Winters are long in the high country but I hope that this early May snowstorm will mark the end of winter 2017. Snow fell for 24 straight hours and the temperature dipped to 13 degrees on May Day Eve. Getting out the winter parka and relighting the pilot light on the furnace can be a bit dispiriting just when you are ready to get out the lawn chairs and lemonade.
However the snowy weather can also bring magnificent beauty. So on May the first, the day following the storm I arose early in the morning to take a peak out the window at what might be going on at 14,115 feet on America’s Mountain, Pikes Peak. And from what I could see it looked like I was going to hit pay dirt! There were some fluffy clouds gathering and hanging around just below the 14,000 foot level with just enough blue sky to add some color and interesting light to the scene.
So I grabbed the camera and my trusty Canon F4L 200mm zoom and loaded the doggies and camera equipment into the truck. We drove to the trail head and quickly marched up to the first clearing where there is an unobstructed view of the peak. Son Boy wasn’t too excited about stopping there for the picture taking and tried occasionally to convince me with his considerable power to do things his way and head up the trail. But I was able to hang around a while and get what I hope to be the last vestiges of the winter of 2017 as it receded from the massive monolith before me.
As I write this, on the sixth of May the first thunder of spring is rumbling through the valley and the mesmerizing sound of falling rain is providing the night’s music. The winter of 2017 and with it one of the most terrible struggles I have ever experienced in my lifetime is indeed behind me. Hopefully next winter will find my situation vastly improved, although from today’s standpoint it does not appear that it will. But I have hope for I know that it is written, “And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.“.
I have selected this image and one other as the best of the series and have made them available as stock and print exclusively on my Pixels.com website. These will not be available on any micro stock sites as I have determined not to make my best images available at the discouraging rates that images are drawing in that venue.
Steve Krull is a prolific sports and nature photographer selling prints and stock images online as S.W. Krull Imaging at various sites and agencies. Click this link to view all the products and services offered by Steve Krull and S. W. Krull Imaging. Additional services include, wedding photography, portraiture and model portfolios, and event photography. Additional products include fine art stock imagery, prints and gift items
