Impression Evergreen

Winter Storm Gage Right at the start of another decade, a named storm descended onto the foothills, dumping heavy amounts of more snowfall. Winter Storm Gage cruised down through the corridor, eliminating any hint of color while leaving behind a landscape converted to gray. Trudging up a steep hill was a struggle but I did witness white flakes falling against the black trees, creating a soft, artistic effect. There was so much contrast between the two values, I felt like I was walking through a pointillistic painting. A few snags and fallen logs were representative of the rough life endured by the trees and animals that survive on Elk Ridge. From a high overlook, most of the valley was visible but the horizon line was lost due to the dense atmosphere. Working my way back down was a bit dicey because the trail was broken by rock, slush and ice. Back down at the bottom, a miserable wind made everything cold and uncomfortable but despite the bad weather, I can’t think of a bett...

Endless Winter The month of May is almost over and the Endless Winter continues to lay siege to Evergreen, Colorado. Day after day a merciless system of unyielding snow keeps falling heavy, wet and cold. All that moisture combined with warm air creates a ghostly fog that circulates mysteriously through the white woodland. Even the most familiar places seem like strange land because the diminished visibility concocts an eerie atmosphere. The unforgiving stream of storms has wreaked havoc on the plants, animals and people that inhabit this region. The limber pine trees rooted into the mountainsides are erected to withstand this kind of assault but the nesting birds are understandably distressed. We’re all accustomed to enduring the long winters that dig in at this altitude and these delayed storms are not unheard of. In all my time living here, the latest date on which I’ve witnessed a substantial amount of snow is June 24th. What appears like a disaster now will be a godsen...

Winter Weather Winter weather has continued to pummel the foothills leaving behind a panorama of white meadows and black forests. The big peaks have all but vanished from the landscape as a layer of thick fog has erased them from view. The animals are tired of contending with the everlasting cold and wet weather. We are all waiting patiently for Mother Nature’s palette of Spring colors to be painted across the gray environment. Wide stretches of vast wilderness has become a desolate winter tract into which neither man nor beast wishes to go. Positioned on the Western Front, the region is mired in a rut of mud, muck and monochrome. There is something hauntingly beautiful about the way the storms come crashing into the mountains. As the new season unfolds, the snow keeps falling in dense squalls that make the trees look like ghosts of the Great White North. It’s not an ideal situation but battling the harsh elements is the type of adversity that makes us strong. We’ll bide o...

First Snow On an early October morn, the first snow in the golden foothills could only be described in a soft monochrome. Rooted into a rocky hillside, an elegant forest of lodgepole pine was distinguished by a silvery tone. The soft-spoken storm snuck onto the scene and enveloped our area with dreary weather for quite some time. At the beginning, most of the moisture mixed with warm air and soaked into the parched ground. After dark when the temperatures went down, a couple of inches of wet snow accumulated on the grass, bushes and branches. By the next day, the meadow was glistening with termination dust in a picture reminiscent of winter. A soft monochrome An elegant forest Dreary weather The parched ground was soaked Snow on the grass and bushes Reminiscent of winter

Morning in the mountains On a frigid morning in the mountains, the dark landscape is coated with a thin layer of sparkling ice. Tired and cold, it's difficult to get going on such a dreary, winter dawn. By late January, the Front Range foothills are quiet and colorless. On this day things are different as a large herd of elk have gathered in the monochrome meadow. Strung out along the crest of a wide ridge, cows, yearlings and bulls forage together in the ochre grass. Patches of broken snowpack slide into the narrow draw below. After such an unusual weather event, the pure-white Evergreens look like crystallized Christmas Trees. In the low light, their grey shadows stretch across the watery gulch. It's a melancholy Monday but the morning march is a therapeutic necessity. It looks like it's going to be another hectic few days, working for the weekend. A frigid morning The dark landscape is covered with ice A dreary, winter dawn The foothills a...

Courthouse and Jail Rocks On a wintry morning in western Nebraska, I wandered around Courthouse and Jail Rocks, photographing the countryside in bad weather. The megaliths were like ghosts of the Great Plains as they were barely visible during an extreme whiteout. It was no easy task trudging through a foot of deep snow but any type of moisture is a blessing for the parched prairie. The blizzard could only be truthfully documented in black and white because there wasn’t even the slightest hint of color. During a cautious approach across the bleak landscape, the formation was a gray apparition that flickered in and out of view. Just as resilient as the first settlers, a solitary tree was somehow still standing fast in the face of fierce, northerly winds. The return to the roadside was a gloomy venture provoked by bitter cold. Along the way, a cheerful robin singing in the tangled brush was a surprising ray of hope that brightened the dreary day - spring may actually be closer...