San Juan Mountains- Fall, 2014

Dallas Divide, afternoon light

Not all fall color spots in the San Juan mountains require long hikes on foot or a four wheel drive vehicle in order to access.  Dallas Divide has a large parking lot immediately adjacent to a state highway just a few miles from Ridgway, Colorado, from which the view above was taken one mid-afternoon.  The close-up of several aspens immediately below was taken from the same spot, on the same day.  I think it was the early photographer Edward Weston who was once quoted as saying that all good landscape photos were taken within a few feet of his car.  Dallas Divide certainly provides ease of access to photographers.

Sneffels Range from CO Road 7

For those fortunate enough to be in the area with a four wheel drive or high clearance vehicle, there are several gravel county roads which wind their way closer to the mountains.  One of my personal favorites is CO Road 7, which also provides access to the Blue Lakes Trailhead.

Another view from CO Road 7

Same road.  I would have preferred just a little less cloud cover above the mountains, but one takes what one can get.

Yet another view of the Sneffels Range.  I am not certain whether this was from Road 5 or 7.

Check back soon for photos from the next location on my fall trip west, which was Capitol Reef National Park.

San Juan Mountains in Fall- the Sneffels Range

Most years, the aspen on the north side of the Sneffels Range are at peak color by the last week in September.  This year proved to be an exception, and although the trees around Red Mountain were at peak (see my previous post), most of the trees around Ridgway were still green during my visit.  Despite that, I still enjoyed exploring the mining roads in the area, as this was my first visit in a four wheel drive vehicle that allowed me to go further up into the mountains than during my previous trips.  The spot above is on Co road 7, which is accessed off of CO Highway 62.

This is the view of the Sneffels Range from beside the visitors center at Ridgway State Park, which was where I camped in the back of my pickup during most of my trip.  The good facilities there, especially the electric hookups, were greatly appreciated on nights when the temperature dropped well below freezing, and there was heavy frost.  A combination of sleeping bags, electric blanket, and small electric heater kept me warm under my camper shell on those cold nights.

Clouds at Sunset over Sneffels Range- from Dallas Divide

One of the most accessible spots from which to view the Sneffels Range is a parking area just off of CO Highway 62 at Dallas Divide, near Ridgway.  I was there on several evenings during my visit, and this particular one provided the best color at sunset.

Rocky Mountain Sunset

San Juan Mountains in Fall- Red Mountain

Aspen along mining trail

The fall of 2013 proved to be unusually late for aspen to turn in the area around Ridgway, but at higher elevations, such as along highway 550 ("Million Dollar Highway") the aspen were at  or near peak color during my visit there.

Tech info:  Canon 5DII, 35 mm focal length, polarizer

A short drive above the highway on CR 31, I found this old abandoned mine structure.

Yankee Girl Mine

 A little way higher up the trail is Yankee Girl Mine, which is one of the more well-preserved and well-known mine structures in the area.  

Storm clouds moving through mountains

A few days later, I was driving north on Highway 550 when heavy snow started falling on a couple of the mountain passes.  At both Molas Pass and Red Mountain Pass, there was probably between one and two inches of snow and sleet on the ground as I drove through.  I didn't stop to take any photos until I reached lower elevations, but the shot above, taken near Ouray, shows the clouds that were moving through some of the lower peaks.

Aspen Grove along Highway 550

This photo was taken once I reached lower elevations on my snowy drive along Highway 550.  A light mix of snow and rain was falling, as you may be able to detect in the distance.  

Night Sky in the San Juan Mountains

Ridgway State Park,  Milky Way

On my recent trip to the San Juan mountains, I decided to try sleeping in the back of my Nissan Frontier pickup under a camper shell.  The air was particularly cold and clear one night, and I could see the stars shining very brightly out the window of my camper shell, so I got up and took a few photos from my campsite, right beside my pickup.  Here are the results.

Tech info:  Canon 5D II, 50mm lens, 10 seconds at f1.8, ISO 6400.

5D II, 24 mm lens, iso 6400, 25 seconds at f2.8

For those of you who might be considering a trip to the Ridgway, Colorado area, Ridgway State Park has what I consider to be excellent facilities.  The electric hookups in the campground enabled me to plug in my electric blanket and a very small portable electric heater to keep warm on nights when the temperature dipped well below freezing.  I also met some very nice fellow campers there...Nick and Amy, if you give me your address in the comments, I'll send you a print of your favorite.

Wildflowers of the San Juan Mountains - Part 3 (Gold King Basin Area)

Fireweed at Gold King Basin
     Gold King Basin lies on the Telluride side of Ophir Pass.  Despite the fact that it is not frequently mentioned as one of the most prolific producers of wildflowers in the area, during my visit there I found it to have one of the better stands of wildflowers.  I suspect that this may be due to its tendency to shade heavy snowpacks for much of the day, and perhaps this spot was  one of the later areas to melt out during this unusually hot and dry summer, hence the better stand of wildflowers that remained relatively late in the season.

