Unexpected Snow

The forecast last night was for a 50% chance of snow showers. So far there's at least a foot of fresh snow on the ground, and on the deck too.

Ojai

I just got back from a few days in the Los Angeles area visiting my wife's family, where (except for one day of rain) we had fairly nice weather - I'll be posting pictures from this trip over the next few weeks. It was quite a shock to go from t-shirts and this, taken on our last day there at Ojai:

To this, which greeted me at the car at Denver International Airport upon arrival:

Ice

We had some freezing fog and drizzle over the last couple of days but the sun came out again this morning. I love winter - it may be cold but it's the most beautiful season of the year.

After Sunset

It's at times like this that I really wish I had a super-telephoto lens. We had a great moonrise, but I don't have the equipment to capture it properly. In any case, the first picture today is right after sunset, looking towards the road that runs near our house (15 second exposure). The squiggle in the upper right is an airplane.

 The second picture is the moonrise just as it topped the trees, but the best I could do was trim a wider picture, and I'm not happy with the result.

First Snow

It's late in the year for it but we finally had our first snow. They're not the best pictures but there's something special about that first snow of the winter.

A Recent Sunrise

Here's a recent sunrise, looking out my front door.

Aspen Trees Changing

I wanted to see the fall aspen colors as they approach their peak, so I took a drive up Gold Camp Road today to Victor and Cripple Creek, two old mining towns (Cripple Creek is now filled with casinos). Gold Camp Road is a dirt road that passes to the south of Pikes Peak, and it is a favorite for viewing the aspen as they change color in the fall. Some storms started building but I was lucky enough to get enough sunshine to see the colors spectacularly. We don't have the fantastic variety of colors found in other parts of the country, but the aspens make it worthwhile. In some of the shots you can see how clearly the aspen groves stand out in the mountains as they change.