What Would You Do For The Perfect Photo?
A footprint planted onto the ground firmly, a light plume of dust lifts, bugs scatter for cover. Inhaling the fragrance of the air, I smell a sense of pine, water and other scents surrounding me. I looked up, smiled at the trail before me. Gazing up further, the smile I had turned to concern. Will we make it?
What a backdrop! Would you like to hike here in Telluride?
Have you ever planned a trip, a fabulous vacation with your family, with all these ideas of perfect places to visit, perfect adventures and thoughts of future memories brought a smile onto your face? But what if the unexpected happened, something that was not planned, not organized and certainly not welcomed? I had planned an incredible vacation in Colorado one summer, and the unexpected did happen!
It was July and a perfect time to get out of the heat and head to a forest landscape, with promises of cooler weather and oodles of green colors to savor. As my excitement grew on our departure date, I noticed something was slightly different, but nothing to worry about. After all, does not Arizona have weather sometimes?
“Honey, it is cloudy out. Do you still want to hike?” asked my husband the next morning. I looked at him, pushed the curtains open in our camper, and took a good, hard stare of the skies above. I sighed and said, “Yes let us go. The weather says cloudy skies for the day and clearing later in the afternoon. John, I am excited about taking long exposure shots. There is a beautiful waterfall at the end of the trail with my name on it.” When it comes to taking photos, I tend to focus on what it is I am taking a photo of, rather than the circumstances surrounding it.
Amazing views as you are hiking on this trail.
We arrived at the hiking trailhead, after many circles around the streets, trying to find a parking spot! After all it is Telluride, a tourist trap of sorts and a gorgeous jaw-dropping array of mountains for your viewing pleasure.
I took my first step on the Bear Creek Trail, breathed in the heavy scent of pine and water, then we were on our way. I was all smiles as it was so beautiful with the greens of the forest reaching out to me with peace, the soothing water that popped up here and there which brought happy thoughts as I pictured the waterfall in my head.
A trail full of curves and little rocks to keep you watchful.
Soon after our first steps, John and my daughter were smacking their arms. Apparently, deer flies were present on this trail and thought my family was very tasty. These flies would nibble on them as if they tasted like chicken!
Have you hiked on a trail and wondered when the end point was or the highlight of the trail? That is where I was. I was questioning to myself if there was indeed a waterfall. Colorado is known for its many waterfalls, including those that are made from recent rain.
“Plop…plop…plop,” as water splatted onto my skin. I looked up and pleaded with the clouds to wait and hold the water until we were done. I then looked at my husband with a questioning and pleading gaze, as if to say, “I see it coming, but can we finish the trail? Please!” We put a skip into our steps and hurried a bit faster. As I am the shortest one in the family, I practically had to run after my family to keep up with them!
A full creek with a waterfall, with lush green all around.
“Do you hear that?” It is the roar of water, not rainwater, but a waterfall. It was coming soon! The rain was sprinkling off and on at this point, so I thought it might just pass by us. As we continued walking up the hill, I saw a full creek. This was a wide creek that was flowing quickly, but not overflowing. My husband and I quickly got my tripod setup and my camera placed on the tripod, with my fingers going through the different settings of manual mode.
I was hoping this was not the waterfall as we packed the camera in its bag and the tripod. I saw others walking on, so we eventually followed. A loud “KABOOM!” came from above. I jumped and screamed as it scared me. My husband thought it was funny (I did not). We were almost to the main attraction: the almighty waterfall. We had a narrow path to finish the trail and a bit of climbing to get your glutes strengthened.
This is what we came for!!! Isn’t it magnificent?
There it was, in all its glory. Pushing the branches out of the way, we hopped up a few rocks and walked to the noise of rushing water we heard. I stood there, mesmerized at this gushing waterfall, mouth slightly gaped opened. Another rumble of thunder alerted me to hurry myself. Remember that sprinkle of rain I talked about earlier? It now was coming down much harder, feeling like cold butter knives were being thrown at us as it left us shivering. Urgency was the key here!
My dear, sweet husband helped me to setup the tripod again and put my camera on top. I was shivering not only from the temperature drop but from the waterfall taking my breath away quite literally. He put an umbrella above as we had set everything set up. I am so glad I remembered my purple umbrella! Since it was a bit darker out and still the afternoon, I had to change the settings in the manual mode, with shivering fingers that were slowly starting to feel numb.
I took deep breaths as I was close to this amazing waterfall and took several shots. More thunder rumbled and I knew we had to leave. I grabbed my camera off the tripod and threw it on my shoulder, not in the bag. Walking quickly down the trail, I dropped my camera onto the rocks - horrors! But luckily it was fine.
Nature made trickles.
By the time we were halfway down the trail, the rain was a trickle and just stopped. We were soaked and I mean really soaked. No good hair days that day! And another bonus was the fly population dropped dramatically as flies and rain do not mix!
It was a day we would not forget. We were safe even in a thunderstorm we did not want to participate in. My pictures turned out fine, with some spots from the rain. It was a memorable vacation with some danger mixed in with family time. Kind of reminded me of Clark Griswold, from the movie Vacation, and maybe we have a little bit of that crazy zest for adventure in us as well.