Colorado Snowshoeing and Photos

The weather brightened up the last couple of days. Lots of sunshine after fresh snow.

Yesterday we snowshoed about 7 miles in Rocky Mountain National Park. We went up to Cub Lake and down to the Fern Lake trail to do a circular route. Good snow cover all the way. Really nice shots of tree trunks and their shadows on the snow. Forgot to take on the phone to put in this blog so please be patient for when I have had time to process the films and add to my website.

Today we went back to Red Rocks in Boulder to take the shots I took on my mobile phone the other day, but this time on my Mamiya 7 camera with Ilford FP4 film.

Cub Lake Tracks

Me and my Shadow

Boulder Red Rocks

Red Rocks Picket Fence

A Walk in the Snow

Actually several walks in the snow!

We have been walking around the Boulder Foothills the last few days. There has been some fresh snow to brighten things up but it needs a bit of sunshine to help the photos.

We have also visited a few local breweries: Boulder Brewery, Upslope Brewery, Walnut Brewery, Southern Sun and Mountain Sun Brewery, J. Wells Brewery, Wild Mountain Brewery. All brew a wide selection of beers and all had at least one stout or porter, my favourite style of beer.

Yesterday and today about 8 inches has fallen. In the ski areas like Vail and Beaver Creek, where we will be from Tuesday to Friday, they have had nearly 3 feet. Roll on Tuesday!

Tree and Red Rocks

Another Tree and Red Rocks

Mount Sanitas from Red Rocks

Boulder Flatirons before the Snow

Colorado Skiing and Hiking

Another 3 days skiing and 2 days walking without my camera gear, but with visits to 3 breweries all in great weather, has helped look after my aching back!

After Keystone on Tuesday we skied Breckenridge on Wednesday and Thursday. Really nice snow on most of the slopes.

Friday we skied Arapahoe Basin but after a couple of runs it was obvious that the edges of my skis needed sharpening to cope with the icy conditions. $15 and a coffee later I had sharp skis and go faster waxing. Really enjoyed the rest of the day. I did see one shot I would have taken on my Mamiya 7 camera if I had been carrying it, a panorama of a mountain range with 2 layers of horizontal clouds above. Took it on my phone but not the same!

Saturday was a rest day as our hosts prepared for their Burns Night dinner party. That went jolly well and we enjoyed chatting with their friends, many of whom have become our friends too over the years.

Sunday we walked around the Boulder Foothills to the Southern Sun pub, part of the Mountain Sun Brewery. The Java Porter was on jolly good form as usual.

Today, Monday 27th, it snowed all day so we walked to the north of Boulder around Mount Sanitas to the Upslope Brewery and a good Stout. Passed a 4x4 car in a ditch beside a sign saying Dead End, seemed quite apt somehow.

Tomorrow is forecast to be a good blue sky day after the few inches of fresh know today. We are planning to snowshoe to Red Rock Lake to try and get a shot I have failed to get in 7 previous visits, because conditions weren't quite right. Our hosts, Rob and Annie, are very patient with me but are hoping tomorrow is the day!

Fingers crossed for a great day!

Here are a few phone photos from the last few days.

A-Basin Clouds

Montezuma Bowl A-Basin

Quiet Slopes at Breckenridge

Dead End Car, Boulder

Last Day in Boulder

Our travels are coming to an end. This is our last full day with our friends Rob and Annie in Boulder in Colorado. Tomorrow morning we leave for Denver Airport and return to Washington DC and Friday we fly back to the UK.

Last night was good as we met our other good friends from Boulder, Paul, Ed and Johanne for dinner at one of the local brew pubs, the Walnut Brewery. Didn't like the porter, too sweet and hoppy so called in at the Mountain Sun brew pub on our way home with Rob. The Java Porter nitro version was fantastic so I had a second just to make sure.

Earlier yesterday we did a snowshoe hike to Red Rocks Lake in temperatures around -15°C and 30mph winds. It was chilly! I took some pictures from the frozen surface of the lake but not the one I wanted as the surrounding mountains were in cloud.

We decided that we needed warming up so headed for the local brewery in Nederland on our way back to Boulder. Jolly nice Redemption Stout.

We snowshoed the day before too, to Lost Lake near Nederland. It snowed the whole time. It was a good walk though. See image of me, Jan and Rob below.

Since the last blog post we have skied Canyons near Park City. This had the worst snow of all the areas but I took a good shot of a single set of ski tracks in amongst Aspen trees and shadows. Hope it prints as well as I expect it to.

