I had a chance to spend a week in Colorado with my good friend and fellow photographer, Rob, and jumped at it—even if it meant leaving the peak foliage in Vermont. The aspens here in the San Juan mountains, just a bit past peak, are gorgeous as are the Mountain Oaks. Add in a spectacular sunset (above) and it was easy to just be here instead of fretting about not being in Vermont!

From the San Juan Mountains we headed to Great Sand Dunes National Park. What a gem this little park is! Dunes that are 750′ high, full of changing shadows and curves and shades of tan.

And then, as we’d hoped for, a sighting of the gorgeous new moon setting just after sundown.

By the time we walked back out of the dunes the stars were shining brightly. Although I did not get a photograph of the Milky Way—which was spectacular—the Dipper was beautiful hanging on the horizon. A couple more days here—more dunes, some Sandhill Cranes and Garden of the Gods—and then back to post-peak Vermont!

 

 

15 Oct This entry was published on October 15, 2015 at 2:34 pm. It’s filed under John Snell, John Snell Photographer and tagged Colorado, Great Sand Dunes National Park, John Snell, new moon, Photography, San Juan Mountains. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.