Rounding Up the Strays

These are the last of my images from Colorado. It's taken me quite awhile to edit them all. One of the things that I really love about Colorado is the Aspen Trees. During my visit there in September I missed the peak color by about a week or so maybe a little more for the lower elevations. Luckily I still found some color, Pikas and some beautiful scenery. My last few days there I rented a room in an Air BnB just off of the Mount Evans Scenic Byway. The cabin was close to Chicago Creek and had some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. It was a perfect spot for trips up Mt. Evans and Loveland Pass without having to make long trips from the Denver area. I must say I had a great time. My trip home was uneventful and long. I had to wait for my bus for quite some time after I landed at San Francisco. I got a fun image of a tourist's legs waiting for a bus next to where I was sitting. I hope that you are having a great weekend. God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a variety of lenses.

Hanging out With the Pikas

My last full day in Colorado was spent high up in the Rockies. I left my rented room well before dawn and headed up to reach the top of the pass just after sunrise. I parked the car and grabbed my hat, gloves, some water and my camera gear. Hiking upward above 12,000 feet isn't easy for a close to sea level guy like me. I would climb twenty or thirty steps and then stop to catch my breath. I repeated this process over and over until I was high up a talus slope where the Pika live. American Pika are typically found in western North America from British Columbia in Canada to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, California and New Mexico. They are usually found at higher elevations from 8,000 to 14,000 feet, though there are two lower elevation populations; one along the Columbia River and one in North Eastern California. Their preferred habitat is in rock slides and talus rock covered slopes between the timberline and down into subalpine forest. Pikas are related to rabbits hence the nickname of "rock rabbits" is sometimes used. They definitely have the cuteness factor going for them. Pikas have a small, round body, peppery brown fur, large round ears. They are typically six to eight inches long and weigh in at about about six ounces. One of the coolest things about them is, like Polar Bears, they have black skin underneath their coats. The most amazing thing about them is that they don't hibernate. Instead, during the short window of summer, they gather a wide variety of flowers, grasses and plants and dry them in little hay stacks. These are then stored in their dens to eat during the long winter. At present many populations of Pika are in decline. It is believed to be linked to global warming. Pika are now missing at many historical sites that they used to live in. Whether this is due to drought or global warming, this has yet to be determined. Status as an endangered species has been applied for, but it was found that there was a lack of research to attain that status and research is ongoing. I had a fantastic time photographing them. It was great just sitting there in the rocks watching them running to and fro building up their hay piles. They would periodically stop to take a break and sun themselves. I photographed them until the light started getting too harsh. As I stood up to go I spotted a weasel above me that was also in search of Pikas. I don't think it wanted to be their friend! Alarm calls were sounding all over the Pika colony. I moved cross slope trying to get ahead of it, but I never sighted the weasel again. By then I was pretty tired, and I lay down on the tundra looking up at the blue sky and a few clouds floating by. Before long I nodded off to sleep. What a great nap I had! The Pikas were one of the highlights of my trip, and I look forward to photographing them in the future. God's love and blessings to all of you, Chris All images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600m lens on a Me foto tripod. Exposures varied and it still amazes me that the Tamron lens that was damaged when it fell out of my backpack onto the concrete was able to produce such fantastic images.

Fall Favorites

Fall brings out some of the most incredible colors in all of God's creation. Bright reds, soft pinks, brilliant oranges and golden yellows all on brilliant display. My all time favorite has to be the Quaking Aspens. That's probably because I grew up in Colorado and I'm rather partial to them. Living for a long, long time now in Northern California I've come to appreciate the Big Leafed Maples and the Black Oaks. Surprisingly though one of my all time fall favorites is the often overlooked Bracken Fern. They have such a delicate form which when it is backlit reveals some beautiful color on the forest floor. There is a patch of them in our front yard that when the light hits them just right at sunset is just spectacular. May you have a blessed and wonderful week ahead, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens on a Manfrotto tripod. AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/25th of a sec.

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.

Good bye Wyoming Hello Prairie Dogs

I paid my respects to the silhouetted cowboy and his dog as I left Wyoming at the Colorado border. I don't know who the artist is but it makes for a wonderful image early in the morning. This was day 13 of my trip and I was headed south on I25 to Loveland, Colorado and then on to Denver for my trip home in NorCal the following day. I was up way before the crack of dawn as is the norm for any kind of a photography expedition. My first major stop was to the Prairie Dog Colony on the east side of Loveland. Sadly this colony may not be there very much longer as the property is up for sale. Who knows what will become of them once the property is developed? I photographed some great behaviors of the eating and greeting. I even got an image of one barking out it's warning out to the rest of the colony. When you see one getting ready to bark you have to leave plenty of room at the top of the frame for them to leap up to. From there I stopped by for short visit to my brother and sister in laws and then I drove past my old house and photographed Barnes Ditch where I spent many a day fishing,swimming, tubing and ice skating in my youth. I'm sure that in this current day of lawsuits and safety none of that is allowed now. My final stop in Loveland was to visit my second Mom, Joanne Burke. Check out her artwork it is fantastic. I call her my second Mom because I was always over at her house when I was growing up. From there I drove with my friend Dan and his girlfriend Julie back to Denver where I got another chance to photograph Zack Julies dog. Dog images are a lot of fun to make especially when you have a great dog like Zack t work with. Such a handsome fellow! God's love and blessings to all, chrisAll images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens. Settings and exposures varied.