One of the most intriguing things about the Rocky Mountains is how quickly the weather can change, especially at higher elevations. I had spent the entire day at the park in late August of 2019, arriving shortly after sunrise. As an aside, I would have made it by sunrise that day if I hadn’t gotten a speeding ticket just outside the park. 43 in a 35. My bad. Anyway, it was an absolutely beautiful day weather wise. It was hot in the late afternoon, in the upper 80s. There was not a lot of cloud cover, and not much in the way of rain or storms predicted.

I had wandered around the park, and done a few short hikes. A couple of hours before sunset I went back to Sprague Lake, hoping to get a nice sunset picture of Hallet Peak. Earlier in the day I actually was fortunate enough to catch a picture of a moose feeding in the lake. I lined it up just perfect with Hallet, and thought a sunset picture from there would make a nice set. After getting to the lake, the sky was clear to the west, and I realized it probably would not be the best conditions for the image I had in mind. So I packed up and drove to Bear Lake, arriving about 20 minutes later, and one hour before sunset.

As I walked up to the Bear Lake trailhead, clouds started to quickly roll in. As I mentioned, the weather changes fast. 20 minutes prior the sky was almost completely free of clouds. I walked a short way around the lake, and all of a sudden was hit with a gust of wind. Shortly after the wind, came the downpour. I was worried there might be lightning and thunder next, so I was prepared to head back to the car quickly. But the lightning and thunder never came, and after about 5 minutes the wind was completely gone, and the rain started to diminish.

As the rain began to subside, the clouds started to break up. As they did, the scene above unfolded in front of me. The setting sun had brought an eerie orange glow to everything. The contrast of the orange with the deep black clouds was simply beautiful. Hallet Peak looked foreboding surrounded by the orange glow. I quickly found a spot to set up my tripod and camera, and equipped a neutral density filter so I could do a long exposure, and smooth out the small ripples still left in the lake.

The photo turned out better than I thought it could. It was such a beautiful moment in time. I was mostly alone watching this amazing scene, in awe of what nature is capable of. It was the first photo I had taken in the park that I felt really captured a moment in the way I experienced it. And it is why I’m excited to share it with you.