Early Morning Beauty.
When was the last time you woke up at 5am (or early for that matter) on a weekend. Especially a holiday weekend, Memorial weekend in fact. I don’t know about ya’ll, but I struggle to get out of bed anytime before 9am on the weekends. I’m a stay a bed, I’m one of the many that suffer from dysania. I struggle waking up in mornings, every day I have multiple alarms screaming at me to wake up. As a photographer this is a very bad habit, and in general its a bad habit. We as humans give our job’s more time than we. Think about it, for most of us we give forty hours a week to our employers. And on the weekends we give ourselves only about thirty two hours for free time. These numbers are very rough, and we can actually shorten our free time on weekends when we sleep in.
Sleeping in isn’t always a bad thing, however you get to miss out on a lot of things. As a photographer the best light is early morning and late evens, when the sun rises and sets. I have learned this the hard way by reaching a peak on many of my hikes, only to have missed the perfect light. This is due mostly to poor planning , or oversleeping. Oh well, we all make mistakes. Some mistakes can be beautiful however.
Whats up! oh is it time for my close up?
One such beautiful mistake happened to me this past Memorial weekend. As a family, we decided to spend day hiking around Wild Basin, a section of Rocky Mountain National Park. The forests in this part of the park are majestic. Upon arrival of the park, we were greeted by a friendly fox, peacefully soaking in the warm golden rays of sunlight.
Taking a second to kick back and enjoy the scenery.
Our journey finally began once we parked the car and adjusted all of our gear. With new pack from REI on, and boots tied up snug, we began our 8-mile trek to the majestic Falls and Lakes strewn about. The morning was cool and overcast, and the trails were muddy and laden with snow in spots. Wet and slippery, only the safest of trails for us! While we were hiking, we ran into other adventures, some less prepared than others. We greeted each with warm welcomes and warnings of the slick paths ahead.
Planning our next route, our fearless leader is deep in thought.
The trails were very mystical, shrouded by tall aspens and pines on either sides, we were forced to trudge threw ankle high runoff streams. At times it became hard to find motivation to journey on. Every turn revealed more muddy and poorly maintained trails. We had to dig deep, and push the pain toward the back of our minds.
This beauty was sunny itself next to the raging rapids!
Further, and deeper we went, the road was getting muckier and more technical. Although Beauty surronding us was inspiring, and helped motivate us to press on. With one last turn we had reached our destination! Ouzel Falls, the thunder of the water crushing down on the rocks below was breathtaking. The views were unlike anything ever wrote in a fantasy tale. J.R.R. Tolkien could’nt touch the beauty we were seeing! God’s hand were present in everything that was surrounding us! It was like Monet’s painting, the colors vibrant, the movement of waving trees, and energy was overwhelming . Words cannot describe the views that we soaked in.
Wonderful scene at the base of Ouzel Falls.
On our journey, we stopped to look at our next big goal. Summiting Long’s Peak, our dream fourteener!
Looking towards next goal! Long’s Peak here we come!
The epic crest of Long’s Peak
Thank you all for your continued support! I have so much fun sharing life’s journeys with all of you! I plan on making this the summer of the hike! I have a large project going on with Larson’s Ski & Sport, the ski shop that I work at, so that takes up most of my free time. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you enjoyed this let me know! Your input is greatly appreciated!
Phlash Life 