I recently had the opportunity to travel to Keystone, Colorado. This is a summary of the wonderful experiences I had on the trip, including a sleigh ride, snowmobiling, and dinner atop a ski lodge.
The camera and lens used in all pictures is a Nikon D80 with the Nikon 18-135 mm lens available at Adorama.
Sleigh Ride Dinner
The activity for the first evening was a horse drawn sleigh ride and dinner. This started at about 4:30 pm in a national park just outside of Keystone, Colorado. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was dark when we came back, but the moon was out and the stars were extremely bright. If you are visiting with friends or family, I would highly recommend a sleigh ride, but I recommend it during the daylight hours. When the sun goes down, it gets cold quickly in the Colorado mountains.
Sleigh Ride
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 70 mm F5.6 1/60 sec ISO-100.
Dinner at the ranch
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 70 mm F5.6 1/400 sec ISO-100.
Mountain Sunrise
I stayed at the Lakeside Village at Keystone Lake. My body was still on east coast time and I woke up early the next morning so I went for a walk around the lake and I caught a glimpse of the sunrise cascading over the mountain tops.
Sunrise on the mountains
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 135 mm F5.6 1/200 sec ISO-100.
Sunrise complete
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 120 mm F5.6 1/320 sec ISO-100.
Snowmobile Trip
Later the second day I went on a Snowmobile trip. That was a lot of fun. It's like a waverunner on the snow.
Snowmobile trip
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 20 mm F10 1/400 sec ISO-100.
Snowmobilers in waiting
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 18 mm F8 1/250 sec ISO-100.
The view from the top
Nikon D80 18-135 mm lens @ 85 mm F6.3 1/640 sec ISO-100.
Fondue Lodge Dinner
On the evening of the second day, there was a Fondue dinner at Der Fondue Chessel. Most of the pictures inside the restaurant were quite dark so I've not posted them.
The Camera and Lens
The camera and lens used in all pictures is a Nikon D80 with the Nikon 18-135 mm lens available at Adorama.
All images and content are Copyright © 2007 Tim Stanley, All Rights Reserved.
Some of the images of the sunrise in the mountains exhibit the falloff or darkened corners that Ken Rockwell mentions in his Nikon 18-135 mm lens review. It gives either a nice effect or not depending on ones preference.