Exploring Horsethief Park in the snow was something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. I’ve been on this trail in winter before, up to the falls anyway, but I’ve never taken the fork to the north at the beaver ponds. I’ve been wanting to take my film camera to the ponds and shoot in monochrome for some time now, and this was the day. I had a few frames of Ilford FP4 left in my old Canon A-1, and I took it up the trail to finish them off. Of course I also brought along my Canon R7 to shoot a video for my YouTube channel.
The Horsethief Falls Trail can be found along highway 67 between Divide and Cripple Creek, and is right at the old abandoned tunnel at the summit of the drive. I think it was about a mile from the trailhead to the wooden sign at the fork where you can turn to go to Pancake Rocks, go straight to the falls, or turn north to Horsethief Park.
The trail was hard packed snow all the way, and I decided to put on my microspikes when I was walking on the ridge up to this point. I don’t think you’d get killed outright falling off the trail, but it would be a mighty struggle to get back up the embankment and back on the trail.
Unfortunately the beaver ponds were just a mess of bramble and deep snow, nothing scenic at all, and certainly not worth wasting actual film to shoot.
The hike was far from being a waste of time though, with some good views of Sentinel Point to shoot along the way. I’m definitely going to need to prepare better and explore deeper into the expanse of wilderness between the falls and the Crags Trail.
There are some nice aspen stands along the trail, which follows Oil Creek to the base of Sentinel Point. I didn’t see any, but Oil Creek appears to be excellent moose habitat, so maybe I’ll have to visit more often with the hope of getting some nice moose pictures!
I decided to shoot the rest of my Ilford FP4 125 speed film at the aspen stands, which I thought looked quite striking in the snow in beautiful morning light.
If you would like to learn more about how to shoot pictures in the harsh Colorado Rocky Mountain Winter, please consider a purchase of my book Storm Warning. This book is filled with images of winter wildlife and landscapes, complete with advice for negotiating the back country with your camera and tips for shooting in the snow and harsh weather!
Steven W. Krull is a renowned photographer and author who has been photographing and writing of the beauty and wildlife of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over two decades. Please visit his website at S.W. Krull Imaging to view his work, including thousands of prints for sale, stock images for commercial use, and his library of published books.
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Colorado Photographer / Author / Wildlife Advocate | Steven W. Krull 