Latest photos from Rocky Mountain National Park

It was a gorgeous day with highs in the 50s. The lower valleys are snow free and showing slight tints of green from the new grasses which are just beginning to appear. The next couple of days are forecasted to reach around 60F which will continue to melt the snow and encourage the arrival of new growth. As you can see, the snow is still deep on the mountains.

This morning while I was high above tree line skiing through the snowy terrain, a white-tailed ptarmigan in his winter coat came out of hiding to say hello and see what I was up to. He stayed around for quite a while and seemed to like posing for the camera. On my way back down the mountain the sun had come out and the snow was melting quickly.

There was about 6" of fresh snow this morning near tree line on Flattop Mountain. This perspective is looking south towards Longs Peak whose summit is hidden in the clouds. Below it you can just see Mills Lake. This snowstorm also left a light coat of snow on Estes Park and the lower areas of the national park.

While the lower valleys are all free of snow, up in the mountains winter still prevails. As I was skiing here the snow was coming down hard and sideways due to the high winds. The conditions were almost blizzard-like. Once I was above tree line it was hard to see anything but white in every direction. About 4-5" of fresh fluffy powder covered the mountain.

This morning we had a gentle sunrise on Longs Peak and the Continental Divide. I was up among the rocks on Lumpy Ridge looking out over the Estes Valley. There wasn't a breath of wind and all the snow in the lower valleys has melted once again.

This morning there was about 6" of fresh snow up at Bear Lake. I skied up the Flattop trail to tree line. All the krumholz and small trees at tree line were coated in the fluffy snow.

After a couple of very warm days in the park, the pasque flowers began to appear beneath the Ponderosa pines along the base of Lumpy Ridge. Unfortunately, the next days were quite snowy and we'll have to wait to see if they have survived beneath that cold white blanket.

Deer Mountain looks down over the vibrant willows filling the Endovalley near Horseshoe Park at the end of a very warm spring day. Despite several days with temperatures in the upper 60s, snow still holds on where it can at the lower elevations. In the higher elevations of the park it is still very snowy and more snow at both high and low elevations is expected over the coming days.

Deep snow still covers the Alpine Visitor Center on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It will be at least another six weeks or so until the road opens and visitors return to this place at nearly 12,000' above sea level.

Follow this link to see more photos from this day up on Trail Ridge Road.

Sunrise at Sprague Lake following a big spring snowstorm. The snow is knee deep around the lake.

Skiers make their way to the tundra high above Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park during a spring snowstorm, before skiing down through knee deep powder.

The winds were howling and the snow was blowing as a snowstorm moved in over The Spearhead above Black Lake in Glacier Gorge.

It was a gorgeous day up on Flattop Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is looking north over the Odessa Lake area out to Stones Peak. In the background on the right is where Trail Ridge Road is located near Ute Crossing and Forest Canyon Overlook.

As a snowstorm was passing through I photographed these aspen trees which almost seemed to be dancing.

The Mummy Range as seen from near Deer Ridge Junction.

A steller's jay sits in the snowy branches of a lodgepole pine.

A dramatic winter sunrise near the Beaver Meadows Entrance Station