Leaving Cathedral Campground, we headed to an area to the north of Del Norte, Colorado that my son had explored sometime earlier this year. Our first stop was at La Garita Arch, a natural arch in an ancient volcanic dike on BLM land.
We were here well before sunset, so I made a few iPhone photographs, while awaiting the golden sunset hour.
Hiking up a hillside to the west of the arch, looking for a good place from which to shoot, I noted many cacti of various kinds scattered around, intermingled with some colorful, lichen covered rocks.
It required some attention to where one stepped to avoid putting a foot onto one of these.
The arch is not an easy one to photograph and the shadow of the hillside to the west of the arch moves quickly up the incline to the arch as the sun sinks into the sky, limiting the late day light on the arch.
Of the many shots I took, the one above is the best.
We had hoped to camp nearby the arch, but the only real campsite here was already taken. So we moved on to another area, where we hoped to get other late day images before the sun completely set.
More on that next,
Ken
I am a Colorado photographer too (in Ridgway) but did not know about this arch. Thanks for sharing!
Denise,
Thanks for the comment. Lucky you, getting to live in Ridgway. The area around Ridgway offers so much of photographic interest.
Until this summer, I had never heard of the La Garita caldera. It was responsible for a volcanic event many more times more powerful than the Yellowstone super volcano. I guess because it is located in an area not thought of as so scenic as Yellowstone that it does not get much attention.
Ken