Fiery Sunrise in the Flatirons

Viewed from the City of Boulder, the Flatirons look to be a simple, one-dimensional wall of forest, mountain, and sandstone slabs. However, once you enter this wonderland, via one of myriad trails, you soon realize the area is replete with channels, arroyos, canyons, pinnacles, hollows, clearings, cliffs, overhangs, bizarre boulders, nooks and crannies, and even the occasional hobbit. Well, maybe not the last…just maybe.

Here is what most people see of the Flatirons, with the key slabs appropriately labeled:

Chautauqua View of Flatirons. Chautauqua Park, Boulder, Colorado, 2014

There are other perspectives. If you want your images to look different than the ho-hum standard, you’ll have to look for these different angles.

So, this morning’s pre-dawn walk-by-headlamp took me up through Gregory Canyon, past the Amphitheater, then via a faint climber’s trail to the saddle just west of (behind) the First Flatiron. The location turned out to be a mini-paradise and playground of odd-shaped trees, slabs and boulders. And, for me, it came filled with memories from a past life as a bit-too-fanatical rock climber who didn’t pay enough attention to his natural surroundings.

I settled in to this quiet, perfect spot to await the morning light and the rising of the giant solar orb. First light painted the striated clouds with a palette of unearthly delight. What a wonderful alternative to the mall madness of Black Friday!

Some selected images: