Endless Winter

It’s been snowing on and off since early November and when I wrote the first draft of this post, on March 20th, it was snowing! And, it snowed again last night, and the night before, etc., etc.! While the 20th might have felt like the first day of spring in many places, it didn’t here. We’ve had more than an average snowfall this year and there is a lot out there that will melt. I’ll expect a healthy mud season! Precipitation is always appreciated and needed to fill up our rivers and reservoirs. I can already see that the water level of our local, Ridgway Reservoir is looking higher for this time of year. The last time we had a very snowy winter the summer wildflowers were late, but extraordinary … so there’s that too. Following is an assortment of images shot in the latter half of our (seemingly) ‘endless winter’!

High winds are blowing snow off a mountain in the Sneffels Range, of Colorado's San Juan Mountains.
‘Windy Point’ © Denise Bush
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Fading light aims high on the winter peaks of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado.
‘Snowbound Scene’ © Denise Bush
Clouds clear to reveal snow covered peaks in Colorado's San Juans Mountains.
‘Winter Clearing’ © Denise Bush
Pink clouds cover Hayden Peak in the Sneffels range at sunset.
‘Hayden Under Cover’ © Denise Bush
Mount Sneffels poses along with some friends, including (right to left) Cirque Mountain, Teakettle Mountain and Ridgway Mountain
Sneffels & Friends © Denise Bush
The last light of day breaks through and strikes a distant cliff face, while alpenglow showers its pink light on the scene.
‘Cliff Spotlight’ © Denise Bush
A Ponderosa Pine stands out in a wintry forest with its size and orange colored bark.
‘Ponderosa & Forest Friends’ © Denise Bush
The thinnest sliver of light touches the top of a hill, just beyond a zigzag fence.
‘Sliver Of Light’ © Denise Bush
The last bit of light strikes in the distance, as alpenglow appears, looking east.
‘Cloudy Light On Distant Slopes’ © Denise Bush
A wintry mountain dons a bright cloud in this Colorado, San Juan Mountain scene near Ridgway.
‘Cloud Topped’ © Denise Bush
Last light falls on a wintry peak in the San Juan Mountains, near Ridgway, Colorado.
‘Peak Beauty’ © Denise Bush
A sparse grouping of aspen trees allows for a view of the not so distant mountains.
‘Beyond The Aspens’ © Denise Bush
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denisebushphoto

My passion for photography has rewarded me with the opportunity to examine the world carefully. My approach is intuitive and I choose to impose no constraints – leaving myself open only to possibilities. As a professional designer I am drawn to images that offer a strong composition, pattern and rhythm. Creating images with a unique perspective while sometimes pushing the limits of traditional composition 'rules' excites me. Landscapes, nature subjects and things from the past are common themes in my work.

51 thoughts on “Endless Winter”

  1. Denise, your photos are wonderful as usual, and I envy that you had so much snowfall this year. It was a dud year here in the east. My two favorite photos in this group are “Snowbound Scene” because it reminds of the days when we had more snow (and also my trip to Yellowstone, January 2014) and “Ponderosa and Forest Friends” because I love trees and since the snow obscures so many details, it makes me want to explore further into the woods.

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  7. Snowbound Scene! My fav. Although these are all lovely winter images. No snow this year here so thank you for sharing. Looking forward to the flowers and landscapes you will get to experience soon.

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  8. Denise. All incredibly amazing landscapes as usual. My favorites are Windy Point & Peak Beauty. ❤️

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  12. If they give you lemons, make lemonade; if they give you snow, make snowscapes. All these winter views are lovely. The rosy-tinted ones seem especially appealing

    It sure is worth waiting longer for wildflowers if they’re more bountiful.

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  15. In a way, I envy your endless winter. We had such a small amount of snow I would almost welcome one of our April Nor’easters. I am not very optimistic about a prolonged flow in our brooks this summer.
    “Peak Beauty” reminds me of “Clearing Storm with Alpenglow” in your previous post which is a good thing and lucky you to capture two such similarly lovely landscapes. I enjoyed the fencing in “Sliver of Light” and “Snowbound Scene”.

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    1. Hope you at least get some rain to fill up your brooks. I guess most locations have pros and cons and we just have to embrace what we get! It’s an unbelievable snowy winter this year. We got more snow last night. Thanks for visiting, commenting and letting me know your favs.

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  16. They’re all gorgeous, Denise. I especially like the pink sky ones.
    It was snowing here when I woke up yesterday morning. Winter isn’t letting go this year. Our river is pretty full so I hope the snow melt is slow!

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    1. Oh yes … hope it melts slow. It snowed here again last night and I just got in from shoveling. It’s been my exercise this winter. March is living up to its reputation as being Colorado’s snowiest month. Thank you!

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      1. I get it!! The Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Mountains are still getting snow here as we get rain. I have to say though, but mountain ranges look stunning when we are out driving.

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    1. Thank you! It’s my understanding that we need several years of good snowpack to recover. We heard our snowpack is 176% of average which is great but we will need lot’s of snow in the coming years to end the drought.

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  23. It is good that this has been a snowy year there. The west has seen unusual and much needed precipitation this year. I just came back from a trip to Utah and Nevada. Viewing the evidence of how far the water level in Lake Mead has fallen is shocking.

    I especially like your photos with the fences.

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