Scouting SW Colorado
The Fall season is just around the corner. With that, there are a few places I’d like to shoot that I really don’t know the location of. Sounds like a good enough reason to take a summer road-trip!
Monument | Royal Gorge | Telluride | Crested Butte
Thirteen hours of just drive time just to scout for a future trip where I’ve got to drive it all again!? Yup!
Royal Gorge - Image Credit: https://royalgorgebridge.com/rides-attractions/photo-lookout-areas/page_hero/
First on my stop, and a bit out of the way in regard to the route I would have taken had I not wanted to stop here, was the Royal Gorge Bridge. While not part of my Fall trip plans, I decided to stop by in an effort to scout it out. Since it’s only 1.5 hours from my house, I’ll likely return in the not-too-distant future for a sunset shot that I have in mind. Having never been there before, it helps to actually see a place with planning and, with that, ties into this trip rather well. Heck, at this point, I am doubtful I’ll even come home with an image and, somehow, that’d still be ok with that IF I can find the places on my List-Of-Places-I’d-Like-To-Shoot.
Moody Skies Over The Sneffels Range #BTS
While driving from Ridgway, CO towards Telluride, CO, I noticed a rain shower over to my left. Ah, my first conflict of the trip. Do I take the time to pull over and find a composition or do I press on towards Telluride and Bridal Veil Falls? I did not want to get to the falls too late as I wanted a bit of daylight to use to scout around with. After a bit of estimated math and guessing at when the box canyon behind Telluride would see it’s last rays of light, I decided to pull over.
Summer Near The Sneffels Range
I always enjoy the shots I am able to get that are either not on the agenda or unpredictable. While I was not able to capture the rain falling over the Sneffels Range as I had hoped and as I had seen it from the road, I was still able to grab a decent moody image. Mother Nature doesn’t often care for my plans nor does she wait on me. That makes the chase all the more exciting! Getting back on the road again, it was time to make my way towards Telluride and up Black Bear Road/Pass.
I found Telluride to be a nice little town. I happened to be passing through during the Covid-19 pandemic and, like many little mountain towns, they’ve gone to a one-way road system through down. This allows them to use half of the street for the vendors and restaurants. To me, this gives a normal day a festive feel. Kinda neat, as long as the weather is good. I thought to myself as I was passing through, “Geesh, why have I not brought the family here?” I am going to have to rectify that situation.
View Looking Back Towards Telluride From Back Bear Pass
Bridal Veil Falls From The Bottom
Winding my way up the pass, I got my first glimpse of the day’s final destination, Bridal Veil Falls.
The San Miguel River passing by/through the hydroelectric power plant above before falling 365' over the box canyon that overlooks Telluride down below. Ill I'll definitely have to revisit this Fall and in the Winter when it's frozen!
Behind The Scenes At Bridal Veil Falls
Winding even further up the pass found me at my final destination and where I’d be setting up in the hopes of getting an evening shot of the Falls. I had low hopes of a real decent starry sky shot as I knew the moon would be blocking out the stars but, oh well, maybe I’d get lucky and catch a moody sky and a moonlit canyon.
Bridal Veil Falls under a moonlit evening
Well, the moon definitely came out in full force. For much of the early evening, the skies were beautiful…! The stars were brightly shining, the clouds were moving at a rapid pace making the above time-lapse fun, and the moon was quite bright. All of this made for a great evening of photography! Notice the canyon walls changing in the moonlight.
Foggy Black Bear Pass Just Above Telluride, CO
The next morning found me shooting the Black Bear Pass and Bridal Veil Falls area again. The rain and the fog were both making for a completely different scene than the evening prior. You really had to have your head on a swivel as the clouds were rolling in and out very fast! Within a matter of two or three minutes, the valley would easily go from completely fogged in one minute to down-pouring and to completely clear and then back to fogged in all over again. This happened multiple times during the couple of hours I sat and shot.
Vertical Orientation Compositions
Horizontal Orientation Compositions
Above are a few of the images I managed to capture while admiring the gloomy, rainy, and foggy conditions. I enjoyed every minute of it!
After a morning of shooting the rolling fog within Black Bear Pass, it was time to move on to my actual goal for this trip, finding the famous curved aspen in the area and scouting for the up and coming Fall season.
