San Juan Mountains, CO - Sept 2021: Part 3

Continued from Part 2. To begin this post, jump to Part 1.

Saturday, September 25th (continued)

Telluride, Placerville, Ridgway

The landscape was beautiful as I drove north back on the highway toward Telluride. I should have stopped the photograph the mountainsides around the town, but there wasn't a safe place with a view to pull off with the truck traffic. I bypassed Telluride and headed down the San Miguel River valley. Just past Placerville I turned northeast on CO-62 toward Ridgway.

Though there were few aspen along this highway, the oaks and other vegetation were showing their autumn colors. I stopped at the scenic overlook to photograph the foothills of range of mountains north of Telluride and west of Ouray, Mount Sneffels Wilderness. The light was very poor, with the camera pointing into the sun, but I did the best I could and took a 3 image panorama, but the left-most exposure was almost directly into the sun, so I only processed two of the shots.

At the scenic overlook west of Ridgway. Click to see a larger version.

Ouray and South on the "Million Dollar Highway"

Fall had not yet come to the village of Ouray. As the highway climbed up and south very few trees showed color. It wasn't until the switchbacks about 5 miles south of town that the aspen began to change, and dramatically, too!  Once up on Ironton Park the color was brilliant.

A grove on the west side of the highway at the south end of the park

I was dazzled by the bright yellows and oranges, especially as I had not expected them this early in the season. There were large groves that had not begun to change, but it was still fantastic.

Hayden Trail

From here, until the highway climbed above the aspen zone at Red Mountain Pass, the color was amazing and the photographers were out in force! I stopped a couple of times, including at Crystal Lake at the Hayden Trailhead to take photos. 

Looking north across Crystal Lake at Red Mountain

The southwest corner of Crystal Lake

I also sent the drone up for a spherical panorama and stills.

An aerial look south. US-550 pointed toward Red Mountain Pass. Crystal Lake on the right.

I strongly recommend clicking the full-screen icon in the upper right corner!

I stopped at the Red Mountain Mining District scenic overlook hoping I could point my camera back down the valley with the sun at my back. The overlook is very overgrown these days and most of the view is of the trees right in front of your face. I walked around gave it a try best I could.

I managed to find a small window of a view from the overlook.

This is one of the old mining buildings adjacent to the overlook.

Silverton and Environs

I didn't turn off on South Mineral Road this time. I'd read where the campground and much of the road had been closed due to the 2020 Ice Fire. As I'm writing this post I have now found the area had been partially opened beginning September 15, 2021. Usage of the area has grown so much the last 5 or 10 years that it is very difficult to find camping spots and the traffic on the road kicks up lots of dust. Perhaps I should have tried it; perhaps the crowds would have thought it still closed as I had. Oh, well, my recollection is the aspen up the road generally were a week or two behind the rest of the region anyway.

I drove through Silverton. It was slow going with all the vehicles (maybe South Mineral would have been crowded, after all.) I turned up the road toward the ski lift and the Gladstone mine site. There were fantastic views of the town of Silverton amidst the aspen.

Silverton as seen from CO-110 just north of town.

I had hoped to find a dispersed campsite up the road, but it was surprisingly wide and very, very dusty. Maybe I should have remembered about the Gold King Mine spillage of 2015 and that the EPA had established a remediation facility at Gladstone. The only campsite I found featured a prominent view of that facility and was, therefore, less than desirable.

About the only thing left of Gladstone mine. I believe this is the mill foundation.

On the way back to Silverton, this great perspective of Kendall Peak

I'm often dazzled by the sun shining through the aspen, but usually disappointed by the resulting photograph - this time turned out better than most attempts.

I drove up one of the steep, rocky alpine roads for a ways until I realized it would likely never lead to a suitable campsite. Only thing to do was turn around. I thought I'd check out the forest road that goes south from Silverton, FS-33,   as it had possibilities looking at the map. When I got there, however, it seemed to be way too popular with trail bikes and ATVs, plus it seemed to cling to the side of the mountain and was not likely to have campsites.

A view of Silverton and surrounding hills from near the Animas River.

If anyone knows of good places for dispersed camping in the Silverton area I'd appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.

My Plan B was to proceed on down US-550 toward Durango while the light was still good for autumn color (though heavy clouds were moving in) and drive on into New Mexico and camp at Angel Peak Scenic Area south of Bloomfield. If the BLM primitive campground was full, there were a number of picnic areas along the road where camping was allowed.

Highway to Durango

The views from the highway were wonderful. I stopped a number of times to take photos.

The increasingly heavy clouds were becoming a problem for photography. However, in looking at this shot after the fact, I thought the dark cloud shadow was quite striking.

Kendall Peak from near Molas Pass.
I think the road I see across the way is the aforementioned FS-33 from Silverton - looks steep!

