Latest photos from Rocky Mountain National Park

This morning at sunrise we had a rainstorm pass through. There was an opening to the east allowing the sunlight to shine into the storm creating a beautiful rainbow over the Eagle Cliff formation. The day then went on to be quite sunny, though a bit windy. If you are enjoying these photos, be sure to stop by my gallery in Estes Park.

This morning I headed up to Black Lake for sunrise. It was overcast and windy and it felt like a storm was blowing in. Nonetheless, I continued on because mornings like this can result in no interesting light or it can result in something really special. It seemed worth the gamble and somehow the sun found a crack in the clouds for a few minutes and put on an amazing show. The color up on McHenry's Peak and the surrounding clouds was so vibrant that it didn't seem real. It was a real treat to be there to see it.

The Never Summer Mountains live up to their name as they hold on to snow longer than most mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. On this beautiful morning, they catch the first rays of the rising sun as white crowned sparrows joyfully sing their new day song.

As the sun sets on this Saturday evening, it illuminates the mountains along Forest Canyon. Storm clouds roll back and a deep silence settles over the land as it prepares for the arrival of the nightfall. Soon, darkness and sleep will prevail in this beautiful landscape until the sun returns.

This morning was the earliest sunrise of the year and the most northerly the sun will rise. I decided to head up to spend some time with Notchtop Mountain this morning. There was still quite a bit of snow on the trail and the first light was a bit delayed due to clouds in the east, but when the sun arrived it put on a spectacular show.

On Saturday evening I hiked up to one of my favorite backcountry locations on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park for sunset. There was still quite a bit of soft deep snow in the forest as I made my way up, as well as a lot of flooding on the trail, but it was worth it for a view like this.

This morning we had breaking clouds over Longs Peak at sunrise and I couldn't resist photographing them. As we move into the summer season, we generally have clear skies in the morning and so I wanted to make the most of the clouds. I headed to a patch of golden banner (thermopsis montana) that are in bloom to serve as the foreground. They seemed to almost glow. Such beauty seems to speak to our very soul, if we take the time to slow down and listen.

Long Peak looks down on a peaceful meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park as a bull elk relaxes below a Ponderosa Pine. This is the wonder of Rocky in early June as all of us celebrate the return of life to the national park.

What a spectacular morning we had today. The clouds and mountains glowed with rich pink and orange hues at sunrise. There's still a lot of snow on the way up and around Dream Lake, but with microspikes it really isn't a problem at all.

What an amazing way to begin the month of June! Blue skies, snowy peaks and vibrant green aspen. I also saw mule deer, elk, and a couple of moose this morning. It's one of those special days that you want to bottle up and keep for a rainy day. I hope many of you can get out and enjoy this wonderful spring season.

This morning was truly delightful as clouds swirled around Longs Peak while bright green aspen trees stretched their arms into the sky as if in thanks for this beautiful morning. Spring is in full swing here in Rocky Mountain National Park on this last day of May.

The ice is finally melting off of Bear Lake though there is still quite a bit of snow around the lake and on the trails at this elevation. Down low in Moraine Park everything is turning green. It's a stunning time of year to be in Rocky Mountain National Park.

This morning I was in Beaver Meadows at sunrise and enjoyed a nearly full moon setting over the snowy peaks. For the first time in a long while there was almost no wind, making it quite pleasant to be out. Long Peak looked fabulous with all of its fresh snow and as you can see the grasses in the meadow are really turning green.

This morning I was out in Beaver Meadows, Rocky Mountain National Park and the aspen trees are beginning to put out their leaves while Longs Peak is still covered with lots of snow. It's a delightful time of year when everything is coming back to life. Tomorrow, we start the busy season as Memorial Weekend arrives. The timed-entry permit system goes into effect tomorrow and will continue through mid-October. Also, Trail Ridge Road is still closed due to lots of snow in May. If you visit the News section of this website you can see some recent photos taken up there by the snowplow crews.

I apologize for the large gap in posting photos here. I took a break in preparation for the busy summer season. I'm back now and will be posting regularly.

On this recent morning there was a light fog on Lily Lake as the day's first light illuminated Longs Peak and Mount Meeker. A couple of Canadian geese swam past me with their loud morning greeting. It was another perfect start to a day in Rocky.

The pasque flowers are blooming all over the lower elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park. For me, this is really the start of spring. These days the weather is quite warm, sometimes getting up into the 60s and green grass is beginning to appear beneath the brown. However, there's still a lot of snow in the mountains with 46" of snow still at Bear Lake, which is about average for this time of year.

It was such a wonderfully quiet morning today, as only April can be. The road coming into Rocky Mountain National Park's Beaver Meadow Entrance was empty as a the warm light of the rising sun filled the world with color and gentleness.

I skied up Flattop Mountain for my 14th time since the start of the year. Before I reached tree line I found myself in thick clouds. As I finally passed the trees it was a complete whiteout, making it a little challenging to navigate. Fortunately, I had been up here enough that I knew pretty well where I was headed. When I finally reached the top of the spires, I broke through the clouds and they flew in and out of the surounding spires and mountains. Every minute or so the clouds would completely obscure everything and then the world would return. It was so dramatic and spectacular.

