We love using our ATVs with friends to get to places that without these machines would be very difficult to visit. One recent example of this was a recent trip to Escalante Canyon. Most people at this point are probably thinking I mean the National Monument area around the town of Escalante in Utah. No, this location is in Colorado. Check my web site for more details.

This also reminds me that at some point in the future I will discuss other great ATV trips. Life does not get any better when you combine and ATV with hiking.

OK, also combine camping in the mix and it is fantastic.

I suppose several of you who follow my blog are going to tell me I just did a blog post on the Colorado National Monument so why am I doing another right away. I have two reasons: 1. There’s an event coming up you might like to participate in, 2. I love the Colorado National Monument.

This past winter the park service closed the road through the Monunment for several weeks. However, it was open to foot traffic. In this case it was cross country skiing. My wife and I love to cross country ski and it was an incredible experience to be able to ski down the road through the monument. We saw views that are more difficult to really appreciate when you drive through the park.

Well now you too can walk through the Monument with no auto traffic to worry about. On Sunday, August 28, 2011 Rim Rock Drive will be closed to motorized traffic from 7:30 am – 12:30 pm. You can walk, jog or bicycle and enjoy the fabulous views. You can also bring pets but they need to be on a leash and stay off of the trails. And of course you need to pick up pet waste. For more information you can contact the Colorado National Monument at: www.nps.gov/colm. This is my personal web site and I do not work for or represent the park service.

In my last blog I mentioned I could not find an image of the calendar. Wrong on my part. Go to the Colorado National Monument Association web site and check in the book store. http://216.119.69.137/cnma.cfm. While there check out the opportunity to join the association. There are many benefits to being a member.

Hope you have enjoyed the continued blog on the Monument.

Lately I have been back in the Colorado National Monument again for more photographic fun. As you may know if you have been following my blog we live very near the Monument. In fact I sit on the front balcony of our house in the morning with coffee and watch the morning sun light up the red rocks. Life doesn’t get any better than that.

This last trip into the canyon areas was partly cloudy with intermittent rain. It was very pleasant and not to hot. As it worked out the sun came out just enough to make for some nice photographs. I am collecting photos to enter into the calendar contest held each year. This year I have two photographs in the 2012 calendar which is for sale at the moment at the visitor’s center. Unfortunately they do not show an image of the calendar on their web site.

If you happen to be visiting the Monument there are two short hikes I highly recommend. They are more like short walks than hikes. One is the trail between the Bookcliff Overlook and the visitors center. It is an easy walk and very spectacular. The other is Otto’s Trail. This is also an easy walk with wonderful views.

This photo is an HDR version of a tree. Something a little different. In the section of my web site for the Monument you will find about 5 or 6 new images. They are normal photos, not HDR.

Sunsets in the Rocky Mountains can be unbelievalby beautiful. No where are they more spectucalur than in Rocky Mountain National Park. This park draws a lot of tourists during the summer and rightfully so because the mountains are amazing and so is the wildlife.

We recently camped in the park at the Moraine Campground. This is a great location. I have been to this park many times and I never get tired of it. If you have never been to Colorado then this is a good place to start.

It also has the highest continuous paved road in the world. Trail Ridge road is a thrilling experience. I have been up there in July and August when it is snowing. There can be so much snow that at times it is difficult to get the road open by the end of May. http://www.rmnp.com/

Hot where you live?  Come to Rocky Mountain National Park.

You may be saying wait a minute Steve, I thought you only shot southwestern and mountain landscape photographs. While that is usually true I did also say sometimes I photograph other stuff and HDR (high dynamic range) images. I also occasionally put together composite images.

The photography you see here is an HDR images which is the result of three photos of the same scene taken 2 f-stops apart and then processed to produce one image. Sometimes I process the images so the result looks very natural and you might not know it was the result of three photos melded into one image. However, for this one I made it look more surrealistic.

We recently made a trip to the Cleveland, Ohio area and I had the chance to photograph a number of covered bridges. Several views seemed to be good candidates for an HDR type photograph. This is my vision of one of these bridges.

In one of the sections of my web site you will find a few more HDR images. Hope you enjoy. Next time I will be back to western landscapes.

The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness area of Colorado is one of the most  amazing places in the state.. We recently had to opportunity to camp and ATV ride in this region of Colorado. If you enjoy ATV riding then this place is not to be missed. The photo shows us starting to cross a stream on one of the trails.
The trails tend to be very rocky but lots of fun. The views of the mountains along these trails is fantastic. You just have to put up with a very bumpy ride. I think several teeth in my head got rattled loose. (Just kidding).
Not only are the views in the area great but the weather was perfect. It was August and the day time highs were maybe in the 70′s and very cool at night. It sure beats being in 100 degree plus temperatures!!
I tried fishing which was suppose to be very good but I caught nothing. I don’t think I have the best fishing skills.
Anyway, if you are looking for an amazing place to visit then this is it. It is in the Gunnison National Forest area just north of Gunnison and east of Crested Butte. Check out my page under Colorado titled “Collegiate Peaks Wilferness” for more images.
Oh, I almost forgot. If you like my photos please check the “like” button. Thanks.