In the Shadow of the City

My favorite place to visit whenever I visit the Denver Colorado area is Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Area. Many locals just refer to it as RMA. It is very convenient if you are flying into Denver as it is very close to the airport. The first thing I did when I flew in was to pick up my little rent a car and drive straight to the refuge. I spent two wonderful mornings photographing there. Photographing, Bison,Raccoons, Prairie Dogs, one of my favorites and some Mule Deer as well as some flowers and scenics. If you stop by the visitor center they have some amazing displays set up showing the history of the arsenal from days of farming through its days as a chemical munitions storage and disposal unit and how it is being transformed back to nature. It truly is a hidden gem of the Denver area. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at a variety of settings.

Last Day and RMA

October seventh was the last day of my trip to Colorado and Wyoming. I planned a an early afternoon flight out of DIA so that I could spend one last morning at Rocky Mountain Arsenal before my flight out. It's a pretty convenient location because the airport is only ten or fifteen minutes away when traffic is light. The arsenal is in Commerce City virtually in the shadow of Denver. You can see both the Rockies and the skyscrapers of Denver when you are driving around the refuge. On my flight out I had a western takeoff and I was seated on the south side of the plane so I got to see the Arsenal from the air. The roads are lined with cottonwoods and there are several good sized lakes. There are some good trails to hike and a plenty of subjects to photograph. You are required to stay in you car in the Bison area which is a pretty good idea if you have ever witnessed how fast they can move when they really want to. Hands down my favorite subjects are the Black Tailed Prairie Dogs. I had a great time photographing them as you can see I have plenty of images of them. They are a key species here providing food for predators as well as building homes for rabbits, snakes and burrowing owls. In addition to the Prairie Dogs I also photographed a Magpie on a Bison as well as a Mourning Dove, Meadowlark and a House Finch on some sunflowers. I saw quite a few deer both Mule Deer and Whitetail but I didn't seen any bucks like I did on my trip here a few years ago. I had an absolutely wonderful trip and I'm looking forward God willing to a trip back here in the future. On my drive home after my flight I was treated to a wonderful sunset as I drove up the Ridgewood Grade in Mendocino county where I call home. God bless and enjoy the images, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a variety of lenses.

Taking What You are Given or Images are Where You Fnd Them

The second day of my trip to Colorado and Wyoming was a travel day. Starting off with airport food. Ham and cheese crepe. I spent the majority of my flight from San Francisco to Denver glued to the window of the aircraft watching the endless landscape slip slowly away beneath me. I have always been fascinated with both geography and geology so flying in a plane is never boring to me especially if I have a window seat. Upon landing I went through the mechanical steps of picking up my luggage and rental car. From there even though it was midday I headed west from the airport to one of Denvers best kept secrets Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. The arsenal is right in the shadow of the city. Rocky Mountain Arsenal was a United States chemical weapons manufacturing center. The site was operated by the United States Army throughout the later 20th century until it was closed in 1992. In 2011 parts of it were opened as part of a National Wildlife Refuge. It has an incredible diversity of wildlife. I drove the auto tour and photographed a bison and a view of the Rocky Mountains. When I was leaving the refuge I spotted a huge semi that must have been used by Ford Motor Company to tout its new Ford F150 Pick up. I then headed out into rush hour traffic to my good friend Dan Burkes house. When I arrived at his house I found a great fungi in his lawn which I promptly photographed. Many time images are where you find them.Oh my what a mixed bag of images! God blessings to all, chris

Icon of the West

One of the fun things about photographing at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is the chance to photograph the Bison. There is a small herd of these iconic animals roaming in the shadow of the city of Denver, Colorado. Many times they come close enough to the road to be photographed. While I was there a few weeks back they came onto the road to lick the pavement for salt and minerals. So, yes they were very close.What a magnificent animal to photograph. Enjoy and God bless, chris