During one of our drives on US 550 between Ouray and Silverton, we noted an unmarked gravel road heading towards a mountainside, but it appeared to end after a short distance, so we initially ignored it. On a subsequent trip past it, we decided to check it out.
After driving a short distance, not being able to see the road ahead and concerned there might not be a place to turn around on the narrow road, we decide it might be best to park at a wider spot in the road and walk ahead. We did not have to walk far to the end of this road, but it was mostly uphill. Fortunately, it was not very steep.
We passed a small, cascading mountain stream, which crossed the roadway.
Even though this was not a big stream, it was attractive and captivating as most such streams tend to be.
The road ended at what appeared to be a minor mine exploratory site. A mountain stream with a long section of it visible going up the mountain side ran past the site. I made a number of images shooting down onto the stream nearest the roadway, but I could not get any attractive compositions that way.
Scrambling down rocky ledges away from the roadway and up the stream, gave better views of the stream and the wildflowers along the stream edge.
The photo above is an example of including too much in an image. The stream acts as a leading line, but there is no center of interest in this photo. My eye goes to the most prominent part of the cascade in the lower left; but when my eye follows the stream towards the upper right, I do not see anything of great impact. I was zoomed in as much as possible with the 24-70mm lens, so I could not isolate anything any better from my view point. I could try cropping this image on portions of the image and maybe make a more interesting one; but the composition cannot be changed via cropping. Getting closer to a portion of the stream might have been the only way to get an impactful image here.
In the distance I could see a waterfall. I think the image below is better, but the waterfall in the upper right is maybe too distant to have real weight. Still I think this image has some intrigue, making one want to know more about what is in the distance down the stream.
It was beginning to rain lightly and we were not wearing rain gear, so we decided to head back to the vehicle and save exploring along this stream up to the waterfall for another time. It began raining harder as we walked along. I put my hat over my camera to protect it, which resulted in my getting more wet. Fortunately, it was not a Texas type rainstorm.
Thanks for following,
Ken