Sunday Style!

I run into stylish people everywhere! Earlier this month I went to the ARC on 19th and Uintah to donate a bag of clothes, and one other person was there to make a donation as well. Right away I noticed her cute shoes. I love Mary Janes! I must have at least ten pairs! She told me they were by Hot Chocolate, a company that you may remember from THIS Sunday Style post last year. Cute and comfy vegan shoes, great tattoos, a friendly smile, and she supports the awesome ARC... what's not to love? I took a couple of pictures with my cell phone and she told her name was Lauren. Thanks Lauren for the pictures! Maybe I'll run into you at the ARC again sometime!

Our adventure above the clouds

I mentioned last week that Pat and I had gone on a mountaintop adventure. I've finally gotten through all of the photos and decided which ones to share. This post has a lot of pictures!

Pat recently discovered that you can stay in a historic National Forest fire lookout tower, a là Jack Kerouac. Being huge fans of his, the prospect of this excited us to no end! Pat did some research and found that there are two such fire lookout towers in Colorado, and one of them is within easy driving distance, at the summit of Squaw Mountain. We booked it straightaway. As the date grew closer, the anticipation grew. We love new adventures and were very excited about this one!

It had been 20 years since we'd gotten to the top of a mountain on our own steam. All the same, we didn't realize that it would be quite so much work to reach the summit of Squaw Mountain. Neither of us thought to look up what the altitude would be. The directions simply told us to drive to Idaho Springs, head south for about 18 miles (it turned out to be more like 20), then park the car and hike up about a mile. That sounds easy enough, right? Wrong! First of all, like most people Pat has a 9-to-5 job. We were packed and ready to go, but Pat worked a full day and then came home and took a shower, so we didn't hit the road until about 5:45PM. The drive was roughly 120 to 130 miles. By the time we got to Squaw Mountain it was 8:00PM, dark, and 35°F (1.5° C) -- and only going to get darker and colder. The lookout tower has beds, electricity, space heaters and a small kitchen, but no running water. So you have to pack in all your food and water, plus extra clothes and a good sleeping bag to keep you warm, because it's cold up there! Our packs were heavy and they only got heavier as we hiked. But thank goodness Pat had the foresight to bring headlamps for both of us, which really helped. I've never gone night hiking before, let alone in the snow. It was definitely a unique experience!

So up the mountain we went. Even though I live at 6,000+ feet above sea level, I'm no good over 9,500 feet or so. I can't hack it! Well actually I can hack it, but not at the same pace that others can hack it. We started off at a good clip but eventually we both got to a point where we had to take frequent breaks, because the air was so thin. But it was fun anyway. We couldn't believe that we were hiking up a mountain in the snow, at night, in the cold. Really, this was not normal for us! And it was so dark out! Pitch black! At one point during a rest break we turned off our headlamps and looked up. We were suddenly awestruck by the sight of a million twinkling stars above us in the blackness, framed by swaying treetops. It was indescribable. I wish I could bottle that moment and keep it in my heart forever.

The directions told us that after a mile we'd get to a locked gate, and to go around it. Okay, apparently we didn't read the directions very well in preparation for this adventure, because after looking at them again we realized that there was another mile to hike after the locked gate! I'm not going to lie. It was tough. Not only did it get steeper, the road got a lot more rocky and harder to navigate -- especially in the dark! We pressed on. By then we'd been going for well over an hour, and we could not tell if we were even close to the summit. One foot in front of the other, keep going, stop, gasp for air, keep going... Finally I reached a point where it felt like I couldn't take another step. I took off my backpack and sat down on it. Pat put down his heavy pack too, then gamely soldiered up the path alone to see if he could spy the summit. When he came back down, he had great news: we were nearly there! Only a couple hundred yards to go! We pressed on with renewed vigor, and there it was! The lookout tower! As we rounded the steps, another amazing sight greeted us: the city of Denver in the far distance, twinkling in the dark below us. It was incredible.

Getting to the summit was such a relief. By then it was 10:45PM and we'd hiked for almost three hours. There's a sign at the base of the steps that lead up to the lookout: "Squaw Mountain Fire Lookout, Elevation 11,486 feet". It's a good thing I didn't know that in advance. I might have said no to this adventure! We were pretty dumbfounded to learn that we had just hiked to nearly 11,500 feet. In the dark of night, no less! It was cold up there above treeline, so the first order of business was to plug in the space heaters. I'd brought a camera and tripod (though Pat kindly carried them the entire way) in the hopes of taking some photographs of the night sky, but almost immediately after we arrived, a bank of heavy clouds enveloped the lookout tower and cloaked it until morning. The best part of that was when Pat opened the door and clouds drifted into the room. Clouds in our living room. I will never forget that as long as I live.

