Tag: Nikon D850

Animas Forks, CO

We finally arrived in Animas Forks, where we did not intend to linger for long, since we still had to drive back to Silverton, then on to our lodging in Ridgway, CO. and the day was slipping away.

Plaque

One of the best remaining old structures in Animas Forks is the old home of William Duncan.  This site was completely covered by an avalanche a few years ago and I was curious to see how it had survived.

Old Home Interior

Water damage to the old wood structure is evident.  Maybe some of this was there before the avalanche, but I do not recall seeing such damage the last time I was here.

Ceiling Boards
Bare Walls

For its age this old home is in remarkably sound shape.

Registration

Of course, many visitors have to scratch their names and initials into the wall boards, which have a nice aged patina.

Who Does Windows?
Chimney
Window and Ceiling
Wall Boards
Who’s Been Here
Mountain View 1

The inhabitants here had magnificent mountain views.

Mountain View and Stream
Mountain View 2

As we were getting back to our vehicle to begin our return trip, the couple we had met on the road at a waterfall, drove up and we chatted again.  I learned that the driver was a retired photographer, who was happy not to have to continue making school photographs.  He told me about an old mill nearby that his dad had made a painting of many years ago and also about an abandoned truck just a short distant past Animas Forks.

My wife was reluctant, having had enough of this rocky road, but relented to allow me to try to find that old truck.

Stay tuned to see if I was successful,

Ken

 

The Road to Animas Forks, CO, August 2022

Since we were in the neighborhood, I made a spur of the moment decision to take a 4 wheel drive road to the ghost mining town of Animas Forks.

I’d been to Animas Forks with my oldest son a few years ago, accessing it via other 4 wheel drive routes.  I thought I recalled the route from Silverton being very easy and suitable for even regular passenger vehicles and it is a well maintained gravel road for the initial few miles out of Silverton.  However, where it begins to climb into the mountains, it becomes rocky and rough.  This route is still classified as an easy 4 wheel drive route, but it is not safe for regular passenger vehicles.  But we did encounter a young female driver in a low clearance small passenger vehicle, returning towards Silverton.  She was either a skilled driver, crazy or stupid.  A bad move could easily result in undercarriage damage or a punctured oil pan, punctured gas tank or high centering on rocks.

This was the first 4 wheel drive road that I have taken in my 4Runner TRD off-road Toyota.  I still have road tires on this vehicle, which are only a couple of years old with low mileage, so I was not overly concerned about the tires, but knew I needed to exercise more care in driving than if I had more suitable tires for such roads.

Waterfall and Mountain Stream
Convergence

This mountain road, like all here, is scenic with great views of mountains, mountain streams and waterfalls.

Mountain Stream
Streaming
Rocks in the Stream
Down Hill Rush
Downstream Rush

Just after shooting at this waterfall, another driver pulled in behind my vehicle.  He was “local”, being from the Durango area and knew this area well.  We had been driving for awhile, making slow progress and I had no idea how far we were from Animas Forks, but he assured me we were not far away now.

Next Animas Forks,

Ken

 

Durango, Colorado, August 2022

After departing Santa Fe, New Mexico we headed to Colorado, stopping for a couple of nights in Durango.

I had anticipated spending most of our time in downtown Durango, allowing my wife to shop to her hearts’ content; but she was not interested in shopping here.

Our motel was near the Animas River, with a walking/bicycle path along the river.  We checked out that path, but discovered that it was not a great walk at this location, being completely open with no shade and it was warmer in the sunshine than we expected.  There was a pedestrian bridge on this path with good views of the river and that was as far along this path as we ventured.

We drove a few miles into the downtown area, intending to have dinner at one of the many restaurants there, but we could find no available parking.  After a number of circuits through downtown, we abandoned it and finally found a decent Mexican restaurant in a small shopping center off of the main roadway between our motel and downtown.  We enjoyed our dinner at outdoor seating at that location and judging by the number of Hispanic customers, it appeared to be a popular restaurant with the locals.

There are numerous parks in Durango and long pleasant walking/biking paths along the Animas River, which we checked out the full day we had in the area.

Animas River 1, Durango, CO
River Rocks
Animas River 2,  Durango, CO
River Floaters

I noted that the two youngest kids in the front of this raft were more interested in me than the river.  It must have been the phone camera that I pointed at them.

Kayakers
Modern Art

There are modern art work pieces in the parks.

Modern Art

We drove around the local area to check out the countryside, driving up into a national forest and along numerous backroads.  Along one of these roadways, I spotted a large rafter or flock of wild turkeys, maybe a couple of dozen.

Wild Turkey – iPhone image

On to Silverton next,

Ken

 

 

Rural Decay and Miscellaneous Photos – March 2022 Travel

Antelope Cafe

Small, rural towns across the U.S have experienced dramatic economic downturns as the agrarian industry evolved from one that required much manpower to one that relied more upon mechanization (machine labor).

I see much evidence of this in my road trips, occasionally taking time to photograph the abandoned businesses and homes, either in small rural towns or those scattered across rural farm and ranch lands.

Fading Facade
15170

The title for this photo is taken from the street number that is hanging upside down on the post to the left of the door.

Wild Horse School

In spite of the obvious economic hardship indicated by numerous abandoned homes and businesses in one small community, this old school seem to be well cared for.

Out to Pasture

Old farm machinery rusting away in this farm field, may have been some of the initial machines that started the economic downturn in this small community.

