Okay folks! I’m getting super excited about these pictures as I edit them, so I’ve got to cave and dump a bunch more of them! But first, a little explanation:
I have been trying to organize a Ranger outing of some kind since like... September of last year, and EVERY SINGLE TIME it has fallen through for one reason or another (pandemic-related or otherwise). Finally, I had kind of written off doing an actual trek until the weather gets warmer and some of the local restrictions are lifted, but I have been working REALLY HARD on a lot of new kit items over the last year with nowhere to wear them, so I talked to a couple friends about maybe doing just a photo shoot, and they seemed down. We had a photographer all set up and we were ready to go, but the weather forecast turned really nasty, and long story short, we decided to cancel the shoot.
But here’s the thing.
When it gets really cold and rainy here, there’s a spot in the foothills just above where I used to live that predictably always gets completely covered in fog, turning it into an ABSOLUTELY STUNNING fantasy environment. So I said “screw it,” and asked Sarah if she would come up there and shoot with me alone. We brought our poor doggo, and he was a total trooper through the wet and rain (and even occasional snow), and BOY HOWDY DID WE GET SOME INCREDIBLE PICTURES!
I realize it was a staged shoot and not a “proper” outing, per-se, but I tried to wear as realistic a version of my trekking gear as I could get away with without totally covering all the work I wanted to show off, and in the end the only thing I think I really forgot was my water skin (which I’m kicking myself about, because it would have been great in some of the photos, but alas).
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! And I have a feeling I’ll be posting a few more as we get done editing them.
(The location, incidentally, is area around the Boettcher Mansion and Lookout Mountain Nature Center in Golden, CO.)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/BkBfX6v.webp)
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains