Matthew Botos

One of my favorite things about our national parks is getting out on the trails, away from the roads and crowds. In Western Rocky Mountain, I had set my sites on the Lulu City Trail, a 7.4 mile fairly-level round trip to an old silver mining town.

With a late afternoon start, we began hiking along the Colorado River and the surrounding forests and streams while keeping an eye out for moose in the meadows. Instead, there were a few robbins, and after crossing a few rock slide areas, a marmot appeared on a boulder above the next bend. I took a few quick photos with my regular lens before switching to my telephoto, at which point it started the rain.

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