Pretty darn chilly here at 9,000 feet high in the Colorado Rockies today, enough to put on a hoody to type this blog post anyway! Not complaining though, this weather is the reason I live here, definitely not a fan of being hot. Tourist at the post office was complaining and hoping it was going to warm up. Nice post office lady at the desk just simply said, “It isn’t.”, lol. I knew it was going to be a good day when Pikes Peak came into view this morning. Storm clouds were already starting to flow across the north face. I love it when it does that, so picturesque 🙂
The deer also seemed to be happy about the cool wet weather, the vegetation is so lush this summer, better than it has been in years. Got this shot of one of the doe mule deer. Haven’t gotten one this nice in a while! She stood still and I had time to focus and steady the camera for quite a few good shots with my 70-200 zoom lens. As I look at the picture I am happy to see such awesome definition, even the hairs on her face standing out and she has such a beautiful neck. Even the sun was in the right place shining through the clouds for those perfect catch lights in her eyes. Picture Perfect :)
As I climbed high onto the ridge on the north side of Ute Pass I was surprised at some of the aftermath of this summer’s abundant rain. Many parts of the trail have been covered by rocks and mud. I’ve been hiking these trails a long time but I have only known drought, fire, evacuations and way too much afternoon sun! Back in the day when I was training for the Leadville Trail 100 on the Barr Trail I could count on rain and storms at 2:00 p.m. like clockwork. Of course this had to be factored in to the training runs, you never want to be on the peak when the lightning starts striking! In fact today reminds me of the weather on my first attempt at running 100 miles in Leadville. It started raining early in the day that day and rained all day and all night, finally clearing early in the morning as the last of the finishers were approaching the finish line.
Hoping then that the long drought is over and the cool rainy weather pattern is returning to the parched mountains. Maybe the long drought in my life is coming to and end as well. I had a productive day, lining up homeowners insurance for the house I am hoping for in Cripple Creek. Also made it through a complicated process to provide salary verification to my prospective lender. My agents are all telling me things are progressing smoothly, but still for me it seems like too much to hope for, like a surreal dream that I never thought would be possible again.
It’s going to be a perfect evening to get some rest… the occasional sound of light rain falling on the roof, a little hot chocolate, some nice music and my furry friends all snuggled around me 🙂
These photographs and others including some beautiful deer that I recently had the pleasure of photographing are available for purchase as prints and royalty free stock on my website. Beautiful wall art products such as prints on glossy metal and acrylic sheets, canvas and traditional frames and mattes can be seen on the regular website while stock images can be purchased from the image licensing portal.
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