Tech Info- (all images)  Canon 40D, 18-55 IS lens.

 I found the wildflowers to be abundant at this spot- the biggest difficulty in photographing them was keeping from sliding down the relatively steep inclines of the sidewalls of this basin.  More than once I got all set up, only to slide down the hill before I tripped the shutter!

 Paintbrush- Gold King Basin

 During my visit to Gold King Basin, I had the entire basin all to myself.  No worries about people walking into the frame of my photo as I was preparing to shoot.  Sometimes I really enjoy photographing in seclusion- just me, the mountains, and the flowers.  However, at my next stop (Alta Lakes), I did run into several photographers who had not been to Gold King Basin yet, and I was happy to recommend it to them as a worthwhile spot for finding stands of wildflowers.

Pond at Alta Lakes
      Alta Lakes are located only a short distance from Gold King Basin (or perhaps I should say vice-versa, as there were quite a few people busy fishing and camping at Alta Lakes during my visit there.)  I've seen a nice image taken at one of the Alta Lakes, with a clear blue sky and a mountain peak reflecting in the clear blue water.  During my visit there, it was windy and the sky was overcast, but I found the nice group of flowers above beside one of the small ponds, leading me to capture the above image.

Wildflowers of the San Juan Mountains (Part 2- Imogene Pass)

 Wildflowers below Imogene Pass

   I had reserved a spot on a tour to Governor Basin, but no one else signed up for this tour, and Brandi at Switzerland of America 4x4 tours in Ouray recommended that I try their tour to Imogene Pass instead.  Since I'd been well satisfied with the previous tour I did with them, I agreed.  Despite the fact that Imogene Pass has seldom been mentioned among the list of best spots for wildflowers in the area, this turned out to be one of the better spots that I saw on my trip.  The driver and guide, Michael, took us on a small side trail just off of the main trail to Imogene Pass that had some nice flower displays, as pictured above.

 Indian Paintbrush below Imogene Pass

Larkspur below Imogene Pass

Group of Paintbrush

Paintbrush and Columbine- below Imogene Pass

Bluebells and other (unidentified) wildflowers below Imogene Pass

Wildflowers below Imogene Pass


   Thanks again to Brandi, Michael (tour guide) and the rest of the fine folks at Switzerland of America in Ouray for a great tour!  I'd highly recommend them- and they are nice folks too!


Stay tuned for my next post, which will cover my (long) hike to Ice Lake Basin.

Wildflowers of the San Juan Mountains (Part 1)

The view down the valley- Yankee Boy Basin


   The San Juan mountains of Colorado are well-known among nature photographers for being prime locations to photograph wildflowers in the mountains.  Typically, two of the best spots are Yankee Boy Basin (located near Ouray) and American Basin (located between Silverton and Lake City).  In most years, the peak of the wildflower bloom in these spots occurs around the third week of July.
   This May, I made my decision that I wanted to see these areas firsthand and try my luck at capturing the wildflower bloom in my photographs.  I made all the necessary travel arrangements and scheduled vacation time-off from work beginning the week of July 16.  You can imagine my concern when I began to read reports in the nature photography forums around July 1 that the flowers at these locations were already at peak, and fading fast.  My travel plans were already made, and so I resolved to live with them and see if I could manage to get some decent photos, even if it meant changing exactly what I shot and where.
   

Waterfalls, Yankee Boy Basin


   It is the network of abandoned mining trails in the San Juans that make many of these high elevations relatively accessible to visitors and photographers.  Few of these trails can be negotiated in a regular passenger car; most have some very narrow one-lane sections and hairpin curves which require experience and caution, even in high-clearance four wheel drive vehicles.  Since I was unfamiliar with the area, I decided to take a couple of tours to the spots that are covered by local 4x4 tour companies before I rented a Jeep to get to the areas where tour companies don't go.
   I'd seen photos taken by others in previous years which showed thick, dense, carpets of wildflowers in Yankee Boy Basin.  By the time of my arrival at this spot (July 19, 2012), all the flowers that remained were small, isolated patches located close to streams.

Yankee Boy Basin (July, 2012)


   Despite the limited quantity of flowers left at Yankee boy Basin, our driver and tour guide, Dave, (with Switzerland of America in Ouray) managed to surpass my expectations by taking us on a slight detour into Governor Basin on the return.
    

Governor Basin


   The trail to Governor Basin splits off the Camp Bird Road which goes to Yankee Boy Basin, and climbs through a series of switchbacks along narrow ledges with steep drop-offs, over a rough and rocky trail.  Most of the local Jeep rental companies forbid taking their rental Jeeps into Governor Basin.  Governor Basin is also at higher elevation than Yankee Boy.  This year, I found the wildflowers at Governor Basin to be much more prolific and in better shape.

 

Governor Basin

Larkspur, Governor Basin


   Although I have many more locations and photos to add to this blog, I am going to split it into several separate posts, so that it will not take viewers an excessively long time to open the post for viewing.  Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!