{One Week & Counting}

One week from today, we'll be hopping a plane at JFK to head out to Colorado. I'm really looking forward to some of this.........

And this........

And this........

See that mountain on the right? The one with the jagged peak. That's Flattop Mountain and that's on the list for this trip. I can't wait.

{Colorado Rocky Mountain Fever}

Counting down to {Colorado}....in 39 days we'll be on our way. September 6th can't get here soon enough. In another week I'll bring out Lisa Foster's book and start planning our hiking days. There are some definite hikes on the list this year: Flattop/Hallett, Mt Ida and another turn at the Odessa Loop. (without missing Lake Helene again) The other days are up for grabs. These mountains are calling me.....

{The Countdown has Started}

This morning I pulled out my calendar and marked the number of days until we head back to Colorado. Seventy-four days from today we'll be on a plane, heading towards Denver and then on to the mountains. If I close my eyes I can already see them. It's a wonderful feeling when we get on the road from the airport and drive towards Estes Park. Soon,  the mountains of the Colorado Front Range come into view. I love the feeling I get when I see them, kind of like coming home.

          Brian on Bierstadt Lake March 2012

This year we'll be coming into town a few days before the Longs Peak Scottish Highland Festival. We'll be staying with friends in Loveland for two nights so the guys can play golf. Then, that Saturday we drive to Estes for the festival. We've been there twice before and it's a great time.


Then the hiking begins. This is not everyone's idea of a vacation. There's no lounging around or sitting by a pool sipping drinks with little umbrellas. We're up and out early each day, spend 5-10 hours out on the trails and come home exhausted. There's nothing like it. 

There are several new hikes on the list for this year. We'll be sharing the trails with friends who enjoy hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. I'm hoping the summer flies. 

{Project 365+1: Week 10}

We were away in Colorado for most of this week. We had an amazing time with our friends, snowshoeing around the park. The weather was perfect!

{The Trouble with Brooklyn.....}

Besides the obvious trouble with Brooklyn......the trash strewn about the street by slobs, shootings, stabbings, people who let their dogs poop on the sidewalk and don't pick it up, rude shopkeepers, and , oh nevermind .... a real problem for me is the lack of  interesting photography subjects, especially during the gray winter months.  Some days I struggle with my Project 365+1. I'm having some fun using the DIY lightbox and my new 100m macro lens but I yearn for some nice outdoor photos. I miss blue skies and green. Any kind of green.

There are some mornings that I wake up and look out the front window to see the most beautiful pink and purple sky.  I grab the camera, which is always out on the coffee table, and lift the blinds to snap a shot before it changes. I put my eye up to the viewfinder, take a good look at the scene before me, lower the camera and put it back on the table. All the power lines crisscrossing the frame ruin it. Why bother? I'll just have to sit in front of the computer with CS5 running and clone them out. I'd rather spend that time doing something else.

That's the trouble with living in the city; there's always the chance some undesirable element will present itself in a photo. Empty water bottles at the park ruin my squirrel photos and  power lines ruin my sunrise photos. I still carry my camera around because I love photography. I just wish there were more options around here for winter photography. There hasn't bee any snow either *sniff, sniff*.  I'll just have to be patient and count down to next month's trip to Colorado for snowshoeing. At least I'll get some nice outdoor photos there. Ones without dog poop on the sidewalk.