A morning on the Continental Divide

I spent last night on Rollins Pass, and as I made my way for the CDT trailhead this morning, I could see the lights of Winter Park beginning to disappear under a thin blanket of fog. As I started up the trail at 5am, there was fairly heavy overcast, and minor fog in the distant valleys, but that was it. About halfway up to the Divide I turned to see that clouds had rapidly formed below me, and they were all heading upslope towards me. Before I knew it, they overtook me, and I hiked the rest of the way to the Divide crest barely able to see the trail through my fog-obscurred headlamp. At one point I noticed something coming towards me from above, and looked up to see an owl checking me out from just a few feet overhead, hovering on the steady 15mph wind at my back. Very cool.

Once on the Divide, and with enough light to start shooting, I figured the fog would clear, leaving me with dreary overcast and not much else. Sure enough. But I snapped a few images before they totally dissipated. Here's one of 'em, James Peak to the south.

I tooled around up on the ridge for a while, and then decided to head down. Partway down the trail I noticed that clouds were forming spontaneously all around me. With a second chance at foggy photos, I turned back uphill and high-tailed it back to the Divide. This is one shot I took before heading back up, with clouds breezing across the open slopes to the north.

Unfortunately, the wind picked up in a big way, maintaining what I would guess was a steady 30mph, and with the newly formed fog came drizzle. I hunkered down behind a rock outcrop and hoped the clouds would part. They didn't. After almost an hour wait, I gave up and headed back to the trailhead, but not without taking a shot of the flowers growing amongst the rocks.

Lo and behold, once I was down on the road again, the sun began to poke through and light the land around me. Wouldn't you know, after freezing my nuts off up on the Divide, some of the best photo ops of the morning were had standing in the road, right next to my truck. Don't get me wrong, I love road shooting. It gives me so much mobility and the ability to chase conditions. But it would've been nice to have more cooperative weather up at 12,070'. Here's Deadman Lake.

Here's Pumphouse Lake, with Corona Lake visible beyond.

Peaks of the Byers Peak Wilderness beyond Winter Park.

And finally, Mount Epworth.

I've probably worn out my bandwidth welcome, but here's one last one from the evening before, King Lake. That's it, I'm done for now...

Wow, nice stuff. I like lakes so I think 4 and 5 are my favorites. I enjoyed your descriptions too. They sound like a day in the high country.

[Edit] OK, now King Lake is my favorite.

Cheers,

Are you sure the cloud making machine on your back didn't just back-fire?

Cool stuff, I like the lake shots. The rocks and flowers have a nice feel too!

I like the narrative.... makes a nice story along with the snapshots. Really shows what it's like to be there. Very inspiring!

I think you're a human low-pressure system. When clouds start forming around you and overtaking you, that's a little freakish. You ever read Stephen King's Firestarter? Kind of like that, but with more humidity...

Sounds like an all-around enjoyable morning, frozen jewels notwithstanding. These are all sweet, moody views, but that second one is my kind of photography. Reminds me a little of the image from the Beartooths I posted a while back. I love being up above treeline, on a tundra-covered plateau with views off to distant mountains, especially when you have clouds rolling up under your feet.

Love the Pumphouse Lake and Byers Peak shots.

Sorry about the cajones, but it's the price you pay for living/playing in Paradise. Here in Oklahoma today, we're looking at a high in the mid 90's and a heat index of around 100.

A friend and I went out to an old farmstead one time in an attempt to see an owl that was roosting in the barn, and we tried to coax it out with a hurt rabbit call. After the thing nearly got in the pickup cab with us, we decided maybe that wasn't a good idea.

Nice storyline and imagery, Cloudman. I'll vote for Deadman and King - just something about the intrigue of what's behind the clouds.

Yeah, these are very nice shots, especially the ones with lakes. My favorite is the Pumphouse Lake photo. The colors are very nice. The look of your photos is film-like. Are you still shooting film?

Cloudman strikes again. I really like the shots with the lakes.

Todd, that's a good haul. Deadman, Pumphouse and Byers Peak Wilderness really have it going on. Great images.

Craig

Momo: What's film?

Great images. I really like the Deadman Lake image.

Very cool. I like them all especially the second shot and the one of Pumphouse and Corona lakes.

Man - what a trip. Lots of good stuff here, but Pumphouse and Deadman are my favorites. You ceratinly have a knack for making the most out of dem clouds! Good narration as well for your next book.