Winter Peak

Mountain Light #2

“Mountains are earth's undecaying monuments.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Winter Peak"
(Click on Photo for Larger View)

A snow covered peak looms over Colorado's
Eisenhower Tunnel near the Continental Divide.

I thought a wintery shot would be nice for the 1st of December.

I snapped this photo as we were coming back from skiing last spring. Traffic was at a standstill, as it often is during the ski season, so I was afforded many opportunities to take photos from the car. It's not so bad being stuck in traffic when views like this are available.

Near as I can tell from the map, this mountain seems to be about 12,200 feet high.

View more photos at www.ecoprints.net

Autumn Foliage

Autumn Splendor #3

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."  
~ George Eliot

"Autumn Foliage"

(click on photo for a larger view)

Shorter days signal the remarkable
transformation of fall in the Rockies.
Reynolds Park. Conifer, Colorado

Mesa Verde and The Ancient Ones

The National Parks #2

"Cliff Palace"
(click on photo for a larger view)

The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park

I feel a strong affinity with Native cultures and ancient peoples and there is pure magic in the lands where they lived and worked, laughed and cried, hunted, cooked, tended children and created art, for so many thousands of years. To walk through their homes, sit quietly in their places of worship, gaze upon their rock paintings, and hike their trails, fosters a deep sense of connection to these people, to the earth, to time itself. . .

One such magical place is  Mesa Verde National Park. The ancient homes of a vanished people are located there as well as at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and other sites throughout the Southwest. These cliff dwellings, nestled deep into the canyon walls, far below the mesa tops, are hidden from view and difficult to get to.

About 1,400 years ago, from 550 A.D. to 1300 A.D., ancestral Puebloans (sometimes known as Anasazi, or "Ancient Ones") inhabited the area's mesas. However, it wasn't until the last 100 years or so of this occupation that they constructed elaborate structures below the mesa tops. And, toward the late 1200s, they disappeared from the place altogether.

What happened to them? What forced them to build their homes into the side of steep cliffs to begin with? These are mysteries that archeologists have yet to solve. But you can still learn a great deal about the culture of these people at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and other archaeological sites in the Southwest.

I found this video on YouTube and thought it was interesting and fairly well done:





Related posts:

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Aspen Gold

Autumn Splendor # 1

Autumn is by far my favorite time of year and unfortunately, due to illnesses running through our household this year, I missed it. And it missed me. Even here on the mountain, which is normally glorious, there was a dismal show of color. I imagine the foot of snow we received earlier in the season had something to do with the aspens simply going from green to brown.

But, thanks to the magic of photography, I have more than memories to go by.

Aspen Gold

(click on photo for a larger view)

Aspens from a previous fall near my home in Conifer, Colorado.

The National Parks -- America's Best Idea Indeed

The National Parks #1

Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan have done it again with another magnificent documentary series titled, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," airing this week on PBS. And what a wonderful idea this was for a documentary. The film is all at once beautiful and informative, moving and inspiring. I was uplifted by the incredible scenery and the unfaltering commitment of  those who fought to preserve our public lands and brought to tears by those seeking to destroy them (the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite comes to mind).  I could go on and on about the series but I'll defer to those who can express themselves much better than I.

• Awesome: Ken Burns masterfully captures story and splendor of our national parks
  
  
• Ken Burns on how democracy saved the best places for all
  
  
• New heights for Burns and PBS
  
  
• Ken Burns' 'National Parks' film has beauty, brains
  
  
• 'The National Parks': Ken Burns’ best
  
  

Purchase the DVD and book.

As a nature lover and a landscape photographer I owe a debt of gratitude to our National Parks and all our public lands. They have sustained me through good times and bad and have done much to feed my soul. Many thanks to Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan for creating such a beautiful and meaningful film about our most precious national treasures.

Part 2: National Parks Photos #1

Like millions of my fellow Americans, I, too, have found true inspiration in our National Parks and Monuments.

"Sunset Geyser"
(click on photo for a larger view)

Pink Cone Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

Winter Comes Early in the Mountains

Mountain Living #1

(click on photo for a larger view)

        First Day of Fall: September 22, 2009

Winter has come early to the mountain. Our first real snowfall dropped more than a foot of snow--and it's still coming down. It's lovely to watch--but I admit that I'm not quite ready for winter yet. The aspens haven't even started to turn here at the house.

And it's always strange to see snow clinging to green leaves. . .