finding beauty in the common and the uncommon


Welcome to the website of photographer Mikel Detmer


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Alpine sunflowers on the east ridge of Mount Bierstadt, in Colorado.
In the distance you can see part of The Sawtooth, a ridge running between Bierstadt and Mount Evans.
Mount Evans is home to the highest paved road in North America.

Symbolism


A small, lone tree at the top of Flagstaff Mountain, in Boulder, CO.
I was clearly not the first to see it, but I believe I was the first to see it like this.

Defining Daisy


The setting summer sun provides a brilliant backlit glow for this pair.

Sea of clouds


A sea of clouds just before sunrise on Long’s Peak, looking east over the plains of Colorado.

Ervin Peak, on the Way to Huron


This breathtaking view was taken looking north from nearby Middle Mountain. Unseen in the valley below is the ghost town of Winfield, a reminder of Colorado’s mining history.

Ervin Peak lies front and center in this photo, and is part of the Sawatch Range – home to 15 of Colorado’s 54 fourteeners. While merely the 233rd tallest mountain in Colorado, it is still a respectable 13,531 feet tall.
It’s bordered by Mount Hope, the more gentle peak to the far right in the photo, and Mount Blaurock, the sharp peak in shadow to the left of Ervin. To the left of Mount Blaurock, you can see La Plata Peak, the 5th tallest mountain in Colorado at 14,336 feet.

On this particular day our goal was away from Ervin Peak, following the ridgeline south from Winfield to Cross Mountain, Middle Mountain, Browns Peak, and then eventually to Mount Huron, at 14,012 feet.