Regensburger Photography

Author: Derek Regensburger

  • Frederick Northfield Football

    Frederick took on Northfield in the first round the CHSAA 4A football playoffs last night in what will be forever known as the snow bowl. As a snowstorm blew through dropping heavy wet snow, Frederick rolled at home behind a strong running game to take down Northfield 32-14 to advance to the second round.

  • CHSAA 5A 2024 Softball Finals

    CHSAA 5A 2024 Softball Finals

    The 2024 Colorado 5A softball finals were quite thrilling this year. Riverdale Ridge and Cherokee Trail both staged comebacks in the semifinals to set up their matchup in the final game. Riverdale hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to take down previously unbeaten Broomfield while Cherokee Trail hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to shock Legend. Riverdale made sure there was no drama in the final, jumping out to an 8-1 lead. They held on to grab an 8-4 victory over Cherokee Trail.

  • CU K-State Football 2024

    The Colorado Kansas’s State Football game last night at Folsom Field was another thriller but this team the visiting team came away with the victory 31-28. Kansas State jumped out to an early 24-14 lead at halftime. Colorado suffered injuries to 4 receivers including its top two threats, Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn, Jr. Colorado rallied in the fourth quarter to take a late lead 28-24 after Kansas State threw an interception on 4 and six form the Colorado 31. but Kansas State went ahead on a 50 yard touchdown pass just seconds later. Colorado had one last chance but Shedder Sanders’ deep pass to Will Shepard was broken up on fourth and five. The Kansas State cornerback tackled Shepard before the ball arrived but no interference call was made.

  • Colorado Fall Color 2024

    I drove through southern Colorado and witnessed an explosion of color this year.

  • CU CSU Football 2024

    CU CSU Football 2024

    The last Rocky Mountain Showdown for five years between Colorado and Colorado State occurred last Saturday. Colorado shook off a lethargic first half and took advantage of two second half interceptions to surge to a 28-9 victory. Travis Hunter once again proved he is a unique player in college football, grabbing two touchdown catches and an interception. The interception was particularly athletic as he broke on the ball before the receiver and snatched it from his grasp. Colorado takes on Baylor this weekend at home.

  • Odessa Lake Trail

    Odessa Lake Trail

    This week I hiked to Odessa Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, a place I’d never been before. The hike starts at the Bear Lake trailhead, passing Lake Helene, and ending up at Odessa Lake. It is a beautiful but challenging 8 mile RT hike.

    The first part of the trail follows Bear Lake and then quickly veers uphill after .2 of a mile. The trail climbs above Bear Lake and then veers sharply to the left. The lake is 3.6 miles from this point. For the next .5 mile, the trail heads steeply uphill through the pine forest. At this point, another trail junction makes a sharp left (toward the summit of Flattop Mountain). Ignore this junction and continue heading straight. The trail continues to climb. Soon, you will pass a clearing where views of the Mummy Range open up to the north. You will come to a large boulder field and avalanche chute that provides more open views.

    The trees begin to thin at this point and views of the mountains to the west appear. The trail through this section is quite easy. The grade is only a gentle uphill slope. As views of the mountains open up, the trail makes a hard right turn. At this point (around mile 3.5), a small social trail to the left is visible. Take this trail and after .2 mile, Lake Helene awaits. It is willow choked around the shore but a few spots are accessible. Follow the indistinct social trail to the left and visit some of the open spots along the lake. Lake Helene is quite shallow so the reflections are amazing here.

    After rejoining the main trail, continue heading north on the trail if you want to visit Lake Odessa. Here’s the bad news–the trail descends quite steeply about 600-800 feet to reach the lake. This means you will have to climb this steep and rocky slope on the return unless you through-hike to the Fern Lake trailhead and catch the shuttle back to Bear lake (this adds about 1-1.5 miles to the total hike). Odessa Lake is visible in a couple of spots as you descend. The trail passes the lake before backtracking to the shoreline.

    Enjoy lunch at the lake! You will need to recharge your batteries before the steep uphill climb back to Lake Helene. This part of the trail took me about 45 minutes. Once you reach this spot, however, it all downhill from here. The entire hike takes about 5-5.5 hours.

  • Wyoming Reflections

    I went to Jackson, WY to pick up some photographs that had been on display for the past year at St. John’s Hospital. While I was up in the area, I stopped at String Lake in Grand Teton National Park to catch the sunrise and then kayaked around Jackson Lake for a while. The next morning I stopped at Lake Marie and Mirror Lake in the Snowy Range on the way back to Colorado. What beautiful mornings. It was perfectly calm. The smoke from recent wildfires made the color really pop on the mountains!

  • Pitkin Lake

    It had been about 25 years since I had been up to Pitkin Lake in the Eagles Nest Wilderness near Vail so I decided to go back this past week. Pitkin Lake is a beautiful place. The hike features a couple of waterfalls, wildflower-filled meadows, and soaring peaks. What’s not to like? The steepness of the hike, for one. This is a challenging backpack. Although the trail is listed at 4.8 miles, the trek is far longer. It gains 3,000 vertical feet and takes about 4.5 hours and about 3.75 hours going down. My guess is this hike is closer to 5.7 miles each way, almost 2 miles longer roundtrip than advertised.

