(Click on image to enlarge.)
More snow and ice, but much closer to home than yesterday’s post! The Rocky Mountains photographed here are in Colorado, but the range actually begins in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and extends through six U.S. states. The jagged peaks of the Rockies are similar to those of the Himalayas of Tibet. They are known as fault-block mountains in which the earth’s crust is pulled apart, with some parts being thrust upward and others downward.
Cottonwoods change to bright yellow when fall arrives in the Colorado valleys.
This small lake high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains is part of a fragile ecosystem formed by a geological fault in which the water pooled. The lake’s unique color is due to dissovled carbonate minerals. Visiting this national protected area surrounded by limestone cliffs, cottonwoods trees, and cascades requires a bit of effort: a steep 1,000-foot climb to an altitude of over 7,000 feet.
The summer sun has made the Colorado prairie grasses grow their tallest, but on the trees a few bare branches are beginning to appear as golden autumn leaves start to fall.
Prairie grasses grow wild in the arid lowlands and mountainsides of Colorado. Even though they gradually give way to the winter snows, they always bounce back triumphantly in the spring.
Milkweed Seedpod, East Boulder County Trail
Foxtail Barley, Rocky Mountain National Park
PK Photography 