Beautiful pictures! Thanks for bringing Lake Dillon back to me. I spent a few years there after high school, bumming around, working at A-Basin and Keystone, living at the base of Buffalo Mountain. Beautiful place.
Thanks elkshunter..I have been waiting for a sunrise in reviewing of all the pixs here…thanks for giving me one…simply so lovely…this made my day…hugs…
This is very like the double rainbow Gooserock sent me out to photograph before I turned around to capture my sunset in my diary. You have truly captured it for us all. Thank you.
The shrub community recovers within a few years, but for the junipers & pinyon pines it will take 300-400 years.
Mesa Verde has a working relationship with fire. Since 1900 there have been an average of 8 fires per year, since 1970 the average has increased to 20-25 fires per year. I’m not sure what the exact number is for the park, but this area usually only gets 4″-6″ of moisture per year.
The mountain shrub communities (above 7,500 feet) which include Gambel oak, serviceberry, mountain mahogany, Fendler bush, and various grasses regenerate quickly after a fire has swept through. This Mountain Shrub vegetation covers about 30% of the park. Much of what you’ve already driven through has been this Mountain Shrub community (notice the Gambel oak regeneration). 56% of the park is covered by Pinyon/Juniper forests. Notice how dense the Pinyon/Juniper forest is between Farview Visitor Center and the Chapin Museum. Pinyon/Juniper forests burn very hot and are very devastating (notice Wetherill Mesa). These Pinyon/Juniper forests affected by fire will take 300-400 years to regenerate! (to look as it does around the Musem loop today).
That rock is funny, it most certainly looks like it’s flipping us off. You’re very lucky to live someplace where you see such beautiful stuff. If I want to see beauty outside my window, I’ll have to put pics of myself out there. HAHAHA
I like them all very much, especially as I’m a big fan of outdoor landscapes shots.
I think the double rainbow at Keystone is probably the very best double rainbow photo I’ve seen. I very much like the transitions from the lower right to the upper left.
Sunrise from my balcony – Lake Dillon, CO
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for bringing Lake Dillon back to me. I spent a few years there after high school, bumming around, working at A-Basin and Keystone, living at the base of Buffalo Mountain. Beautiful place.
we were neighbors then. i also came up to bum around & work at keystone for a winter. that was 25 years ago & i’m still here.
Thanks elkshunter..I have been waiting for a sunrise in reviewing of all the pixs here…thanks for giving me one…simply so lovely…this made my day…hugs…
Double rainbow near Keystone, CO
This is very like the double rainbow Gooserock sent me out to photograph before I turned around to capture my sunset in my diary. You have truly captured it for us all. Thank you.
Sorry, secret elk-hunting spot.
Lake Dillon at morning; it’s actually a reservoir.
Oops, another secret spot!
View from my window – honest!
absolutely breathtaking…I love it so much…you are so lucky to have gotten this memory of this view.
Rainbows are such a gift…. thank you.
Mesa Verde National Park, CO, after a big fire.
Oh dear….at first I thought it was winter trees in a deep fog. How long will it take for it to recover?
The shrub community recovers within a few years, but for the junipers & pinyon pines it will take 300-400 years.
Mesa Verde has a working relationship with fire. Since 1900 there have been an average of 8 fires per year, since 1970 the average has increased to 20-25 fires per year. I’m not sure what the exact number is for the park, but this area usually only gets 4″-6″ of moisture per year.
here’s the link for Mesa Verde’s
fire history
Onion Creek near Moab, Utah. For some reason I thought this was funny.
… I just keep trying to figure out why you would find that funny.
I think I could use that picture as a rubber stamp for work.
Another Lake Dillon photo. Ho-hum.
Backcountry skiing on Vail Pass. If you look closely, you might see my dog.
for the great pictures. I really like the Mesa Verde fire picture and the double rainbow.
i’m not sure how common double rainbows are, but i know we get more than our fair share. taken last week, this was the most recent one.
That rock is funny, it most certainly looks like it’s flipping us off. You’re very lucky to live someplace where you see such beautiful stuff. If I want to see beauty outside my window, I’ll have to put pics of myself out there. HAHAHA
I like them all very much, especially as I’m a big fan of outdoor landscapes shots.
I think the double rainbow at Keystone is probably the very best double rainbow photo I’ve seen. I very much like the transitions from the lower right to the upper left.