Bluff Spring Journal
July 4th--Happy Birthday America!
A special thanks to all those who have given all that they had so that we could have all that we have.
Here is a photo of the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. These are a few of the 4,000 stars at the memorial that symbolize over 400,000 Americans who gave their lives during World War II.
What's the 4th without a few fireworks?
July 23rd, 2008
It's a love hate relationship--my annual trip to Colorado. On one hand I love being in the cool mountain air and taking photographs till my shutter finger is sore. On the other hand I hate the drive! Well sort of. It's ok once you get past the sore butt and the jitters from drinking too much coffee. And, way too much Starbuck's Dark Chocolate Mocha. What a deadly combination. Sugar, chocolate and caffeine!
For the past two years I've gone to southern Colorado to visit Silverton, Ouray, American Basin and Yankee Boy Basin. This year I decided to broaden my horizons and go someplace new. After several research trips around the internet I decided to go to a couple of places. My first stop is to be the Maroon Bells near Aspen Colorado. Their original name was "The Deadly Bells" because of the number of deaths on the mountains. The Maroon part of the name comes from the colored mudstone that is prevelant in the region. Below is the text from a sign near the trail head of the Bells..
"The beautiful Maroon Bells ... have claimed many lives in the past few years. They are unbelievably deceptive. The rock is downsloping, rotten, loose, and unstable. It kills without warning. The snowfields are treacherous, poorly consolidated, and no place for a novice climber. The gullies are death traps. Expert climbers who did not know the proper routes have died on these peaks. Don't repeat their mistakes, for only rarely have these mountains given a second chance."
I hope my lovely bride doesn't read the text from the sign before I get back. She worries because I usually am a little crazy and drive all night to be sure and get a photograph of the 1st sunrise of the trip. Adding the danger of these Bells would not put me in good stead with her. When I told her that I would probably be driving all night she said that if I went to sleep at the wheel and had a wreck so wasn't going to hesitate telling me, "I told you so!". My only request was that she kiss me while I'm laying there in the hospital bed before telling me "I told you so."
I left about 1 pm and it was a uneventful drive for the 1st 950 miles. I was treated to a rain storm and a beautiful sunset as I sped on into the night. Then about 2 am I was on mile number 950 of my 1000 mile trip when I began seeing Christmas lights flashing in my rear view mirror. One of Colorado's finest wanted to have a little talk with me. I really didn't believe I was speeding but he informed me that I was doing 48 in a 35 zone. That little bit of news along with having to hunt through about 4 years of documents in my glove box to find my insurance card was the last thing I needed. After a conversation about where I was going and 'boy it was a long trip'. The nice officer told me that this would only be a warning and to have a nice stay. I tell you I was a lot happier as I finished the last 50 miles to Maroon Lake.
When I arrived I had about an hour before sunrise so I set my phone alarm and snoozed. I swear it seemed like about 2 minutes before the dang thing went off and drug me back from the stupor that 14 hours of driving will do for you. I quickly gathered up my gear and headed out to the lake. I was highly disappointed. I needed calm air so that the lake would provide a good reflection of the Bells. The wind was blowing and the waves were laughing at the shore and at me as I knew a good reflection shot was not to be. This didn't stop me from taking pictures and just standing in wonderment as the sun woke up these majestic mountains.
Then a strange thing happened. I was looking through the viewfinder of my camera and noticed that the waves were getting smaller. Then within about 10 minutes there was a perfect stillness on the lake surface. I couldn't believe it but didn't question the why I just started taking photo after photo of the most amazing scene unfolding before my eyes.
The photo below is one of about 398 I took over a two hour period. A computer screen doesn't really do it justice. I'm just glad I got to see it in person. I said a little prayer of thanks before leaving the lake. It was an honor getting to stand in wonder as God said 'Good Morning' to this little corner of creation.
'Good Morning' to the Bells-Aspen, Colorado
Well it's 11 am and I'm in the public library in Aspen. It's a beautiful facility with views of the ski slopes through the peaked windows. I'm headed out to find a camping place for the night and then later tonight when the light is good I'll take some wildflower pictures. 71 degrees sure feels nice.
Afternoon-After getting some information at the Aspen Ranger Station I made my way up Independence Pass to the Lincoln Creek Road. This is a four wheel drive road that snakes back into a valley with several lakes. I was looking for wildflowers and while the scenery was beautiful the wild flowers were past their peak. It was a great afternoon for sight seeing but marginal for wildflowers. So.. what to do. I had planned to spend the night by one of the lakes but knew that there were better lakes for sunrise pictures back in the Maroon Bells region. I finally decided to head on to the Bells and back pack into Crater Lake above Maroon Lake. I got to the trailhead about 5:30 pm and loaded up for hike back into the lake. This trail is about 1.50 miles and rises about 500 feet in elevation. That's not much of a hike except that I had 52 pounds of camera gear and camping gear to carry. And, these lungs were not used to the 10,000 ft elevation. I was racing against the clock to get a good sunset picture so I pushed on up the mountain and finally arrived out of breath and just in time to get this picture.
Crater Lake (near Aspen), Colorado
After taking a few photographs I proceeded to set up my tent in semi-darkness. Since I hadn't hiked or camped in this area I didn't know what to expect in the way of critters so I kept my bear mace close by. The ranger said bears were a remote possibility but I wanted to be safe just in case. I drifted off to a much needed sleep. I had gotten only an hour of sleep in the last 38 hours. During the middle of the night I awoke to the sound of rustling brush outside my tent. The moon was really bright and as my eyes focused I saw a pair of eyes staring back at me. I jumped back in the tent and was relieved to see a harmless deer bound off into the night. Well, now I was wide awake and the moon was so bright I had trouble going back to sleep. Eventually I drifted off again into slumber land only to be awakended sometime later with a flash light being used to look for campsite near mine. Geez, between the four legged and two legged animals out tonight my sleep was anything but restful. It was a long night. I was reminded of the phrase, "slept all night for 5 minutes".
5 am came too early but I knew I had to get up and head out to catch the sunrise illuminating the mountains above my campsite. I gathered up all my gear and hiked to the far end of the lake. The only route was through some thick trees and a rock slide area. I finally got to my spot to find that the sun was not going to cooperate and was to stay hidden behind some clouds for sometime. But who can complain when you have a waterfall across the lake making for a picturesque scene.
Waterfall near Crater Lake
I don't know if this was the same deer that peered into my tent during the night. He wasn't too interested in anything this morning but munching on these Marsh Marigolds.
