Pike’s Peak from Long Gulch. Conifer, Colorado is an unincorporated community in the mountains above Denver, and Long Gulch is, in turn, on the side of Ski Mountain, above Conifer. One of my best friends lives a very rural life on the slope where this image was captured.

There’s a lot going on in this photo. The entire gulch and hillside in the foreground were scorched by a wildfire a number of years ago, and the remnants of many burned pines can be seen in the near distance. As usually happens after a fire, a sea of aspens has sprung up to replace the dead conifers. And Pike’s Peak, the hazy ridge on the far horizon, towers over the intermediary valleys and peaks from about 45 miles away.

Tech info: Nikon D850 camera with Nikon 28-300mm lens at 50mm, 1/500 sec. at f/11, ISO 250.

Image ©2022 James D. Peterson