As I was driving south I came around and down a horseshoe curve and saw a lone photographer with her tripod precariously set up between the highway and a steep drop-off. The view she'd found was amazing, so I stopped as soon as was safe. I ran across to her and asked if I could poach her perspective. She acquiesced and offered to move her tripod. I replied "No, thanks. That's not necessary." ( For the web, handheld photos are perfectly fine.) I was able to return her favor - she asked if I knew the time for sunset, as her phone had died. I was able to look this up for her. This may be my favorite image from the day.

West Needle Mountain from along US-550

I stopped a little farther down the highway to get a closer shot of just this grove.

The hillsides around Durango were bronze with oaks. It was quite pretty, but it didn't present a photo opportunity.

New Mexico

When I crossed the state line someone turned the wind velocity knob all the way up. There were also a number of rain storms off across the landscape. I guess the storms the forecast had predicted had hit. I started having second (and third) thoughts about my plan to camp at Angel Peak. It's right on the edge of a drop-off and exposed to the weather. Somehow lying in bed, trying to sleep with the wind rattling the soft sides of the pop-up and the whole camper rocking in the gusts, didn't sound particularly enticing. It was, after all, only a few more hours drive to get home.

Time to implement Plan C - C as in Cuba, NM. I'd stop at my favorite restaurant in Cuba, El Bruno's, and order one of their delicious green chile cheeseburgers. I'd sit in my truck while it was being prepared and do my evening meditation to recharge body and soul. I would eat dinner in the parking lot, then drive the rest of the way home. This worked out very well. As expected the burger was so big I was only able to eat half (but the second half was almost as good the next day.)

I drove through stretches of highway that had been rained on, but they were not slick and I didn't experience any rain directly. It was well past dark by the time I got home. I unloaded only the essentials and collapsed thankfully into my bed.

What an enjoyable trip with the beautiful surprise of autumn color! Glad you could come along via my blog.

In Search of Autumn Color: Colorado

A Narrative in 3 Parts

Colorado, October 2 – 9, 2014

My plan was to head up to SW Colorado on the last Monday in September to look for colorful, fall aspen leaves, but the weather forecast was not good, so I delayed leaving until Thursday.
This turned out to be an excellent decision, as the skies were clear when I arrived in Colorado and there was still photogenic snow at the higher elevations (and some mud and slush, too.) I enjoyed great weather most of the trip, though it got cold at night.

I took lots of photos during this trip, so thought breaking up the narrative and images into three parts made sense for you and for me.

Remember to click on a photo to open them all at a larger size in a viewer window.

Here's my route for the full week, very roughly clockwise in travel - follow the red arrows and colorful legend.

Part 1: October 2^nd to the 4^th

The first part of my journey took me up though the San Juan Mountains to Owl Creek Pass. From there I headed northwest, passing though Gunnison, to follow a county road along Ohio Creek up to Kebler Pass Road.

Thursday, October 2nd

As I headed northwest through New Mexico, the truck experienced some head winds left over from the storm passing, but luckily they died down after about an hour. I stopped for lunch at Zia Tacqueria in Durango. As I mentioned in earlier blog posts, my neighbors had raved about their fish tacos, which I had indeed found to be delicious. This time I thought I'd try their green chile pork - yummy!

There was some autumn color as I drove into the San Juan Mountains. My destination was Owl Creek Pass. My buddy, Chris, had strongly recommended the area for autumn color. He had shown me his beautiful photos with Chimney Rock, and other interesting formations, as backdrop. As I drove through Silverton I saw that the aspen were far past peak, so I didn't bother checking up Mineral Creek, but continued on.

Approaching Engineer Mountain on US-550. Autumn color is beginning to show.

Owl Creek Pass

I passed through Ouray and Ridgway to turn east on Owl Creek Pass Road on a beautiful, late fall afternoon. I could see Chimney Rock way off to the east. After driving up a wide valley, the route began to climb into the mountains and the road changed from dry & dusty to rocky, and then muddy with patches of snow in those areas that receive lots of shade.

Chimney Rock

Many of the aspen groves were gone by, brown or even leafless, but most were others still green or shifting into yellow. I stopped to take pictures from time to time. The late afternoon light was lovely on Chimney Rock. I drove over the pass and down the other side with the intention of finding a dispersed campsite.

Cold, snowy Owl Creek Pass

I skipped the first road just below the pass, FR-860, as it was too snow covered. This eastern side of the mountain seemed to have more snow, though there were clear stretches, too. As I drove down the mountain I could see colorful aspen west across the valley, but as they were in the shade, I decided to come back this way in the morning.

I checked out one campsite just before the Cimarron River. It was ok, not too muddy, but cold and uninviting. I passed Middle Fork Road, then turned up the East Fork Road. There were folks camped along there and those sites unoccupied were muddy or snow covered. When the road climbed away from the river, I backtracked to Middle Fork Rd. The first site was taken, but the second was not only open, but level and scenic, alongside the river. It was a little muddy, but the ground was at least firm. I set up in the last light of the day with rapidly falling temperatures. (I need to come up with a better mud control protocol for setting up to keep the floor of the camper dry and clean. Perhaps a plastic carpet runner cut to size would do the trick.)

