Earlier this month, we had a day of rain that lasted late into the evening. I figured this meant the odds were pretty good that a) the mountains would be covered in fresh snow, and that b) it could make for a dramatic sunrise if the clouds hung around.

I got up early and headed up to Bassam Park on the east side of the Arkansas River valley. Looking out across the park, which is 1,700 feet above Buena Vista, you have a panoramic view of the Collegiate Peaks as well as the other fourteeners to the south. I set up before sunrise and waited. The sky to the east lit up nicely as the sun came over the horizon. The problem was that the clouds just couldn’t seem to lift off the peaks. I kept switching between a shot of Mt. Princeton and it’s neighbor, Mt. Antero, depending on which had more of the mountain showing.

The first image is of Mt. Antero shortly after sunrise while the clouds still had a bit of pink in them. The sun lit up the patch of aspens in the foreground nicely. The second image is of Mt. Princeton forty minutes later when the top of the peak finally showed through.