Moving On

So I’m packing up the house in Granby today and getting ready for part IV of this adventure, when I spot a moose outside my door. Not 100 yards away as has been typical of my time here. No, I mean literally less than 10 feet away outside my door! He is munching a baby aspen while I am at the computer. I catch a glimpse of him as Roxy sends her danger warning relentless bark. He is the size of a horse! And I cannot believe my good fortune. My last night here and I am beside myself with excitement. I grab my camera and head outside. I will upload photos another time. Suffice it to say, I feel incredibly lucky to have seen him tonight and will take that as a sign that it is time to move on.

I am looking forward to this next phase. The silence has been purposeful and I have processed a lot of emotion. There is no underlying angst. Moving on feels right.

I spent the weekend completely focused on photography at a workshop held by Perry Conway, an incredible wildlife photographer, and landscape photographer Gary Haines. It was fun and interesting and the weekend flew by!

At the beginning, Perry explained that his intention was to help each of us get to the next level regardless of our starting point. Some of us were beginners and others had been shooting for years. I wondered how he would be able to manage the different levels and was amazed that he could cover all the basics without having it feel too basic. His personal attention to each of us out in the field coupled by a very detailed seminar with his awe inspiring nature photography slide show set the bar really high and kept me involved at a heightened level. I came away with a much deeper understanding of my camera, other essentials, and the environment in which I plan to spend more time shooting.

I was up at 3am on Sunday in order to meet up with the group by 5. We climbed Mt. Evans (by car) and then hiked down to an almost secret community of 1500-year-old trees at the crack of dawn. The light was spectacular. And it was much warmer than anticipated. I started shedding layers as I got deeper into the scene. Perry made a point of reminding us to pay attention to the things we might otherwise pass by. It kept me very open to things I might have dismissed as unimportant. Kind of a metaphor for what we tend to overlook in our daily lives.

After the trees, we drove to about 12,500 feet in search of "animals." To everyone's delight, we encountered a number of mountain goats and big horned sheep who tentatively trusted our proximity as we inched closer to their feeding ground. We drove to the tippy top at 14,000 feet. Cyclers were pedaling up this monster mountain by the dozens. I cannot believe how fit people are here in Colorado! I hope you enjoy these photographs as much as I did shooting them!

Yesterday I learned that there is a small ski area right here in Granby and during the summer it is open to mountain bikers. How did I miss this? There is so much here and I’ve barely scratched the surface – the nearby lakes and protected wilderness areas for hiking / fishing / cycling / mountain biking / nature photography / horseback riding / rafting all combine to make for an idyllic summer. Plus there are music festivals and farmer’s markets, friendly people and incredible weather. I will be back!