We've had some really warm days over the last couple of weeks and that has melted much of the snow, especially in the lower parts of the park as you can see in this photo looking west in Horseshoe Park. However, starting this afternoon and continuing through all of this week and next it will be raining in the lower areas and snowing up high. I'm assuming that this will cause things to begin to turn green quite quickly

This morning I headed up Lump Ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park to photograph at sunrise. Thick clouds moved in over the eastern horizon blocking the warm morning light, but about 20 minutes later the sun rose above the clouds as I photographed the barren rock and limber pine of Lumpy Ridge. In the distance you can see Longs Peak all covered in thick snow and clouds.

Longs Peak looks down on beautiful Lake Haiyaha on a lovely early April afternoon. The lake is still covered in deep snow, as winter still prevails at these high elevations. The trail up here from Dream Lake should only be used when avalanche danger is low and the trail from Dream to Haiyaha does require snowshoes, some wayfinding, and good balance on the steep sections.

On Wednesday April 3rd I took a walk up to the summit of Twin Sisters Peaks. The trail begins next to Lily Lake on Highway 7. The trail was snowcovered all the way up and with the warm weather we've been having recently, snowshoes are recommended to keep from breaking through. This photo shows the approach to the summit after the trail leaves the last of the trees. It was another beautiful day to be out in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I skied up Flattop Mountain again for my 12th time this year. The snow was falling and continuing to pile up in the higher ends of the park. While much of the United States enjoys the smells and colors of spring, we're in our snowiest season of the year. However, in about 5 or 6 weeks this snow will begin to quickly melt and share its moisture with the lands below.

We had a snowstorm move through the park last night. So I headed out first thing this morning to get a quick ski run in on Flattop Mountain before working in the office. I arrived early enough that I broke trail up the mountain and then was able to enjoy the fresh snow on the way down. There was 4-8" of fresh powder on all but the top sections. This photo shows my tracks on the lower part of the mountain.

On this day I snowshoed up Flattop Mountain to photograph the evening light on Longs Peak. There are really good views of the west side of Longs Peak from Flattop Mountain and I love the way it all looks in the snow. I actually filmed a video of this outing which shows what's involved in making photos like this. You can watch the video at this link.

It was a gorgeous start to the day today. All of that fresh snow on the mountains made everything look stunning. I started the morning watching the sun rise on the Mummy Range, watching Chapin, Chiquita, and Ypsilon mountains glow as the day's first light reached them. The warm light was such a lovely contrast to the cold snow. The NPS is still at work trying to get Bear Lake plowed. Perhaps it will open later this afternoon.

We had a big snowstorm come through Rocky Mountain National Park this week. It was so big that it closed Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday and again today while they work to clear the roads. Three to four feet of snow fell on the park covering everything in a thick white coat. Here in Estes Park, we had about 30" of snow between Wednesday night and this morning. It took a long while to shovel out. This is the entrance sign to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning as the clouds were beginning to clear from Deer Mountain just behind the sign.

As a large winter storm was moving into Rocky Mountain National Park, the storm clouds were moving in and out around the mountains. It was really dramatic in every direction. For a minute or two, I enjoyed this wonderful view of Longs Peak revealing itself from behind the clouds. This was from the Beaver Meadows entrance station. It was simply magical!

All yesterday it snowed, leaving a wonderful white coat on everything, but unusually the wind didn't arrive after the storm. It was still and quiet all night as the clouds departed. The temperature dropped dramatically in the night as well. It was 3F when I left home and probably considerably colder as I headed up the Twin Sisters Trail. Though there wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was a beautiful morning looking up at the towering face of Longs Peak and its neighbors Mount Meeker and Mount Lady Washington. It was such a gorgeous morning that I couldn't help smiling all morning long.

This mornng Rocky Mountain National Park awoke to a coat of fresh snow, so I headed off to spend a little time in Tuxedo Park which lies between Bear Lake Road and the YMCA property. This area has beautiful Ponderosa Pines whose orange trunks look so wonderful when covered in fresh white snow. It was a delightful way to spend a few hours in the cool quiet.

I skied up to Thunder Lake in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. There wasn't a lot of snow down at the start of the trail but once I reached Thunder Lake the snow was very deep. It was so deep that the ranger cabin was almost entirely burried in the snow. In many places the snow was 15-20 feet deep. I only had a short time before the clouds and snow moved in and swallowed the mountains, but I was so grateful to have a few minutes to enjoy them.

A couple of spruce trees poke up through the deep snow that seems to grow a little deeper with every passing day. Things are looking very snowy up in the subalpine zone. We've had some snow, but even more wind lately and this has blown much of the snow from the high alpine zone down ito the trees below. This was photographed off of the Fern Lake Trail above Bear Lake.

I skied up Flattop Mountain through an inch or two of fresh powder and as I reached tree line, I came across a stubby Englemann Spruce tree that had been formed in miniature due to the intense cold and extreme winds of this location. Its branches were full of beautiful little pinecones that had opened and released their seeds to the wind.

This morning the mountains had fresh snow on them along with gorgeous warm light as the sun rose. It was one of those mornings where I wish I had the ability to stop time so that I could photograph in a dozen different locations before the warm light faded.

On this morning I skiied up dark and early towards Ypsilon Lake to photograph the sunrise following a snowstorm. The temperature was -6F when I left the trailhead and continued to drop as I climbed about 2,500' in elevation. Fortunately, I was dressed for the cold temperatures and my skis kept me above the deep snow. At this spot the snow was more than waist deep. It was a wonderful start to the day, watching Ypsilon Mountain glow with the first light of the morning.

This morning we briefly had some gorgeous color in the sky out to the east. This was the view from Beaver Meadows looking back towards Prospect Mountain. To the west, the park was covered in thick dark clouds with howling winds.