eventually entering Lake Powell hundreds of miles downstream.

This is a river that I play in or at least have the great fortune to witness most everyday with it being only a few hundred yards from my doorstep. Today, the news crews are gone but the ugly orange sediment still lingers at the bottom and edges of Animas especially where the river flows slowly.  The experts are hoping that the spring run-off will wash away and further dilute this sediment. Nature does have a wonderful way of cleansing itself and hopefully this process will happen sooner rather than later.

I have tried to ease the pain via photography by trying to bring out the true colors of this beautiful riparian ecosystem.  My hope is that the natural colors I have captured will help overpower the orange-stained banks. If nothing else, it makes me feel a lot better about this special river and begins the healing process…

This picture was taken on a subzero morning hike along it’s banks. It was refreshingly beautiful with the steam coming off the nearly frozen river channel with a heavy frost clinging to anything within it’s grasp.

#animasriver #sanjuanmountains  #colorado