My campsite along the Middle Fork of the Cimarron River with the last rays of sun on the peaks.

Friday, October 3rd

My campsite in the frosty morning

I took a short walk around the area where I'd camped, though the temperature was still cold. It had gotten down to 27º overnight. It was a nice area and there were a couple of other large dispersed sites just a little farther up the road. After my walk, I drove to the end of Middle Fork Road where there is a trailhead. There was one side road to explore another time, but no other campsites. I turned around at the trailhead.

I then drove back up Owl Creek Pass Road to look at the areas I'd seen the evening before. Such a beautiful area. I also saw the same unpredictable mix of green, yellow, brown and bare aspen groves, many times right next to each other.

FR-860 near Owl Creek Pass

I drove up the road just below the pass in hopes of photographing Chimney Rock from the "morning" side with aspen in the foreground. There were no aspen up this road. I did, however, see my very first moose in the flesh and tried to get a picture as he disappeared into the trees. I turned around where the road goes from unimproved to 4WD only. It was very rocky and my goal this trip was for autumn color, not rough roads.

My very first moose sighting, somewhat out of focus. I was delighted to see this guy!

I took another look at the pass itself, then drove back down. I took a number of photos in the area where FR-858, 861 and 863 converge south of Silver Jack reservoir, though those roads may be numbered differently on different maps. There are many dispersed campsites in these areas.

Owl Creek Pass Road down near the Cimarron River

I then headed north on 858, a.k.a, Big Cimarron Road, named after the river.

At the junction of Owl Creek Pass Road and East Fork Road

Roadside glory

The reservoir and campground was closed, but there were some pretty aspen by the closed, Beaver Lake campground with a little pond farther north - and a gaggle of photographers.

Pond next to Beaver Lake Campground

Such a beautiful scene. I had to include another view.

I decided to continue north along Big Cimarron Road to US-50 rather than staying in the area. As I drove down the road, I passed a number of trucks pulling long, trailers. I bet they were headed for those wide, flat campsites I'd just vacated. Big Cimarron campground was still open, but then the national forest ended in private land.

Ohio Pass

Ranch country along Ohio Creek Road on the way to Ohio Pass in the Anthracite Range.

On reaching US-50, I drove east to Gunnison, then turned north on CO-135. Just a few miles north of town is Ohio Pass Road, to the left, which goes through quite a bit of ranch country, then climbs toward Kebler Pass Road. There were a few photo opportunities along there.

Looking southwest at the West Elk Mountains from near Ohio Pass.

Once I got to Kebler Pass Road, County 12, I took a look at Lake Irwin campground, which I'd missed my last time by here as the road is unmarked. This time I was forewarned, examined the map carefully and found it. A nice forest campground with a pretty lake, but I had aspen on my mind, so moved on.

Lake Irwin, with the campground overlooking the lake. Photo taken crossing the small dam.

Kebler Pass

I headed west, over Kebler Pass, on CO-12. There were a few aspen photo opps and lots of people admiring them. I checked a couple dispersed camping areas, but they were well populated. I didn't want to go too far as I figured the light would be better in the morning for the area I was traveling through. Then I spotted a little, muddy track into an aspen grove with a nice campsite. I set up there in the late afternoon and walked around taking pictures while the light lasted. Luckily the ground in the grove itself wasn't too muddy. It was covered with aspen leaves of all colors.

My campsite in an aspen grove, not far from Anthracite Creek.

A photo using my 300mm lens showing an outcrop of The Dike formation.

Ruby Peak as seen though my 100mm lens.

Saturday, October 4th

I backtracked a few miles to photograph one of the scenes I'd passed last evening.

Anthracite Creek with Ohio Peak in the background.

I continued west on Kebler Pass Road. I enjoyed the scenery much more than my last time when it had been raining and overcast. I took the spur, FR-706, to Lost Lake Campground. I'd hadn't explored that way last time. Another small, pretty campground with a dramatic view of high mountain peaks reflected in the lake. I had a nice chat with a fellow in a VW Westfalia. There were a couple of dispersed sites along the road to the lake close to the main road.

Lost Lake on a glorious morning.

Continuing west on CO-12 there were some spectacular vistas looking across the patchwork color laid upon Snowshoe Mesa with snow covered mountains in the distance. As beautiful as this was to view in person, the photographs were too pedestrian to include here. Hwy 12 drops elevation here and runs along Anthracite Creek (which I later figured out, was the same water as I'd photographed earlier) until it and the creek reach the North Fork of the Gunnison River at CO-133.

The journey continues in the next installment.