Set of The Sound of Music or roadside, CO?
Driving the back-roads of Colorado is often very beautiful. Here, on my way to the curved aspens, I could not overcome the urge to pullover and shoot the scene regardless of the fact that the lighting wasn’t all that great.
Curved Aspen of The San Juans
Finding the aspens didn’t prove to be as difficult as I thought it’d be. Well, that is, unless you were with me. If you were with me, then you know the real story. Regardless, this was my main goal for the trip. All else was gravy! Now I could focus on secondary goals starting with mystic Falls; a spot I’ve wanted to shoot for quite a while. Here’s a little Foreshadowing for ya, I totally ruined my shot while at Mystic Falls. :-(
I Must Return Here In The Fall…!
Spoiler Alert! Finding Mystic Falls is not all that difficult. Tho, looking down over the falls, it was decided that a hike around the area to see what there was to see might be a good idea before dipping down into that crack in the Earth! Finally, after a bit of scouting around, it was time to make my way down to the falls I had come to this location to see.
The hike down was, how should I put this, steep! It definitely wasn’t the longest hike I’ve ever done, but the elevation loss/gain was not friendly. There were no switchbacks to speak of either. There pretty much was a zig and a zag and you were either up or down pending the direction you were going. Regardless, it was worth it!
BTS at Mystic Falls
I mentioned earlier that I ruined my Mystic Falls opportunity. As evidence of this, see the image below. Allow me to explain. First, I parked my vehicle and rode the rest of the way in with a good photog buddy. While there is nothing wrong with that, it did lead to me grabbing as little gear as possible as his jeep was rather packed. With that, I grabbed my camera backpack and was off. After all, everything I could need is in there, right? Well, no, not exactly. Almost everything I needed was in my camera bag. I had taken a few things out and had them in a separate bag since I expected to be shooting near my vehicle for most of this trip. Emphasis on “most.”
Mystic falls, CO | Prints Available
As it turns out, not everything I needed was in my camera bag. I didn’t have any of my filters with me and I desperately wanted to use a CPL while down here at Mystic Falls. It would have been nice to cut the glare on the water some. Well, guess I’ll just have to go back and redo this shot. :-)
Mt Sneffels and Dallas Peaks at Sunset | Prints Available
After climbing out of the canyon and leaving Mystic Falls behind, the decision was made to head to Crested Butte for tomorrow’s sunrise. Along the way, we couldn’t let a sunset go to waste, so we pulled over and shot Dallas Peak. It didn’t end up being the best of sunsets, but I’ll take a crappy sunset over an evening at the office any day!
Crested Butte at Sunrise as seen from across Peanut Lake
A Crested Fogrise | Prints Available
The last morning of the trip proved to be two things. One of those things was worthwhile. Initially, it looked as if we’d be fogged in and there’d be no sunrise. Luckily, the fog came and went allowing for some decent sunrise photography. The other thing the morning ended up being was cold! I was prepared for the cooler weather and not prepared at the same time. Know what I mean? Needless to say, 35° was a rude awakening for me. On the other hand, it symbolized the coming of Fall, my favorite season!
The two images above depict the different amounts of fog/sunlight that occurred during the morning’s sunrise. This changing from clear to foggy occurred a few times before we were done shooting sunrise.
Pre-Sunrise Reflection Of Gothic Mountain Limited Edition Prints Available
Not too bad of a morning when you are faced with the prospect of two different mountain peaks to shoot during the same sunrise, huh? In this case, I had both Gothic Peak and Crested Butte in my sights. In the end, the sunlight coming in and around the fog that was out over the lake drew my eye more towards Crested Butte.
And with that, another Colorado road-trip was over, tho this one was different. With this trip, my goals were minimal. My main goal as to find the curved aspens. I was able to accomplish this. My second goal was to scout out the Royal Gorge Bridge for a future return trip. I was able to accomplish this. My third, and last goal, was to scout out Mystic Falls. I was able to accomplish this as well.
I must admit, I could not have accomplished all that I set out to do without a bit of help and for that, Benjamin, I thank you. I appreciate you being willing to trek across the state, and even further, with a common goal in mind. Again, thank you! Also, pack your bags, WY is calling!
Benjamin’s photography can be seen here: Zenfolio | Facebook
