Summit County

My annual December pilgrimage to Colorado -- with the sole exception being the COVID year of 2021 -- is as much to experience winter as anything.  I mean winter, which to me must include snow.  So imagine my disappoint when Zak and I arrived in the Denver area on December 18 to find things looking and feeling much like they did back in Texas -- 50-degree weather and everything a shade of dormant brown.

Fortunately, I knew a short drive west would provide that which I sought.  A quick Google search of winter photo spots yielded a location I had never visited -- Officers Gulch just past Frisco on I-70.  So on Monday afternoon, that's where I went. 

The spot is indeed beautiful.  But I was reminded of something I had forgot about the Colorado high country.  The sun starts to set really early in the winter.  Admittedly, winter was still two days away.  But that just meant I was only two days away from the shortest day -- and earliest sunset -- of the year.  So at 2:30 the surrounding peaks were already casting long shadows.

I did the best I could, and silently vowed to come back another time.  But I was still unfulfilled.

Fortunately, I got to drive right by the Dillon Reservoir scenic overlook.  The late afternoon sun was lighting things up beautifully.  This was a slightly more fulfilling sight!

As always, a view that's beautiful in landscape mode tends to also be gorgeous in portrait mode.  I was feeling considerably more fulfilled, but knew with a slight detour I could definitely see some winter conditions.

So I veered off of I-70 and took Route 6 to Loveland Pass.  And atop the pass, winter awaited.

The sun was getting quite low, but I managed to get some final shots to the north and south.  And with that, I had all the winter I would find for the afternoon.