Tag: Gunnison River

Black Canyon of the Gunnison – North Rim

From Ridgway we traveled to Hotchkiss, Colorado, where we planned to visit the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  Years ago we had briefly visited the south rim, but this was the first visit to the North Rim.  After checking into our motel, which was surprisingly nice for such a small town, we drove to the north rim.

It is a fairly long drive from Hotchkiss to the canyon, but I wanted to do a bit of scouting, prior to returning for late day or early morning photos.  It was early afternoon and the sun was high in the sky.  We stopped at a number of canyon overlooks, where I snapped iPhone scouting photos.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo

Since this is a deep canyon, direct sun light penetrates to the bottom for only a few minutes each day.  The best time to photograph the canyon is probably not during the typically preferred golden hours of early morning and late day, so timing when to be here is a problem for those of us that are not highly knowledgeable of the lighting variation across the seasons here.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo

Much geology is revealed in the rocks of the canyon walls.  One can find lots of information on the canyon’s geology via many online sources.  Here is one link to check out, if interested, and another here.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, North Rim, iPhone Photo

The last photo in this post shows a feature referred to as “The Camel” (left of center and just above the vertical center).

My original intention was to return to the canyon with my DSLR either later today or the next morning, but given the travel time from our lodging and the uncertainty about the best time of day to be here,  I decided more effort on this visit might not be adequately fruitful.  Instead, we changed our travel plans and decided to move on towards home a day earlier than planned.

I know these iPhone photos are not very good, but these are all I have for this trip.

Ken

Miscellaneous Travel Scenes, Colorado, July 2020

One of my regrets, during my travels, is not taking enough time to stop and photograph interesting things along my route from point A to point B.  My reasons for this neglect are primarily related to a time schedule and that the light conditions are usually not optimal for landscape photography.  This no doubt results in passing up opportunities that I may never get again to photograph some scenes.

Yet sometimes I do force myself to stop and try to get photographs of scenes that catch my eye in passing, in spite of conditions being poor for getting really impactful photographs.  This post is dedicated to such images.

I traveled along US 50 between Montrose and Gunnison, Colorado on my way to Thirty Mile Campground in the Rio Grande National Forest in July, 2020.  It was a mostly overcast morning and the clouds and ground fog were compelling enough for me to stop to try to get a few images along this route.  Most of the resulting photographs were not what I strove to get, but a few I liked.  Making one panoramic image with my iPhone, I noted an interesting effect.  Fast moving vehicles, combined with my panning of the camera, resulted in a compression of the vehicles.  Looking closely at the photo below, one will note that the lead vehicle’s front end and back end are the only portions in the image, with the center completely missing.

An iPhone pano of fast moving vehicles along US 50 in Colorado.

I have driven past the Blue Mesa Reservoir and Curecanti National Recreation Area numerous times and I have never before taken time to get even one photograph in this area.  On this trip, I almost passed by again without stopping.  The photo below makes me glad that I took time to stop.

Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

From US 50 I headed south along CO 149, which is a scenic drive along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River between Gunnison and Lake City.  There were a number of convenient pull outs just a little north of Lake City with scenic views of the river.  I initially passed each one, looking for an ideal spot to stop, finally turning around to stop at several of those pull outs.  Unfortunately, it was difficult to get clear shots of the river without much clutter in the shots at most of the stops and the light conditions were harsh; but knowing I might never pass here when the light was optimum, I made a few iPhone images, anyway.

A view along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

At one pull out there was a really large tree root running across the ground.  I photographed that root from a number of view points, but none worked out well.  However, I did find one feature on the root that made a nice close up image.

A large eye like feature on a large exposed tree root. iPhone Photograph.

At another stop there was a good view of the river framed by weathered and lichen covered rocks along the river bank.  This location might be a good place for a sunset shot, if I ever have an opportunity to be here as such a time.

A portion of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. iPhone Photograph.

That’s it for now,

Ken