Golden Bear and Hagar Mountain - July, 2025

 

KD isn't a huge fan of hiking mountains and she was at a church camp so the rest of the family made a day trip to hike a walkup 13er up I-70.  Golden bear is a great family hike with a gradual trail or grassy tundra the whole way.  Once you leave the parking lot, the sounds of the interstate are quickly replaced by the sounds of nature.  Kolbs is such a curious guy and was asking questions the whole time as we leisurely walked up the switchbacks toward the saddle of Coon Hill and Golden Bear.  There were tons of animals and wildlife along the route as we quickly came to a few short snowfield crossings...Cami's favorite:

It took under 3 hours to summit with breaks and snacks along the way.  The day was pretty nice, so I decided to head over a connecting ridge to Hagar.  I told the family I would give myself a one hour deadline to reach the summit or I'd turn around so they wouldn't have to wait on me too long.  Moving as quickly as I could without getting too uncomfortable, I was just able to make it in under that deadline.  The last push up Hagar is not so gentle, but steep and loose.  The final summit pitch had some fun scrambling at the top. 

Golden Bear Summit

Looking up at Hagar with the Citadel on the right

The way down was pleasant.  Though it was an "easy" mountain, there is always a degree of danger involved in any adventure.  While walking down, Kolby tripped on some rocks and scraped his knee up a bit.  A reminder that nature is merciless and indifferent to human mistakes.  He got some quick relief from his wounds with some Smashburger in Silverthorne.

Painting - Rocky Mountain Bull Elk

This is my latest painting of an autumn landscape with a big bull elk bugling.  It represents what I view as a classic Colorado fall scene.  The elk reference I used in this picture was taken from a photograph I took years ago in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The autumn landscape was taken near the Silverthorne/Vail area on a fall colors photography trip, while the sagebrush in the foreground was taken from yet another photograph.  Putting all these images together in a rough composite allowed me to tweak the composition exactly the way I wanted it.  I then adjusted the lighting so they fit together.  Artist license... it's allowed!

Elk reference photo

Inpiration background photo

Photoshopped reference photo

 Recently, I have been working on my technique with the goal to paint faster without sacrificing quality.  I try to use a larger brush for much of the piece to fill in sections faster giving the illusion of texture and detail, especially in the background.  Another thing that I'm learning is that using a solid reference photograph goes a long way toward creating that realistic, engaging image.  It's fun to compare images from the past to see how you've grown as an artist.  Below is a similar painting I completed when I was in college 15 years ago.  Side by side with this current one, you can see a lot of technical improvements:

15 years ago

Today

Last, here's a complete time-lapse video of the entire painting process:

Backpacking Holy Cross Wilderness

Cami and I took a quick overnight backpacking trip to Holy Cross Wilderness near Minturn.  This was such a pristine location.  Even though we knew this was such a heavy snow year and a cool summer, we were surprised to see that the high lakes were still partially frozen over....in August!  Also, there were waterfalls everywhere.  I don't think I've been on a hike with more waterfalls.  This was truly a hidden gem!

We only met one other person up there on the whole trip.  A man stopped us and asked if we could filter some water for him because his filter wasn't working.  He was a minster who worked in hospice care and we had a great talk about our faith and Jesus.  I have found that the kind of people that you run into deep in the woods are generally very friendly folks.  Or maybe its that friendly folks tend to enjoy getting out to enjoy God's creation. 

Sunrise over Lake Constantine - Prints available

Can you spot Cami?

As we approached the end of the hike, there were some more difficult rocks to scramble up what were smooth and wet.  Cami decided to wait at the lower lake while Molly and I continued to the upper lake.  The sun came out just for a few minutes and the views were breathtaking!  I always love to hear the marmots chirp at you as you trespass in their tundra territory.

Lower Lake

Upper Lake

Ptarmigan Trail - Sept. 2017

Took a one morning (one night) trip to do a sunrise hike/shoot over Silverthorne for the early season colors.  Still lots of green, but lots of yellow and orange too.  Getting geared up for our big "Fall Colors" trip next week!

Sun dancing on Peak 1

Guyselman Peak

Fall Colors Trip 2016

It was 90 degrees when I left my house on Friday afternoon.  Two hours later, I was driving through a blizzard at the Eisenhower Tunnel.  That's a Colorado Fall for you. 

Many people may not realize, but there is a ton of research, planning, preparation and patience involved in these multi-day photography trips.  This year's trip was centered around the peaks of the stunning, but not very popular Eagle's Nest Wilderness a.k.a. the Gore Range.  I took almost 1500 pictures over the course of 4 days.  If I could describe the experience in one word, it would be "cold"... and "beautiful"...and "lonely".  I don't have time to write the story behind each image, so I'll just post some of the best ones from the trip:

Acorn Creek

Eagles Nest Peak Sunrise

Sunburst and Cataract Lake

Cataract Lake

Aspen Forest

Peak K, Peak L, Gore Thumb, Guyselman Mountain, Peak N and Peak O (I think)

Grand Traverse Peak from Vail

Piney Lake

Peak C (center) and Mt. Powell (Left) from Piney River

One night I stayed out late to get some milky way shots as the sky was so clear at Piney Lake.  After shooting, Molly and I were heading back to the truck in the dark.  All of the sudden, Molly stops in the middle of the trail.  She must notice something.  Right in front of us we hear this loud grunting sound.  We both freeze.  A couple seconds later the same grunting sound.  All I can think is, "Man I hope that's not a bear".  Then I see another headlight in front of us.  No... it's not another headlamp.  It's the reflection of my own headlight in the eye of a large animal.  It grunts at us again.  This time Molly barks at it very loudly.  The creature starts moving toward us, then turns to its right and starts walking down the hill.  As it passes, I can see two HUGE antlers of a bull moose.  It walks past us toward Piney Lake.  I later found out that this moose is well known at the Piney Ranch.  Apparently, they call him Monty.  All I have to say is I'm thankful for my canine hiking partner!

Milky Way

Moose in Piney Lake