Alone on the Plains

This lone tree in a vast, post harvest farm field, beneath the wide open sky caused me to pull over for a photo.

Until the next adventure and/or desperate need to photograph something overcomes me,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 25 – Bentonite Hills

Continued from Part 24:

After sundown, I continued to shoot in the dimmer light, going back to some of the earlier locations to capture the scenes in muted light.

Bentonite Hills 9
Bentonite Hills 10
Bentonite Hills 11
Bentonite Hills 12
Bentonite Hills 13
Bentonite Hills 14
Face Off

Staring at this old tree I see what appears to be a fierce guardian of the hills, rising up from the desert sand, spreading its tentacles and roaring from its upper, dark center.  (Viewing on a large screen can help viewers see what I see, or else maybe I’m off my tree).

Contortionist
Twisted
Bentonite Hills 15
Rest Time

This concludes the Capitol reef portion of this trip.  I’ve just got a few other miscellaneous items and experiences from this trip to share.

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 24 – Bentonite Hills

Bentonite Hills 1, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree

On the final day of our time in Capitol Reef National Park, we photographed around some of the many bentonite hills in the northern portion of the park and/or along the roadway into Cathedral Valley.  The area where we photographed may actually be outside the park boundary on BLM or private land.  We had driven past these hills numerous times during out trips into and out of Cathedral Valley.

Bentonite Hills 2, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree

There were a number of old, gnarly trees in this area, so I used those and other desert vegetation as foreground for photographs of the colorful hills.

Bentonite Hills 3, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
Bentonite Hills 4, Desert and Bentonite Hills
Scrubby Desert Vegetation, Rocks and Bentonite Hills
Hard Rock Desert and Bentonite Hills, Early Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 5, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 6, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 7, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Bentonite Hills 8, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour

To be continued,

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 21 – Tree Creature

Tree Creature

As I was shooting the triple arch of the previous post, I noted an old tree on the sandy ridge below the arch.  Readers will already know that I have a fondness for  gnarly old trees.

This one reminded me of a weird looking creature crawling along the ground.  After taking the photo above, I noted some interesting features of the tree that reinforced my impression that this looked like an unusual creature.

Tree Creature Eyes

This feature looks like eyes of a mysterious creature.

Tree Creature Eyes – Black and White Version
Tree Creature Face

Eyes, nose and mouth of a tree creature.

Tree Creature Face, Black and White Version

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 20 – Arches

Continued from Part 19:

Near the double arch along the 4 wheel drive to the Strike Valley Overlook and Upper Muley Twist Canyon Trailhead is another arch.

Double Arch, One Almost Hidden

A quick glance from the roadway at this feature and one might think this is a single arch.  Getting a closer look, after hiking up a sandy bank, reveals a double arch.

Double Arch

These second and third images helps reveal the second arch, but it is still not completely clear.

Double Arch
Double Arch

This view point now clearly reveals two arches.

Triple Arch

But wait!  Moving around a bit, clearly shows a third small arch!  Not only that, but a close inspection of the large, front arch and some imagination reveals what appear to be two animals engaged in a fight.  Focus on the center portion of this arch and one can imagine the face and mouth of a dog or similar creature biting down on the adjacent rock, which resembles some other creature with legs formed by the second arch and a portion of the rock on the far right.

Triple Arch

That’s it for now,

Ken.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 19 – Arches

On the return from Upper Muley Twist Canyon trailhead towards the Burr Trail Road, we stopped at arches we had spotted along the 4 wheel drive road to the trailhead.  There are no safe ways to get very close to these arches, but one can hike up sandy banks to find a number of vantage points from which to shoot from below the arches.

Double Arch

This is a double arch, which may not be readily apparent at first glance.

Double Arch

Small portions of blue sky are visible below the two back to back arches in the photo above.

Front arch in Double Arch
Double Arch
Front arch in Double Arch

Nearby is a triple arch, which will be the subject of the next post.

Ken

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, March 2022, Part 18 – Upper Muley Twist Canyon

Continued from Part 17:

Hiking back towards the trailhead from our visit to Saddle Arch, we stopped at the first arch.  There is no apparent way to get close to this arch.  We each picked our separate ways up the sandy bank near the canyon creek bed and over slick rock trying to get good vantage points from which to shoot the arch.  My son, with much difficulty and slightly injuring an ankle, found a way to get beneath the arch.  He advised me not to try advancing to his vantage point.  I expect I could have, but not wanting to chance an injury, I took his advice, settling for shooting from a distance at several vantage points with my 24 to 70mm lens.

First Upper Muley Twist Arch

The zoom lens makes it look like I’m much closer to this arch than I actually am.

First Upper Muley Twist Arch
First Upper Muley Twist Arch

One of my Flickr contacts tells me this arch is labeled “Muley” arch in some hiking guides, although I do not recall the map showing a name for this one.

First Upper Muley Twist Arch

The best I could do from my vantage points is to try to show the setting of the arch.  If these photos make it look like it would be easy to navigate to the area below and/or behind the arch, that is deceptive.  The area around this arch is strewn with boulders and covered with much brushy growth.

First Upper Muley Twist Arch
First Upper Muley Twist Arch

That’s it for this shoot.  There are arches at two locations along the road to the trailhead.  We will stop on the way back to the Burr Trail Road to shoot those arches.

Ken