Rocky Mountain National Park Sunset Landscape Photography
by Bessie Young
I have always wanted to see a moose. Always. It has been a dream of mine or goal of mine to actually finally see one.
A few years ago, I went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I was super excited to be in these locations as I thought for sure I was going to see one. Well… not so much. It didn’t happen.
Then a couple years ago I was up in the northern most part of Idaho. I was certain this was my time to see a moose… well, it didn’t happen again.
This year I traveled over to Colorado to take a long road trip back to California. My goal was to just see some beautiful landscape. As I planned my trip, of course moose was on my mind. I researched where to see moose in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park was one of those places so of course that was going to be my #1 destination.
As my plane got ready to land the pilot began to speak letting us know that there is ‘some weather’. Now what that meant no one knew, but one thing I did know was that could effect my Rocky Mountain National Park adventure. The plane landed, and it was slightly snowing in Denver. I wasn’t too worried about it, but did think there was a bit of potential that my travels were going to be thwarted.
Denver was my home for the night. It snowed all night. When I woke up in the morning there was a dusting of snow, so I got on my phone to check the conditions of the park. Of course the main road through the park was closed, but good news was the valley was still open! Yay!! I was pretty excited as the meadow was one of my main destinations and one of the main places that you would be able to see moose!
So, I packed up all my things and headed to the park. The pass to the park was beautiful and snowy, well actually the entire drive was beautiful and snowy. As I entered the park there were so many beautiful views and even better, there was absolutely no one there! It was like I had the entire valley of the park to myself! Let me tell you, this was a huge freaking treat.
I traveled through the limited open area of the park searching for moose along the way. To my disappointment there was none. I do not know much about moose habits; however, I was definitely wondering if the snow had ran them down into lower elevation.
Since there were no moose, my next goal was a good sunset landscape photograph. As I was wandering through the park I found some amazing views. I made it all the way to the closed gate, I sat there for a moment watching the cutest birds ever, and then decided on my final location for my sunset photograph.
The location for my main sunset image was an easy decision. There was a beautiful meadow with a stream that meandered through, the snow capped gorgeous mountains in the back, and surprisingly the only cloud in the sky. The stream was the perfect leading line right up to the mountains.
After I knew that I ‘got the shot’ I started playing around getting a few different images. Here are a few additional images that I got of the sunset:
On my way back to my hotel I was driving uber slow with big hopes that I might see a moose. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see one, but I was able to capture some pretty awesome images on my way.
I hope you all enjoyed this blog. Have you been to June Lake before? If so leave a comment below . I would love to hear about your trip!
Wishing you nothing but amazing adventures and pretty pictures!
Bessie
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