Those Mountain High Skies
I Was In Awe of the Mountain Blue Skies
When I was fifteen and found myself for the first time staring up at the mountain peaks that surround us, I was in awe of the blue in the sky. It was such a fantastic rich blue.
That same trip, I experienced the frequent afternoon mountain rains. Since then, I’ve learned Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park’s frequent afternoon rain and thunderstorms are a combination of solar heating, mountain topography, and seasonal wind patterns.
Throughout the morning, the sun heats up the ground and the mountain slopes. As the warm air begins to rise rapidly into the atmosphere, the steep slopes of RMNP act as a natural ramp. They force that warm, rising air even higher into the cold upper atmosphere, causing water vapor to condense quickly into towering storm clouds by early-to-mid afternoon. This moisture supercharges daily, turning ordinary clouds into localized thunderstorms.
Atmospheric changes create a variety of incredible skies and cloud formations throughout the day.
But my favorite is the blue skies, the bright, deep blue that is unmatched by the nice blue so prevalent in my home state of Iowa. Here, in the higher atmosphere, the skies can be beyond the blue of lower elevations.
One of my favorite places to capture the skies is Sprague Lake. With the openness, sunrise to the east, and Hallett Peak and continental divide to the west, the blue can be spectacular. When the sun rises in the morning, striking the peaks and pines to the west, it can be a phenomenal image to capture.
Adding to the blue of the sky, on a windless day, the view is a reflection of itself. It’s a double impression as the sky blue reflects in the clear, calm water. I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of Sprague Lake, but its variety of morning colors continue to provide pleasant surprises. In August 2024, I walked the lake to the east side. The alpenglow on the peaks above the treeline showed an amazing light balanced against the blue sky, all reflecting in the lake’s water.
From the same perspective, in May 2025 there was a cloudy sky to the west but clear to the east.. As the sun peaked over the mountains, it struck the evergreen trees along the western edge of the lake. The trees brightened to a golden-green and reflected against the rich, bluish-gray clouds creating a beautiful mirror image.
This fall, as I walked Endo Valley, the aspen had turned a striking yellow. I wandered in among the trees gazing upward at the cloudless blue sky. The contrast of golden-yellow aspen leaves and sky blue followed the line of white bark creating an upward visual of vibrant colors.
While the blues create an image of a perfect day, other impacts on the atmosphere expand the dynamics of the sky.
One morning, standing on the walking bridge at the Alluvial Fan, I was drawn by the lines of the log bridge railings. They guided a visual over Endo Valley to the 12,000 ft. peaks of RMNP near the Alpine Visitor Center. That morning, the clouds were low with the sky reaching down intermixing with the mountain tops.
Another morning on a RMNPhotographer Tour, I was standing at the Alpine Visitor Center gazing down into Endo Valley. There was a breaking of clouds after a dusting of snow leaving a contrast of greens and white. The mid-day sunrays broke through spreading a visual of light rays over the mountainsides.
Still, Sprague Lake remains my favorite sunrise photography location in RMNP. It has produced images with waves of clouds over a background of blue and a sun touched yellow reflecting perfectly in the smooth waters of the lake. One morning, before the sun peaked, the sky was already a rich blue, and when the sun hit the smattering of clouds, they turned brilliant shades of yellow and red.
Winter at Sprague Lake can bring the same astonishing sunrises. With the whites of snow and ice, a line of trees and mountains fill the horizon. Above are the blues and pinks brightening before the sun peaks creating a soft, gentle image on a brisk winter morning.
While all of this is natural, one of the things we fear is the potential for wildfires. This summer we were all warned by the fires in western states and the cloud of smoke filling our atmosphere from those flames. One morning, I was meeting guests at Hidden Valley for a sunrise tour. As I stepped from my SUV in the parking lot, the dense smoke covered the sunrise. It created both a beautiful and ominous orange sun visual.
When I was fifteen and on my first trip to Estes Park, I had no idea of the brilliant mornings our rocky mountain skies would share with me, or the opportunities I’d have to capture images of such spectacular skies. Now, the changing beauty of Estes Park skies is a joy each day.
