Seeing the Maroon Bells with fall colors had been a bucket list item for me, and I was finally able to experience it this year! This particular morning was a rollercoaster of conditions: arriving pre-dawn to see the moon shining down on me from clear skies, then an unexpected storm rolled in drenching me with rain/sleet, and then a glorious rainbow with sunbeams appeared shortly after sunrise (while it was still raining on me). I happened to have a rainfly from my hiking backpack with me, so I fashioned a cover for both my head and my camera/tripod, quickly lifting it up whenever I snapped a photo - I'm sure I looked pretty funny, but it was the best I could do to minimize the number of raindrops on my camera lens. Words (and photos) can't fully describe how incredible this scene was in person, but I took as many photos as possible to commemorate it.
tagged: maroon bells rainbow fall colors autumn mountains aspen colorado