As if on cue, Pat and I woke at 5:30 the next morning to an unforgettable sight. The clouds that had shrouded us all night had descended to treetop level below us. They looked like the ocean, frozen mid-churn. The sun had not quite yet broken the horizon. The sky was deep blue, fading to apricot. It was breathtaking. I teared up, it was so beautiful. I tried to capture it in a few pictures. I'm sure they don't do it justice, but they give you an idea of what we saw. Magnificent.

I'll leave you with that. The pictures explain the rest. The hike up was difficult but worth every step. If you would like to stay in a lookout tower like we did, go to recreation.gov.

8:32PM, half an hour into the hike and motivated! I had no idea that we were well over 10,000 feet.

9:05PM, the lack of oxygen was getting to me. Soldier on, Tamera! You can do it!

5:42AM the next morning and the clouds had descended into the treetops below us. I could almost reach out and touch them. This picture doesn't come close to showing how beautiful it was -- there would be no way to capture such a moment in a mere photograph. Truly the most ravishing, otherworldly thing I've ever witnessed.

6:24AM and the mountains on the other side of the lookout were kissed by the rising sun.

11:11AM and I scrambled down the rocks below the lookout to get a picture. What a view!

We packed in Costa Rican coffee and a half dozen donuts for breakfast. I believe we earned it!

There's a log book on the small desk, and visitors are encouraged to write their impressions within. I was surprised to see that people stay at the lookout even in the dead of winter! There were lots of interesting and fun entries in the book.

Here are a few recent log book entries. As it turns out, we were the third visitors in a week. It's a popular spot!

I added to the log book, too.

Job duties for fire lookout rangers. Interesting reading. The tower was built in the 1920s and rebuilt (or maybe just remodeled, I'm not 100% clear on that) in the 1940s. I'm not sure when it was retired from its original purpose.

My bed. Not exactly the most comfortable place I've ever slept, but I've never had a 360° view like this from a hotel room! Windows all the way around, with the snow capped Front Range to the west. I give it five out of five stars 😉

This old photo gives you the names of all the surrounding mountains, including majestic Mount Evans, the tallest peak in the Front Range at 14,271 feet.

The hike down was laughably easy compared to the night before! Let's just say that going downhill takes a lot less effort.

Ah yes, the locked gate. It looks so innocent now.

Last shot of the day! This is where we parked our car. As you can see, it was snowing as we left.

On a final note, here is some video I shot from the wraparound deck of the lookout tower as the sun was coming up. Add this trip to your bucket list. This is the kind of view you can only see from the top of a mountain.

Skywatch Friday

Getting a post in with only an hour left to go in the day... this is a daily photo blog, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, even on busy days! Here are three photos I took of magnificent Pikes Peak on the same day, April 5th. The first one was taken at 1:35PM, while the sun was directly on it. I had noticed that a strong wind was causing the snow to fly off the summit. I love when it does that! So I grabbed a camera and headed for the overlook. Later in the day, I had an errand to run but noticed how dramatic the mountain looked, strongly backlit through the clouds. I curtailed my errand and headed back for the mesa. The shot was taken at 4:44PM. The last shot was taken as I was heading to meet friends for dinner downtown. I didn't have a real camera with me, so I just used my cell phone (it was taken from behind the wheel -- I checked for traffic, briefly stopped the car and snapped a photo through the windshield at 7:10PM). As you can see, the mountain had a beautiful rim of light, like a halo. Stupendous! Pikes Peak is always beautiful, but she really put on a good show for us that day!

For more Skywatch Friday pictures from bloggers everywhere, click HERE. Have a super weekend!

Distortions: Homage

I've mentioned before on this blog that my favorite photographer is André Kertész. In fact, I once did a little homage to him here, in March of 2009. For the last couple of days I've posted images that I took on a visit to the MCA Denver. Here are some that were inspired by Mr. Kertész's Distortions period. As I was sitting by the window taking the pictures that I featured in yesterday's post, I noticed how the reflective material on the angled outer surface of the window well created a distorted view of the street behind me, giving me the slightly disorienting sensation that I was sitting both inside and outside the building. I immediately thought of Kertész and took a handful of photographs. Here are the three winners.

