Simply VK

Simply VK Farm, Animal, Nature & Landscape photography. All the things that make the heart ping. Photographs & stories.

12/25/2025

Eagles hunting, competing with crows for food.
🦅

Our first trip to the Rocky Mountains was inOctober 2021, back when masks were still required on planes. 🏔😷I surprised m...
12/21/2025

Our first trip to the Rocky Mountains was in
October 2021, back when masks were still required on planes. 🏔😷
I surprised my husband (well i intended to surprise) with a birthday weekend getaway after finding flights for only $97 round trip. I booked them instantly and planned the whole trip around one bucket-list stop: The Stanley Hotel.

We had no idea Estes Park would take our breath away the moment we arrived, or that it would spark our obsession with the mountains. The Stanley itself felt frozen in time. Creaking floors, old hallways, vintage rooms, and that eerie stillness it’s famous for.

We stayed two nights on the second floor above the main entrance with a mountain view. I wandered the halls with my camera, taking photos of the staircase, the long corridors, and of course the infamous Room 217, the room that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining.

The history goes back even further. The hotel was built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, who came to Estes Park seeking healing air after tuberculosis. He built the hotel as a place of rest and restoration, long before it became known for ghost stories.

And yes… we had our own strange moment. Our curtains moved on their own, and both of us heard a soft human-like voice from that same corner. Just enough to make you question things.

I walked around my yard that morning with my camera in one hand and my snow boots sinking into the fresh April snow. The...
12/17/2025

I walked around my yard that morning with my camera in one hand and my snow boots sinking into the fresh April snow. The cold kept finding my fingertips because I can never take photos with gloves on, no matter how many times I tell myself I should try.

Everything was covered in a heavy, peaceful white. Branches bent under the weight. The sky and the ground blended together in soft shades of grey, almost like the world had been muted.

There was no wind. No sound. Just the kind of silence that wraps around you and slows your thoughts down. It felt like the whole yard was holding its breath.

Some mornings feel busy even when they are not.
This was the opposite.
This one felt like standing inside stillness itself ❄️❄️

Two days hiking the Santa Fe National Forest around Jemez Springs, New Mexico. A place shaped by water, stone, and time....
12/17/2025

Two days hiking the Santa Fe National Forest around Jemez Springs, New Mexico. A place shaped by water, stone, and time. 🏔🌲🏞

Long before trails and maps, the Jemez Pueblo and ancestral Puebloan people lived here, drawn by the warm springs and shelter of the canyon. Later came settlers and the Civilian Conservation Corps, who built trails and stone shelters like the pavilion tucked beneath Battleship Rock, still standing quietly among the pines.

We visited McCauley Springs, hiked past Battleship Rock, and followed the East Fork Trail end to end, just over 20 miles total, plus time along the river trail. Every step felt layered with history.

We stayed in the tiniest town. One restaurant and bar, Los Ojos, and a small café and bakery off the road. Small, modest, and incredibly beautiful.

We were also on an old-fashioned treasure hunt. I still believe it is out there. The mystery remains unsolved.

Altitude sickness cut our trip short, but this place gave us more than we expected. Some landscapes are not just meant to be seen. They stay with you.

Santa Fe National Forest.
Jemez Springs, New Mexico.

A winter sunrise in Powers, Michigan.Cold, crisp air, snow, and a seemingly painted sky in soft pastels.
12/16/2025

A winter sunrise in Powers, Michigan.
Cold, crisp air, snow, and a seemingly painted sky in soft pastels.

Tucked deep in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Jemez Springs has been a place of healing long before it had a name...
12/16/2025

Tucked deep in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Jemez Springs has been a place of healing long before it had a name.

For centuries, these mineral-rich waters flowed beneath towering pines, known first to the Pueblo people who believed the springs carried both physical and spiritual medicine. Later came travelers, settlers, and those searching for rest, relief, or something they couldn’t quite explain.

Standing here, with sunlight filtering through the forest and ancient water moving silently below the surface, it’s easy to understand why this place has always drawn people in.
Some landscapes don’t just exist, they ignite nostalgia.

🏔🌲📷





The whole yard turned white…except for the one tree still refusing to let go.There’s beauty in that kind of stubbornness...
12/12/2025

The whole yard turned white…
except for the one tree still refusing to let go.
There’s beauty in that kind of stubbornness
🍁❄️





Winter is for slowing down.Conserving energy.Rise & Rest with the sun… Every part of nature does.But modern life pushes ...
12/11/2025

Winter is for slowing down.
Conserving energy.
Rise & Rest with the sun…
Every part of nature does.

But modern life pushes us in the opposite direction - crazy & chaotic.

We fight our circadian rhythm, power through the dark months, & then wonder why we feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or heavier in spirit.

There is nothing is “wrong” with us.
Maybe we’re just fighting biology.

Winter is meant to be simpler.
Softer. Slower.
And our bodies know the difference when we don’t allow it.

🥶 ❄️🪵




The northern lights sometimes go straight overhead, when they do it reminds of a rising Phoenix every time.The rising Ph...
11/14/2025

The northern lights sometimes go straight overhead, when they do it reminds of a rising Phoenix every time.

The rising Phoenix represents rebirth, transformation, and the triumph of the spirit after destruction.
In myth, the phoenix is a radiant bird that lives for centuries before burning to ashes — only to rise anew from those ashes, stronger, brighter, and entirely reborn.






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