Frozen Foothills - The Beauty of Snow

Beauty of snow

Deprived of sunlight, January is a dark month defined by brown meadows, black forests and gray brush. This forbidding time of year is exacerbated by isolation, solitude and endless waves of bad weather.

The storms come steamrolling down from the divide, dumping incredible amounts snow in a short amount of time. The wind-driven event shrouds the valley in a ghostly rampart that erases everything from view.

The next morning as cloud cover dissipates, warmer air is released into the atmosphere allowing an arctic chill to settle over the frozen foothills. The glistening, fresh powder instantly transforms the dreary landscape into a winter wonderland.

Pure, white snow brightens the area’s muddy palette as the trees appear greener, the grasses more yellow and the bushes more violet. The sparkling sky is a smooth gradient blended from cerulean to cobalt blue.

The forest is decorated with laced pine whose needle clumps collect drifts of plastered snow. The limber warriors are built to withstand the burden of heavy weight as they bend into impossible angles without breaking.

Making a trail through the park’s hard pack is a bear but the glorious scenery is worth the slog. The place is completely quiet except for the crunching of boots and the lively caws of a few hardy crows.

Springtime in the Rockies reinvigorates the soul while the summers are short and sweet. Fall is a magical time of year but there’s nothing in the mountains that compares to the beauty of snow.


Frozen foothills

Glistening, fresh powder

Winter wonderland

A brightened palette

Decorated with laced pine

Needle clumps collect snow

Limber pine are built to withstand weight

Glorious scenery

Comments

  1. Ryan K BiddulphJanuary 19, 2019 at 2:48 AM

    Stunning, Dan! You cannot beat a cold, crisp, clear winter landscape for offering the most eye popping shots. Magical.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan MillerJanuary 26, 2019 at 10:03 PM

      Thanks so much Ryan. I appreciate your nice comments. See you on Twitter!

      Delete

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