Cascade

A long hiking day in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, located south of Rocky Mountain National Park, brought us near the end of the day to this beautiful cascading stream.

On that day we had climbed two 13ers, Apache and Navajo Peaks. By the time we finished, we had covered over eleven miles and 3,500 vertical feet of elevation gain in very rugged country. In fact, the climb up Navajo Peak involved some semi-technical work in a near vertical 100-foot couloir (narrow gully). The hike to the peaks had taken us past Long Lake and Lake Isabelle, two beautiful, large and pristine lakes. As we dropped in elevation from Lake Isabelle on our way back, the trail took us along a fork of the headwaters of the South St. Vrain River. At that location, the “river” is merely a cascading stream, but a very beautiful one that enticed us to stop and spend some time. The combination of the granite boulders, vegetation and flowers lining the stream with the waters tumbling over the rocks lent itself to a nearly perfect scene.

The way we photographed the water is sometimes referred to as the “angel hair” effect. It is most easily achieved when there is no direct sunlight or lighting is low. Shutter speed is slowed to at least 1/8th of a second while aperture must be compensated quite a bit to eliminate over exposure. At such a slow shutter speed, the moving water blurs creating the popular effect. While it’s always fun to photograph a water scene like this, it’s even more enjoyable to just sit streamside and enjoy the cool waters and the sound of the stream – a brief respite for weary souls.