Tag: Meadow

Rio Grande National Forest, September 22, 2020, Part 2

After the creek and waterfall trek, I drove along FSR 243 towards FSR 380.  There are several places that I had noted, via Google Earth, along FSR 243 as places of possible interest and possible campsites.  When passing these locations previously, I was not impressed by the view that I had from the roadway.  There had always been a number of campers in these areas and I had seen fly fishermen in the creek.  As I passed by the primary location of interest today, there were no others anywhere around, so I decided to check it out.

A dirt road departed FSR 243 at a sharp angle and moderately downhill into a broad, open flat area with plenty of space for multiple unrestricted campsites.  I drove to the end of the dirt road and got out to have a look around.  Walking to the creek, I immediately saw a number of trout in the shallow water.  The bank along the creek was mostly steep with loose soil, but I found a place to safely get down to the edge of the creek and then stepped over to the other side at a narrow place in the creek.

I shot a number of iPhone photos and made a couple of videos of the flowing creek.

Treasure Creek. iPhone photograph.

One can see in the photo above that it is getting very cloudy again.

After awkwardly stepping back across the creek and making my way back to my vehicle, I continued on to FSR 380 and headed westerly.

I stopped along FSR 380 at a place that I had previously spotted and near where I had shot another late day image, when returning from Del Norte.

Approaching Storm. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/13s, f/16, ISO 64.

It had sprinkled light rain sporadically and began again as I was shooting here. It was apparent from the heavy clouds that a storm was brewing over the mountains.

I continued along FSR 380 and it began to rain more heavily.  The rain soon turned to slushy ice, then to pellet like snow.  I was close to several campsites that I had been keeping an eye on.  My coveted location had always had a truck camper in it, whenever I had previously passed by.  Today I got lucky.  The spot I liked was empty.  There was an RV trailer nearby in the same camping area in a spot, which had always been available previously,  and I had resolved myself to maybe having to use that space, if it was available today and the truck camper was still here.

Snowy Campsite. iPhone photograph.

After parking in the campsite, I got out to take a photo with the snow coming down.  I then waited, hoping that the snow would end and I would be able to shoot photos from this location.

The snow continued long enough for the ground to be thinly covered, but it mostly melted away soon after the snow stopped.  As sunset time approached, I walked into an open area with a good view of the valley and the mountains to the southwest.

After the Storm. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/25s, f/11, ISO 64.

With the cloud cover, I knew there was little chance of a golden hour sunset today.

Mountain Storm Clouds. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/80s, f/11, ISO 64.

The storm clouds made up for the lack of a golden hour sunset.

Mountain Peaks and Meadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 26mm, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 640.

When I first saw this location, I thought it would be best for a sunset shoot; but as I looked around today, consulting my photo app on my iPhone, I realized that this location was better for sunrise than sunset.

Mountain Meadow. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/80s, f/16, ISO 800.
Late Day Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/40s, f/16, ISO 800.

I hung out here shooting until just after sunset.

Cloudy Sky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 55mm, 0.4s, f/11, ISO 64.
Late Day Sky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 55mm, 0.4s, f/11, ISO 64.

I’m now looking forward to a sunrise shoot here.

More on that later,

Ken

Porphyry Basin, Colorado

Porphyry Basin, Colorado is accessed via a narrow, steep 4WD road off of US550 between Ouray and Silverton.

My oldest son drove us up the road to the basin in July, 2020.  On the way up the mountainside, we passed a canvas tent with a stove pipe jutting from the top.  It was obvious that someone had set up that tent for a long term camp.  Upon arriving at the end of the 4WD road at an old mine site, it became apparent who was living in that heavy duty tent.  First we saw a large flock of sheep spread across the high mountain meadow, then a horse staked out nearby the roadway, two sheep dogs, and a lone shepherd watching over the sheep.

Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm (before crop), f/11, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, 1/80s, ISO 250. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.

We wandered around the old mine site with its collapsed wooden structure and other scattered debris, being careful to not step on old rusty nails or other potentially harmful items lying around on the ground.

