First Winter Trek

This morning I set out to take photos in Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time this winter. I wasn’t expecting to get any great landscape photos because I was more interested in testing out my winter gear and my own perseverance. I arrived at the Bierstadt Lake trailhead well before sunrise and I immediately noticed how little snow there was in RMNP. I had fully expected to use my snow shoes, but the trail was mostly barren. That didn’t stop it from being cold and windy, though. I don’t know what the temperature was, but IF it was above 0 F it wasn’t by much. Within minutes of being on the trial, the water in the tube that runs to the bladder in my backpack froze solid. I’ll definitely have to figure out how to solve that problem before I attempt longer winter hikes. I also think that I will need to strictly limit the amount of camera equipment I carry. It’s nice to have every lens and filter with me so that I can adapt to changing conditions, but winter hiking adds a lot of other gear like snow shoes, poles, ice axe and all the extra clothing. I need to pull a Galen Rowell and hike with only what I absolutely need. A carbon fiber tripod would be nice too!!

With the lack of snow and dull sunrise this morning, I didn’t even take out my camera on my hike. But the day still had something in store for me. As I was driving back down through the park, I spotted a pack of Coyotes. They were headed someplace and stayed close to the road for a few miles. In fact, they walked ON the road for much of the way. Good thing it was still very early and there were no cars. I quickly grabbed my camera which was sealed in a zip lock bag warming up after my frigid hike (this helps to prevent damaging condensation). Of course, all the settings on the camera were set for landscape photography, not wildlife photography. In the excitement of the moment, I didn’t think to change the settings so a lot of the photos didn’t turn out so great, but I think it was more fun just seeing them. There’s always something special about seeing wildlife in their natural habitat.