Fall 2022 in SW Colorado

Day 5

Day five began with more rain. No sense even looking towards Peanut Lake. No sense in racing to the Passes either. Well, what to do but eat breakfast of course at my favorite stop in CB, The Paradise Cafe.

After, I headed up the passes. I saw nothing, literally. It was fogged in during the entire drive. Never even saw The Castles. I did manage a few intimate aspen/fern shots with the 70-200mm. Not expecting much from them.

Had an interesting moment while heading out of the foggy woods. A couple driving the slick muddy roads slid trying to make a sharp downhill left turn. They were teetering on the strip of earth between the turns. I pulled over, grabbed my straps from my topper, and gave them a tug causing their backend to slide back onto the road. They said their thanks and we moved along.

After what seemed like forever, I turned onto Big Cimarron, the day’s shooting location.

Pulled into Jackson Guard Station Cabin about an hour after everyone’s good buddy, Grizz. I woke him, unfortunately. Chatted a bit, dropped off the water that I was responsible for bringing, and then headed up Owl Creek Pass towards Ridgeway. The road-trip to Ridgeway was eventless as far as photography goes.

From Ridgeway, I meandered my way to Telluride. I wanted to potentially shoot the cabins near the airport and I wanted to find the old Fuel pump. The cabin shooting was nice, but the lighting wasn't the best. Regardless, I got a few composition ideas out of it.

After shooting the cabin, I wandered around until I found myself at the old fuel pump. I thought it would look good with the Fall colors. I think those shots are neat in a simple way. What do you think?

Headed towards my next stop; it was time to meet up with David Dolton. (FB / Web) Along the way, I stopped and grabbed a quick shot from the middle of the highway. Not something I recommend. Tho, neither are some of my cliffside shots. If you choose to partake, make safety your priority!

I took D.D. to the curved aspen. He’d been wanting to shoot them for a while. While he shot, I wandered around looking for other compositions. While doing so, I managed to break my tripod. Yes, the one I just got returned to me. One of the lower legs snapped. It'd been cracked and was getting mushy. Carbon fiber is good 'till it isn't. My tripod, that poor thing, needs a blog of its own.

In the morning, I plan on getting up early and shooting cabins, coming back to get D. Dolton, taking him to Cushman, and then to Mystic. After that, who knows? It's raining right now. There may be no sunrise. Time will tell.