K Marks The Spot, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.

The basin is beautiful with an abundance of wildflowers, a mountain stream and a waterfall.  It was bright daylight so I hand held my Nikon D850, shooting with a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the flowers.  It was too bright to get a long exposure of the waterfall for that silky, flowing water effect.

Wildflowers and Waterfall, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Waterfall, Stream and Sheep in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Waterfall and Stream, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Waterfall and Stream in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/250s, ISO 500. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
An iPhone image of wildflowers in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.

Higher resolution images can be viewed on my Flickr page by clicking on the images in this post.

Thanks for following,

Ken

 

Cold Springs Campground – Day 2 – Sunrise Photography

In the morning of July 13 we shot sunrise photos just east of the lake at Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest. We began shooting from a hillside just east of the lake.

Coldsprings Camping Area, Routt NF, CO
An area adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 2s, ISO
Coldsprings Camping Area, Routt NF, CO
An area adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 2s, ISO 64.

I thought that the weathered tree stump made an appropriate foreground object here.

Coldsprings Campground
Cold Springs Campground Scene. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.

The lake made a great mirror, reflecting the clouds in the sky and the trees along the edge of the campground.  None of the other campers were up and about yet.  We tried to be as quiet as we could so as not to disturb them.

Coldsprings Camping Area, Routt NF, CO
A scene adjacent to the Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, CO. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @24mm, f/16, 1.3s, ISO 64.

I put the weathered stump and a taller stump with slight side lighting at the edge of this photo.

After shooting on the hillside, we moved down into the meadow at the base of the cascade.  There were lots of white and blue wildflowers in the meadow, especially around the cascade and stream.  The area below the cascade was wet and marshy, which I had not anticipated and I was not wearing my water resistant hiking shoes.  My shoes, socks and feet got soaked with cold water.

Water Cascade, Coldsprings Campground, Routt NF, CO
A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1.6s, ISO 64.
Water Cascade, Coldsprings Campground, Routt NF, CO
A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.
Water Cascade, Coldsprings Campground, Routt NF, CO
A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.
Water Cascade, Coldsprings Campground, Routt NF, CO
A mountain stream cascade in the area adjacent to Cold Springs Campground in Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64.

As you can see, I got multiple compositions of the cascade with varying amounts of the surroundings.  I used slow shutter speeds to get the silky effect of the flowing water.  There was not much wind, but there was enough motion in the vegetation to keep from getting really sharp images of the wildflowers.  I tried to make the images at times when the wind was most calm in hopes of getting sharper images.  This works with only limited success.

After breakfast, I hiked to the marshy area above the cascade, where there were many wildflowers in another meadow around the stream.  By the time I got there the clouds were mostly gone, the light harsh, still a little too much wind and many swarming mosquitoes.  I tried a few shots anyway, but those were not presentable.  Somewhere in there, I apparently lost my Rocket Blower, which I had just put into a pocket for convenience, rather than take it along in my backpack, which I left behind in the vehicle.  (For non-photographers, a Rocket Blower is a device for blowing dust off of lenses, filters and camera sensors.  This is an essential piece of gear, in my opinion, so I have since acquired another one.  For the rest of this trip, I had to borrow my son’s whenever I needed it).

Later in the morning we walked 10 minutes down the road to Smith Lake Trailhead.  Smith Lake Trail is only 0.7 miles, steep in a few places, mostly near the start, but mostly an easy trail.  We hiked to Smith Lake and decided to return the next morning for sunrise photography.

On the way to Smith Lake Trailhead, we noted a small field of Columbines, which would possibly be good for foreground shots at sunset, assuming the clouds cleared by that time, as it had gotten much cloudier and rained lightly off and on during the day.

We also walked back to the reservoir, hiking a short distance along one of the two trails starting at the reservoir.  We turned back as lightning and thunder got closer and more active.  It only sprinkled lightly and we took time to explore more in the area south of the roadway, along the stream from the reservoir.

That is it for this post.  Stay tuned for the sunset shoot results,

Ken