A quick change of plans--that worked!

I began the day freezing in the icy dawn light of Maroon Bells. I'll never be the same.

My goodness, that place is cold at night! I'd say something far more colorful, but this is a family show.

While I was there, another photographer happened to mention that there might be rain coming in a day or two. Instantly, I decided to take off for Kebler Pass near Crested Butte. which is famous for its Fall foliage: It was highly recommended by a friend who lives in Colorado and I didn't want to lose my chance to photograph it to bad weather.

As I climbed through the forests closer to Crested Butte, I saw why it has its reputation:

Everywhere, the aspens were blazing on the the mountainsides as I gained altitude.

As an added bonus, the temperature soared and I felt right at home!  I can now feel my fingers!

More adventures tomorrow--newly-flexible fingers are crossed that the rain holds off.

For two weeks...

A brief post from Maroon Bells...

It has been a very exhausting couple of days, , but very early this morning I froze to death at Maroon Bells--but did have a close parkind space.

Maroon Bells may be a one-trick pony, but it is a helluva trick!

There are several beautiful angles, and I shot from the first illumination of the Maroons at first dawn light  (freezing my buns right off!!!) until 10:30, when we were running around in polo shirts..

Still, the full sun shots (and especially with the reflection)  are for me the most expressive.  Here's a shot , for example, from the upper meadows:

After the morning at the Bells, I took off up to Independence Pass and the Continental Divide

This is the high point of the Rockies, where water flows West to the Pacific on one side and East toward the Mississippi on the other;

At this time of year, even the 14,000-foot peaks have lost their snow. I didn't mind, because it is less dramatic but survivable to wusses like me.

The drive winds through Lake Valley, and the aspens were  sublime all along the way!

Much more to do, but it's a terrific start!  Now I desperately need some rest!

YouTube videos from my recent adventures...

It has been a busy ten days since I returned from Utah. First, the annular eclipse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Gis5nCgQU&list=UULq-6JrVItrjLnZtdfZa-2g&index=4&feature=plcp

then I did the Dinosaur Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Gis5nCgQU&list=UULq-6JrVItrjLnZtdfZa-2g&index=4&feature=plcp

This week, the colorful Flaming gorge video was completed  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ETEYO-VvM&list=UULq-6JrVItrjLnZtdfZa-2g&index=2&feature=plcp

Finally, yesterday I completed the video for Dinosaur National Monument  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajp-Ku3cJnY&list=UULq-6JrVItrjLnZtdfZa-2g&index=1&feature=plcp

I'll never forget the view from Harper's Corner!

With the tiny raft so far below--if you can see it, it's the little blue dot right where the curved swoosh of stone reaches the river.

OK, not so much...

After the spectacular celestial fireworks of the Perigee Moon and the Ring of Fire eclipse, I confess I was spoiled.  When I researched the transit of Venus, I realized that it might be a letdown after all the hype.

Ooops! Sensationalist media did us in again! There it was, like a mouse crawling across a hockey rink.

I took a number of shots, and then decided that if it didn't come again until 2117 it was fine with me.

I'll stick with the spectacular stuff--This kind of image is worth all it takes to get it!!

And I'll surely hope that I'm still around for the next Ring of Fire!!

That really was a spectacular month, though!!

A YouTube animation of the annular eclipse...

Now that I'm home from Utah, I spent the day yesterday creating a three-minute YouTube video of the entire sequence of the eclipse on May 20  http://www.youtube.com/divexprt  Love that 'Ring of Fire!'

Alas, all good things must end...

It's time to go home, anyway. Every hard drive I have is completely full.

Worse, I'm beginning to hallucinate dinosaurs!

The past two days, the weather has been perfect, so I rushed around to all the best places and shot them again--without clouds!

If you look carefully, right under the curved swooshes of stone is a blue raft. Guardian angels on duty again!

Ten hours of driving tomorrow, so I'll be offline.It will be nice to get home and sort through 70 gigabytes of pictures and videos! (after some sleep)...

My Charley Brown moment...

After a couple of attempts to solve the Yampa Bench Road, today was to be the day. I drove to the eastern end (50 miles) then followed Yampa Bench into the country.

I have to admit, it was lovely country for cattle and horses:

My favorite guide book had said that there was a side road that led to a spectacular view of the Green River, which runs between the red sandstone cliffs and that white formation in this shot:

Charley Brown raced down the hill and headed for the football. Ah, but Lucy yanked it away! A chain was rigged across the crucial side road with a big sign that said, "Road Closed."

Score: Yampa Bench Road 53, aging moron still 0...

Still.I couldn't waste that sunny sky!  I raced to the Blue Mountain overlook, where signs complain bitterly about California's air pollution drifting here and reducing the visibility.

This was also a day to revisit Harper's Corner. I felt like sir Edmund Hillary!

Split Rocks was also bathed in warm colors, so I did a panorama to capture it.

Winding down today before the long drive to Vegas tomorrow. The sky is clear! Woo-woo!