Typical Winter Sky

I live in Colorado which is always cold and snowy, right? Actually, it's usually sunny. Here's a typical winter sky from a recent walk in a nearby park when I took the fisheye lens.

We do get snow, but at our relatively low elevation (7,100 feet or 2,164 meters above sea level) it rarely sticks around for long as that bright, warm sun melts it quickly.

Skywatch Friday

Black Forest Fisheye

Last time I went to the Black Forest Park, I took my fisheye lens along - you saw one of the shots posted a couple of days ago. You can still see the devastation from the wildfire a few years ago - that will take decades to completely heal.

Nevertheless there's plenty of natural beauty to be found here (and of course my dogs always come with me on my walks and hikes and sometimes end up in the photos).

And here's a final shot, taken at one of the park's pavilions looking straight up, a classic fisheye shot.

Our World Tuesday

Shadowy Trees

Shadow Shot Sunday

Black Forest Trees

For Skywatch Friday, here's a recent shot from a walk in a nearby park, taken with my ultra-wide fisheye lens to make them seem taller than they are.

Black Forest Park

One of my favorite nearby places is Black Forest Regional Park.

It's 385 acres of rolling hills and forests.

Unfortunately it was scarred by a serious wildfire a couple of years ago (a fire which destroyed almost 500 homes and killed two people), but it's still a wonderful place to go for a walk with the dogs.

It's even got a couple of ponds.

I'm sure I'll be back many more times.

Our World Tuesday

Black Forest Park

I've posted from the local Black Forest Regional Park before, and I'm sure I'll do so again because it's easy to get to and is rather pretty.

The dogs love it too.

Unfortunately parts of it were burned in a massive wildfire a couple of years ago, but it won't stop us from visiting.

Our World Tuesday

Firewood

When I was hiking in the Black Forest Regional Park, I found these pieces of wood from last year's wildfire.

Click on the wildfire link to see more photos related to that fire. Or visit Our World Tuesday to see lots of different things.

Black Forest Park Post-Fire

Those of you who have followed my blog will know there was a terrible wildfire in my area each of the last two summers; each destroyed hundreds of homes and thousands of acres. The one last year burned within a few streets of our house. Here are some more photos from my walk in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park, parts of which burned in last year's fire.

The burned area can be dangerous because in places the roots burned away, leaving the trees subject to falling at any time. However, where I entered the park (in the far southwest corner) no evidence of the fire was visible.

It didn't take long to reach areas showing signs of ground fire; these trees survived.

Walking further into the burn zone, there is a mixture of destroyed trees and those that survived.

But deeper into the fire zone, everything burned. These areas will take decades to regenerate.

You can see new vegetation shooting up through the ground.

I guess it did make the Pikes Peak views easier to see.

Our World Tuesday

Signs, Signs

More Black Forest Trees

Here's another photo taken in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park, which is unfortunately too well-named since last year's wildfire.

Lew asked me last week whether these trees would sprout new growth. They will not - they were killed in last year's wildfire and will eventually topple. There is some growth on the forest floor, but it will be decades before trees of this size have replaced all the dead ones. And this is my Skywatch Friday entry for the week.

Burned Trees

They finally opened Black Forest Regional Park; much of it burned in last year's wildfire and it took a long time to make the trails safe. Here's a shot of a couple of burned trees. I've got more to post from this walk. (Click on the Wildfire link to see more from that fire.)

Skywatch Friday

Black Forest Park

Here are a couple of photos taken in the nearby Black Forest Park over the last year or so that I haven't yet posted. They're a pretty part of my world for Our World Tuesday.

Horses

It's been far too long since I've posted to the Camera Critters meme, so here's a post to rectify that. It's some horses I encountered in a local park, and the riders were kind enough to let me take some photos of them.

They are such beautiful animals and a joy to be near.

E is for Evergreen

Tina's PicStory theme for the week is simply "E". And around here, E can represent the Evergreen trees that are so prevalent (various pine trees); they need to be able to survive year-round and shed the snows that can happen for 10 months of the year at our high altitudes (don't feel bad for us, as those same altitudes give the sun year-round warmth, we can be out in short-sleeves shirts in the middle of winter and get 300 days of sunshine in an average year). These photos are all taken in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park. We start with a shot of the trail winding through the trees.

 I love the long morning shadows.

 And those glorious Colorado blue skies!

 Here's a view of Pikes Peak from the park.

And a soccer field - lots of kids will be playing here later in the day. The field is surrounded by those ever-present evergreens.

This is my part of Our World Tuesday.

Simple Blue Skies

Here's a set of simple blue skies for this week's Skywatch Friday entry. These were all taken over the last couple of weeks on short hikes with Socks, the first in Pulpit Rock park, and the last two in the nearby Black Forest Regional Park this past Saturday. These are the skies we see most of the winter - we're lucky as the mountains shield us from most bad weather.

Black Forest Skies

Nothing spectacular for Skywatch Friday this week, just some pleasant skies from the nearby Black Forest Regional Park where Socks and I went for a hike last weekend. As you can see, most of the snow is gone.

There were some clouds off in the distance, but it was a beautiful day.

And remember, never look into the Sun. Otherwise you might get a strange spot in your photo, and other bad things!

I'll never tire of all the incredible blue skies we get here in Colorado - I've never lived anywhere else like this. For lots of lovely skies, visit the Skywatch Friday meme.