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I'm fascinated by the idea of capturing people in motion. Unfortunately, I'm not a very good street photographer, which is ironic because when I originally picked up a camera in college, street photography was all I wanted to do. I am a crackerjack wedding photographer and portraitist, and I'm even a reasonably competent landscape and nature photographer when pressed. But alas, I'm a lousy-to-average-at-best street photographer. Isn't it funny how you pine to be good at something that you have no talent for? Like sewing your own clothes or painting a masterpiece or writing a great novel? Ironically, the skills I deploy as a wedding photographer to capture fleeting moments somehow don't work when I attempt street photography. It's frustrating! Nevertheless, I'm ever inclined to see my artistic handicap as a personal challenge, however foolish that may be. I perpetually tilt at the proverbial windmills with my camera. Though I'll never be a Garry Winogrand or a Vivian Maier, I decided this year to improve and, as you know, the only way you get better at things is to practice. I've been trying, I tell you! I don't see any improvement yet, but patience, patience...

So! When Pat and I were at the MCA Denver a couple of weekends ago (see yesterday's post), I found myself repeatedly drifting to an upper floor window overlooking 15th and Delgany. As I sat on the bench, I idly photographed people through the thick glass as they crossed the street. Some observations: it's interesting how folks will diligently wait for the "walk" signal before they step foot off the curb, even if there are no cars coming. It's also interesting how quickly they will all fall into lockstep, like soldiers. Another thing I noticed was how, if they are strangers, they will find strategies to distance themselves from one another once they commence crossing the street. Some will walk more quickly, while others will hang back; some stare ahead at a distant point, while others look down. Anything to avoid a semblance of contact. And finally, the random patterns they make when viewed from above, and the deep shadows cast by the afternoon sun, were interesting as well. I only allowed myself to take one photograph of each group, and I deleted none of the images. Here are all the photos I took, in chronological order.

P.S. I almost forgot to tell you! If you like contemporary street photography, there's a fantastic City Daily Photo blog that you should be following. B.C. at Chicago: A Daily Photo Blog never fails to impress me with her street photography talents. I only wish I was a good as she is. Check it out!

Jean-Michel Basquiat show at the MCA Denver

Pat and I hit up the "Basquiat Before Basquiat" show at the MCA Denver a couple of weekends ago. We're both big fans of the artist so we enjoyed seeing his early work from the years before he was discovered. We also checked out Ryan McGinley's unabashedly personal photographs on the second floor and the Wall Writers show in the basement. Really good stuff! Here are some images from the day.

Some of Basquiat's painted sweatshirts. Clearly he was endlessly, helplessly, voraciously creative.

Pat checking out a Basquiat painting.

These guys were doing a photo shoot all around the gallery. I think they must have been a band. We came across them in the Bubble Garden upstairs. The guy crouching inside the bubble had the biggest 'fro I've ever seen.

Ryan McGinley's photography, seemingly thousands of Polaroids.

I ended up on the same bench that this girl is lying on. I became engrossed by people crossing the street below me. Maybe I'll post pictures of them tomorrow.

MCA Denver

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver is currently hosting a show of early Basquiat works. We checked it out on April 9th. I'll post some images from that (and more) tomorrow. Here's a moment I captured of one of the security personnel glancing out the window.

Sunday Style!

I spotted this cool chick walking on Colfax in Denver a couple of weeks ago, and managed to get exactly one shot of her. Just look at her! So comfortable in her skin and her iconoclastic, rock and roll style. I found her footwear especially interesting -- an unexpected mashup of work/combat boots and cowboy boots. Not everyone could pull that off, but she does!

Anatomical confusion

Pat and I had a great adventure this week at the top of a mountain, and I have many musings and photos to share, but I've been trying to catch up on work since we got home so I can't show you any of it just yet. I do, however, have this terribly anatomically incorrect depiction of a woman on the tailgate of a truck, spotted earlier this month in Denver. I must say, the artist either has severe astigmatism or they took a lot of artistic license with this poor woman's body! She apparently has no skeleton and is made of Silly Putty. 😉

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I found this ancient Volvo in the alley behind a friend's house on the west side. In color, you can see the many layers of paint and rust, but I prefer it in black and white.

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If you're a Colorado Springs expatriate, this photo might make you a little homesick. There are few things more uniquely local to this place than Starr Kempf's wonderful kinetic sculptures. This one can be found downtown, on Colorado between Tejon and Nevada, next to the Plaza of the Rockies.

Blue man

Another image from Boulder. This busker was doing his thing on the Pearl Street Mall, and he was tearing it up! The Pearl Street Mall is always an interesting place for people watching.

Very odd

I love it when random things like this cross my path. I was at Chautauqua Park in Boulder doing some engagement portraits when this lady sauntered past holding a stuffed coyote. Huh? I just happened to have a camera in my hand (duh!) so of course I snapped a picture. I think she was on her way to a photo shoot herself, because there was a reflector propped against a nearby fence. I wonder what was up!

Chautauqua Park

Another image from Boulder. Chautauqua Park is the most popular open space in the city. There are always lots of hikers and sunshine-seekers to be found there, like this group headed straight for the famous Boulder Flatirons.