Second Creek Trail

After a very quick visit to Chatfield State Park on my first day in Colorado, I needed to take Zak up to Winter Park to drop him off for a few days of snowboarding with his buddies. But I had no intention of being done taking pictures!

I looked for somewhere to snowshoe along the route and found the Second Creek Trail near the top of Berthoud Pass.  At a little under 2.5 miles roundtrip with just 800 feet of elevation gain, I figured this would be a solid stretch of the legs.

Some clouds had rolled in that afternoon, but nothing too ominous.  The trailhead was easy to spot from the road, and I still remembered how to strap up my snowshoes.  Off to a good start!

The cloudy conditions and thick trees caused me to focus on more intimate shots, like some dead pine cones still clinging to their branches.

I revisited an old friend -- dead wood.  The patterns are captivating, but I wish I'd bumped up the ISO a tiny bit so I could decrease the aperture and have a greater depth of field so the overall focus would be a touch sharper.

Even though this knot is right on a rule-of-thirds intersection, something about this image still makes me uncomfortable.  I think it's all the empty space in the upper left.

One tiny thing I'd neglected about my hike.  The elevation in Flower Mound, where I'd lived for roughly a year, is about 600 feet above sea level.  The elevation at the Second Creek trailhead is 10,600 feet.  I didn't really get tired on the hike, and my muscles didn't get sore.  But I had a really hard time catching my breath!

Snow began to fall as I approached the turnaround point, with the sun shining dimly through the clouds.  I'll bet this place is gorgeous when the wildflowers bloom.

On a clear day, you're supposed to be able to see the back bowls of Winter Park Ski Resort.  This was not such a day.

Even with my breathing challenges, I managed to get up and down in less than two hours.  Not bad for this flatlander!