The 6th and last ski day was in Steamboat Springs last Saturday. The snow was poor here too but it was interesting to ski as we had heard so much about it. In the evening we met and had dinner with Carol and Jack, friends of Rob and Annie. They moved there many years ago. It was very enjoyable and turned out both were pilots and had their own planes. I was stunned when Jack then offered to take us up in their plane the next day! It would have been churlish to refuse such a generous offer so with much excitement we met up the next day! It was a blue sky day and cold, perfect visibility too.

Jack was meticulous in his pre-flight checks of his Cessna then it was up and away above the local mountains.

I didn't want to take photos through the windows so worked out that sitting up front with the side window open was the best way to take my shots. The window only opened to about 45° so I could only take photos looking down between the bottom of the window, the wing strut and the landing wheel below the window.

No expansive views or skies, just pattern pictures of the Mount Zirkel area as well as Steamboat Springs ski slopes, etc. Fingers crossed they come out as it was a bit bumpy at times and I had to use shutter speeds of 1/125 and 1/250.

The flight was exciting for another reason though; Jack let me take the controls and 'fly' the plane for a few minutes. Jan, sitting behind me, didn't seem to share my excitement during this time and was relieved when Jack took over again!

I took 3 rolls of Ilford FP4, 30 photos during the hour long flight, which flew by!

It has been great spending so much time with Rob and Annie but I am actually looking forward to getting home as we have been away almost 4 weeks.

I am also impatient to see what new pictures I have in the 61 rolls of FP4 so that I can think about which ones to add to the web site.

Colorado

We arrived in Colorado on Thursday night from Washington a bit later than planned.

Most of the snow that fell last week has gone or turned to ice here in Boulder. It's mild and windy.

Just had treatment on my back and neck by Amanda to loosen it before we start our road trip tomorrow.

Walked in the foothills of the Rockies yesterday with good views of the Flatirons and surrounding peaks. Didn't go far, just 6 miles, as I picked up a chest infection on the flight over on Tuesday and combined with the 5200 feet of altitude and my asthma breathing is a little tricky.

Stopped at the Southern Sun on way back for a Java Porter, one of my all-time favourite beers.

I changed my HTC Chacha for a Samsung Galaxy S2 last week. The old phone ran out of internal memory and no easy fix so Vodafone did a swap to get me going again.

Just discovered it has an 8mp camera so tried it out on walk with pictures of Flatirons and surrounding peaks. Also photographed my first pint in Boulder!

Tomorrow we drive to Laramie en route to Grand Tetons. Before that I have a New Years Eve party to go to with our friends Rob and Annie!

Boulder Day

We had a quiet leisurely day in Boulder for a change.
Sorted out hiring ski gear and a few other odds and ends before heading to the hills.
Walked about 5 miles along the Dakota Ridge and back past Red Rocks to Boulder Creek and then Walnut Brewery. Our good friend Paul joined us for the evening.
Then on to the Rib House for dinner before finishing at the Mountain Sun Brewery for a pint of Java Porter. Quite tired now, the trip seems to be catching up with us, so turned in early.

Off to Keystone skiing tomorrow. Fingers crossed for good weather.
Dave Butcher

New York Photos

We arrived in New York Thursday late afternoon. No snow but dry. After checking in to hotel we went straight out taking photographs, all night time shots.
The Woolworth Building was first followed by Brooklyn Bridge. Too much vibration from traffic for long exposures from the bridge but great shots from Brooklyn.
Many more lights than in May so buildings were ablaze with lights.

Friday was overcast until early afternoon. Didn't matter for some shots and others I retook later on.
Staying in the Downtown part of Manhattan put us in a good place for shots of Wall Street, SoHo fire escapes and Ground Zero (now a huge building site).
For night shots we walked to Midtown and the Empire State Building and Chrysler building. Dinner was in the Heartland Brewery next to the Empire State Building. Jolly tasty Porter on draught.
We finished with some shots of the Rochefeller Centre and the ice rink.

Saturday we visited Liberty Island for shots of the Statue of Liberty.
It's enormous up close! Then on to Ellis Island before heading back to Manhattan Waterfront on the East River.
It was raining the last time we were here so I took a few shots before returning to hotel for bags and taxi to airport.
So far I have taken 27 rolls of Ilford FP4 at 10 shots per roll of 120 film.

Last night we flew Delta to Denver where our old friend Rob was waiting for us. We were soon back in Boulder having achat until the small hours with Rob and Annie. Sounds like Rob has lots of plans for us based on what I requested for photo needs.

Today we catch up and hire ski gear and visit some of the local hostelries (around 7 micro breweries here).

Will drop off film for processing Tuesday night or Wednesday morning at local pro lab.
Dave Butcher