Rocky Mountain National Park - Trail Ridge Road

Trail Ridge Road

Trail Ridge Road connects the east and west sides of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the highest paved roads in the US at 12,183 feet. It is open only seasonally during the summer. The visitor center at 11,796 feet is the highest visitors center in the national park system. Along the road there are many beautiful areas, and wonderful hikes. The vistas are simply breathtaking, and there is likely no better way than to rejuvenate your soul than taking them in on a warm summer’s evening.

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One late spring morning I stopped by the Beaver Ponds Boardwalk to see if I could find any Moose having breakfast amongst the willows. Sure enough this little guy was having a field day. I stood there alone for about 30 minutes watching eat. I probably snapped about 200 photos of him, and this one is by far my favorite. This was probably the last 5 minutes I was there, and I think he had enough of me taking pictures when he stuck his head up and gave me the raspberry.

The Raspberry

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One of my favorite things to do in the summer is catch a Trail Ridge sunset. They are often spectacular, and many time with the summer’s unpredictable weather, can feature a storm. On this occasion a storm was forming over the divide, while the setting sun cast a plethora of colors across the sky. The combination of such vivid colors, scenic vistas, and weather make for the best type of sunset scenes.

Sunset Glow

Spotlight on LongsThe weather on Trail Ridge Road is always unpredictable. Pop up storms are common on summer afternoons. In this instance, the storms had already moved off the mountain and on to the plains, as the sun was setting to partly cloudy skies to the west. The results was the late day sun shining on Longs Peak, with storm dark, angry storm clouds as the backdrop.

Spotlight on Longs

Stormy late springs skies backdrop Longs Peak, while the sun shines its last light on the mountain peak. The day brought lots of snow flurries and sunlight, but towards the end of the day the storm clouds were winning the battle. The sun fought back with one last ray lighting the peak of my favorite mountain in the park.

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The night sky on Trail Ridge Road is almost indescribable. It is very dark, and very cold. Oh windy, it pretty windy too. If you can get past all of that though, the stars are incredibly bright from that high. This was the first Milky Way photo I ever took up there, and hopefully won’t be the last. This was taken from Rainbow Curve.

Rainbow Way

The Last Glow

Sunset just days after Trail Ridge Rd opened for the season. The soft pink glow after the sun had set behind the mountains created a serene scene I won’t forget.

Mount Doom

A stormy day where the clouds were clinging to the peaks. Rain and snow were falling on and off throughout the day, and occasionally the sun would make an appearance.

Rainbow Sunset

Summer sunsets and stormy skies on Trail Ridge Rd go hand in hand. Enough of the clouds had parted to let in the late day sunlight, while the clouds were clinging to the tops of the mountains. This was probably the most beautiful sunset I’ve captured from the top of Trail Ridge Rd.

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Putting Out The Fire

Contrast. in nature is one of my favorite things to witness and photograph. During the same sunset as Sunset Glow above, I switched to my zoom lens to capture some. The sky was a bright orange , but the rain was falling over the mountain peak.

Chasin’ Rainbows

The storms were relenting. Lightning, rain, wind, hail, and even some graupel. I was worried I wouldn’t see a peek of the sun all day. But just 30 minutes before sunset, as the heat of the day began to dissipate, the clouds gave way to the sun to the west. As soon as the suns rays arrived, the rainbow appeared. It lasted for a good 10 minutes.

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Longs Peak