MEJ_1688 - Version 2

MEJ_1740

Not the best year for fall colors in 2011 but still really pretty.  Picture on right is several hours before a snow storm hit dropping over two feet of snow.

_J5J8272 - Version 4

Winter begins to appear in the rockies.  After completing an all night hike/sunrise adventure two nights before, I normally would have been content to wait at least a week before the next adventure.  The rockies received some of it's first snow of the season so I was eager for the return to Chasm Lake (11,760') sitting at the base of Longs Peak (14,259').  The forecast looked perfect to make the 8.4 mile roundtrip so I began asking around for any other fools to make this trip with me.  The usual response is "have a safe trip and I'll look at your pictures later".  We have a new intern at work that just graduated from Tennessee and loves the outdoors.  Kara is eager to see the beautiful sights of Colorado.  Aside from climbing a fourteener in the last month, Kara has not adjusted to the hight elevations yet.  We left at midnight and reached the Longs Peak trailhead at 2:00 AM to an almost empty parking lot that is usually full by 1:00 AM.  I've been lucky in the past with the weather forecasts but the weather is constantly changing in the high country of Colorado.  Within minutes of beginning our hike it began spitting snow in our faces being guided in the dark by our headlamps.  By the time we reached timberline the wind was blowing the snow really hard in our face and sometimes throwing us off balance.  After four miles we reached a privy (11,638') that is known as one of the most scenic privies in Colorado.  At this point we used the walls as a shelter from the wind and blowing snow in preparation for making the final .2 mile scramble up the steep basin to Chasm Lake.  I think at this point Kara was wondering why she made the decision to come.  We made the final scramble in about 30 minutes arriving at Chasm Lake an hour and fifteen minutes early before sunrise.  It was so bitter cold in the wind we found shelter in the middle of some large boulders eating some snacks waiting for sunrise.  Just before sunrise the sky cleared and the wind died down considerably but sill blowing enough to create ripples on the water.  The sunrise was still incredible with golden light hitting Longs Peak and reflecting on Chasm Lake.  View more Colorado photos at http://www.marblejones.com/p459698259

_J5J8091

Somehow I never get tired of leaving in the middle of the night and hiking several hours in the dark to capture sunrises like this.  This is Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park with views of Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain.  Hard to believe the hiking season is coming to a close in the high country--almost time to bring out the snowshoes!  View more Colorado photos at http://www.marblejones.com/p459698259

_J5J6507

_J5J7377

We spent almost a week in Ouray, Colorado also known as "Switzerland of America".  The mountain peaks are incredible with Mt. Sneffels (14,150') in the middle.  We went four-wheeling several days and hiking several days including a 10 mile hike exploring Lower, Middle and Upper Blue Lakes.  The picture above is Mt. Sneffels reflected in a beaver pond at the end of the day and Lower Blue Lake reflection of wild flowers at right.  View more photos of Colorado at http://www.marblejones.com/p459698259

Carl, Laura, Andrea and Dani enjoying the colors at Castle Pines Golf Club.

_J5J5869

_J5J5542

I reached the Longs Peak Trailhead at 1:45 AM Saturday morning to a parking lot full of cars.  Unbelievable how many people are here to climb Longs Peak (14,259').  The hike starts climbing immediately winding through the trees with a full moon above.  After about 2.5 miles I'm above tree line and about 3.5 miles make a left in the trail to Chasm Lake instead of right to climb Longs Peak.  It was fun to look back and see the many people hiking up with their headlamps on and look ahead to see those climbing Longs Peak.  After about mile 4 the trail ends and you have to scramble up a bunch of rocks for about .2 of a mile to Chasm Lake.  I reached the lake around 5:20 and walked around looking for the best location to take sunrise pictures.  There weren't any clouds in the sky for color but at 6:07 the sun began to hit Longs Peak and not a ripple on the lake.  I had to shoot vertical pictures to capture the tops of the mountains and the entire reflection in the lake.  I plan to hike back in September after the first snowfall and photograph it again with a fisheye lens to capture everything.  View more photos of Colorado at http://www.marblejones.com/p459698259

We drove through Yellowstone on the way back from our summer vacation just in time to see the sunset on "Old Faithful".

_J5J5463

_J5J3496

Had the pleasure of photographing Joe & Linnae's wedding just outside of Walla Walla, Washington last July.  It was a beautiful country setting and a beautiful bride.

_J5J1407

Finally, after two attempts of snowshoeing several hours in the dark in hopes of capturing a colorful sunrise, the sky cooperated and gave me a few minutes of "golden" light.  The hike began at Glacier Gorge Trailhead to "The Loch" and then on to Glass Lake and Sky Pond.  The total hike was just over 10 miles.  View more photos of Colorado at http://www.marblejones.com/p459698259

_J5J5246 I saw a picture of this arch in Outdoor Photography magazine so when we visited Arches National Park last April I set out to find the exact location.  Looking at the maps I narrowed it down to Turret Arch as one of the few arches that could be seen through another arch.  After arriving at North Window Archabout an hour before sunrise, I hiked around trying to line up the two arches and then realized you had to climb about a 50 foot bank in order to stand on a ledge lining yourself up with the two arches.  The first three or four minutes of sunrise were incredible with the golden light hitting the red rock and after five minutes the soft color is gone.

Three time world champion Valarie Jenkins makes putt at the 2011 Memorial at Fountain Hills, Arizona.

_J5J3043 Karl Haffner and I were in Alaska last february to photograph bald eagles and moose.  We heard the Junior Iditarod race was in Wasilla so I drove up from anchorage earlythat morning to photography the race.  After hiking couple of miles through the snow I found a spot where the dogs just finished coming up a hill and hoped their tongues would be hanging out and flopping around.  I laid down flat in the snow and photographed the dog sled teams coming by.  Each musher may start with 7-10 dogs and runs 75 miles to Yentna Station on the Iditarod Trail.  This is the first major checkpoint in the real Iditarod race.

Randy Travis performed for the Heart of Hearts Gala to benefit the cardiac programs at Littleton, Porter, Parker and Avista hospitals.

See more concert photos at http://www.marblejones.com/p1028706906