    The trail starts in East Vail by crossing Pitkin Creek almost immediately. Then the fun begins, It climbs steeply over the next .5 mile, gaining about 500 feet in elevation in the process. The trail mellows out a little but and then gets pretty flat as it wanders through aspen trees. At mile 1.9 (or 2.7 in actual distance), the trail provides an overlook of a large waterfall off to the right. From here, the trail ascends at a steep incline for the next 1.5 miles before it reaches a second waterfall, this time on the left. This stretch of trail left my quads burning and required a couple of breaks. It flattens out thankfully just before coming to a second waterfall at around mile 3.5 (4.3). Access is limited due to rocks and willows. I could not get a decent photo of it. Past the waterfall, the trail ascends steeply to the right of the waterfall and then alternates steep sections with flatter ones. The trail is quite marshy through this section and is quite mosquito-filled. Finally, the trial opens up into a beautiful meadow. The flowers were just beginning to pop in this section.

    Once you get to the lake, all is forgiven, however. It is a serene setting. Colorado cutthroat trout inhabit the lake and my son and I caught a couple. /we saw no none else camped in the basin which was amazing.

    Getting to the trialhead

    Parking is limited at this trail. There are about 20 spots but they are limited to three hours (not enouh time to do even half the trail). The best course is to park near the vail transit center and catch the free East Vail hiker express. The shuttle makes a few stops at the most popular trailheads. The one for this hike is Falls at Vail. The shuttle stop is about a .25 mile downhill from the trailhead. If you are backpacking and need overnight parking, the Redstone parking garage in West Vail is your best bet. It costs $15 for the night (as opposed to $30 in the lot by the transit center). You will need to walk an additional mile to get to this garage or catch the free shuttle from the transit center.

  • Havasu Falls

    Havasu Falls

    I finally got a chance to hike to a place I’ve been meaning to get to for the past twenty years-Havasu Falls in Arizona. In recent years, the falls has become an incredibly popular destination, and as a result, requires winning a permit through an on-line lottery application. The Havasupai Indian tribe that runs the lottery has also raised the price of the stay significantly in the past decade to $455 for the three-night stay (by comparison, the same three-night trip would have cost $94 in 2014). But the hassle and cost is worth it. Havasu Falls is one of the most incredible waterfalls I’ve seen, looking completely out of place in the desert canyon it’s located in.

    The trek is epic requiring a 10 mile hike in near the Grand Canyon. The Hulapai Hilltop trail starts atop a large canyon rim. You lose 2400 feet in elevation, much of it over the first mile (yes, your calves are going to feel it). The next part of the hike meanders along a wash through a deep canyon. The canyon is very pretty in parts as the sandstone walls are adorned in desert varnish. At about mile 6, the trail flattens out as the canyon opens up. Shortly, you will cross a bridge over the creek. The environment becomes more riparian and there are many cottonwoods along this stretch. Soon, the village of Supai comes into view. This is part of the Indian reservation so there are strict rules against photography in this part of the hike. The village contains a couple of places to stop for fry bread. I recommend the sweet variety coated in powdered sugar and honey (mine also came with fresh strawberries). Once through the village the trail continues to descend toward Havasu Falls. About a mile from the campground, you will come to Navajo Falls. The creek is very wide here making for a quite pretty waterfall. After rounding a curve (fenced off due to erosion), the trail finally makes it way to the top of Havasu Falls. The noise is thunderous as the creek plummets 70 feet below. Given the presence of calcium limestone, the pool is an iridescent turquoise color. You feel like you’ve been transported to the Caribbean.

    After a dip in the falls, it’s time to find a camp site. There are a number of them scattered throughout the mile-long course of the campground. There are many several sites along the creek itself as well as a number back in the cottonwoods. Amazingly, each site has its own picnic table. The campground ends at Mooney Falls another beautiful waterfall. The descent to Mooney is not for the faint of heart, however. You have to take two sets of rocks stairs through the limestone cliff and then climb backwards down rock stairs cut into the sheer face of the cliff. It’s about 100 foot drop over the edge. Most people are able to do this part of the trail but given my fear of heights, I passed. The trail continues about 2 more miles to a set of large limestone pour overs known as Beaver Falls that apparently make great swimming holes.

    The highlight of the trek of course is Havasu Falls. There are a number of deep pools below the falls that make for great swimming. In the afternoon, this area gets quite crowded. There are a lot of people that have made the trek with you. This is probably due to the fact that hikers can reserve pack horses (for $400) to carry their gear. While this opens the trail to a greater number of people, it does make it seem a little less natural and unspoiled at times. Thankfully, the large campground seems to support the large number of people. I never felt like things were overcrowded.

    After dinner, stargazing is the thing to do here. Be aware, it is too hot in summer to put the rain fly on. The views of the stars was amazing. You are 90 miles from Seligman and 135 miles from Kingman. There is no hint of light pollution here. Given the new moon, the view of the Milky Way way incredible once the clouds cleared.

    While the weather is nice in June, I have to say the heat was intense. It was 104 in the campground and 113 in Las Vegas the day after my trip. But curling up near Havasu Falls to read a book is a great way to pass the afternoon. Due to the heat, I woke up at 4 am to hike out. The 10 mile return hike is almost all up hill and took me 6.5 hours to complete. It was 94 degrees at the Hilltop summit parking lot when I returned to the car at 11 am. Uggh. Bring lots of water for this adventure. You will need it.

    To reach the trailhead, you have to drive 135 miles from Kingman Arizona or 90 miles from Seligman. The closest motel is the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn where you must check in. It is about 5 miles east of the turn for Indian Route 18 located on Route 66. You can also stay in Selgiman about another 25 miles east. The reward here is Lilo’s Diner, a quality restaurant. Flights from either Las Vegas or Phoenix are the closest major airports located 3.5 to 4 hours away.

  • Northern California 2024

    Northern California 2024

    Northern California has gotten another round of epic rainfall this winter. As a result, the area is brimming with greenery this spring. I visited Point Reyes, Mt. Diablo, Napa Valley, and some waterfalls near Auburn, CA. All in all, it was fun and rewarding spring break trip.

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