After my trip into Del Norte, I returned to the Rio Grande National Forest via FSR 380, having still not settled upon a campsite for tonight. I had noted a number of sites, but all were either occupied or otherwise not a good choice for tonight.
I had noted a place along FSR 380 that looked promising for late day photography, so I planned to stop there, since it looked like the timing would work for photographing there today.
I made a number of images at that location, shooting from the edge of the roadway, as the late day shadows moved across the meadow and up the mountainside.
The image above is the one that I liked best. It took me a while to realize that the terraced landscape below the mountain peak is artificial and a result of reclamation of a mine site.
I thought about shooting from the roof rack on my vehicle to get a better view of the ponds, which reflected the scene behind them. I rejected that idea, since it would involve not only awkwardly climbing up and down my access ladder with camera and tripod, but maybe having to move the vehicle multiple times to get the best perspective and having to repeat going up and down the ladder with my gear. In hindsight, I wish I had taken the time to do that, since even the elevated view from my driver’s seat in the van gave a better view of the ponds.
After shooting here, it was getting late in the day and I really needed to find an overnight place to stay. I continued along FSR 380, driving slowly due to the washboarded road. I eventually ended up back at Stunner Campground, having found no other available place to camp. The first pull through campsite and others were vacant, so I claimed the pull through site for tonight.
Driving towards Del Norte on FSR 380, I stopped at the ghost town of Summitville, an old mining town. There are abandoned, weathering old structures here and some old mine equipment in a parking area that overlooks the current modern mining operation.
Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
I had previously passed through here with my son and DIL, having lunch in the parking area, but I had not browsed around the abandoned structures. So today I walked around with my iPhone getting a few images of this historic site.
Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
The lumber planks on some of the sidewalls of these old buildings had weathered to a wonderful patina.
Nail heads and tarpaper. Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
There are remnants of the original tarpaper covering, held in place by rusty nails, on the outside walls.
I was intrigued by the weathered patina on the exposed lumber on the exterior walls of these old buildings.
Nails and weathered wall plank, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned house, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
It must have been cold in these old buildings in the winter here, as there did not appear to be any insulation in the walls or ceilings, just tarpaper covered exterior walls.
At least the residents and workers here had good views of the mountains, which were probably much more attractive in those old days before the pine bark beetles killed so many of the evergreens.
Old, abandoned houses and modern mine structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned facility, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Rusty, broken door hinge, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
Imagine how this might look with healthy evergreens around, rather than the beetle killed trees.
Abandoned and Weathered, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned Structure and Modern Mine Facilities, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.Abandoned Structures, Summitville, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
The attractive, colorful weathered patina on the wood planks appears to be on mostly the sides facing a southeasterly direction, while all the other sides have mostly a grey patina.
After exploring along a portion of Treasure Creek on the north side of FSR 243, I was having a lunch sandwich, standing on a rock in the creek, leaning against a log bridge on the official trail to the south of FSR 243, when a young couple approached from down the trail. I briefly chatted with them and they told me there were more waterfalls along the trail to the southwest.
I decided that I should check out that trail. So I put on my Camelbak and headed out. The young couple had told me that I would come to a metal gate and just after that I would see a waterfall. The trail was easy at the start, going through an open meadow before entering a thinly wooded area and beginning to gain in elevation. I soon came to the gate and shortly afterwards I could see the creek far down below. There was a waterfall that was much too far down in the drainage to photograph from the trail.
About this time, I encountered a couple of youngish women with a dog hiking back towards the trailhead. They told me that their husbands were hunting in the mountains and the dog had been found, surviving alone after the big storm that blew through early in September. The dog had a leg or foot injury and walked with a limp. They surmised that the dog had been abandoned by a shepherd, since there were many sheep in the higher elevations. The dog did look like one that a shepherd might use.
I inquired about waterfalls along the trail, but the two hikers said there were no more waterfalls, but that the trail became flat farther up the trail. I continued up the trail for a little longer, but encountered no great scenery and decided that I was not prepared for a really long hike, so I turned back.
When I got back to the meadow, I came to a fork in the trail that I had missed on the way in. I was not really sure which to take, but the left fork appeared to go more directly to the northeast, so I took that one and soon reached the log bridge.
A little later the two women with the dog came up the roadway. I was surprised that I had arrived back at the parking area before they did. Then I realized that they must have taken the right fork of the trail in the meadow to get to the road at a different point. They told me that they did not want to have the limping dog try to walk over the log bridge, so they took the longer route to avoid the bridge. They were soon on their way to Del Norte, where they would take the dog to a vet.
After some thought, I decided that maybe I should head into Del Norte, where I knew I would have a cell signal, and call home, since I had only been able to send short messages via my satellite GPS device so far. While in Del Norte, I could also top off my fuel tank just to be sure I had plenty of fuel for the rest of the week in the forest.
Driving FSR 380 into Del Norte would also let me check out potential campsites along the route, maybe finding one for tonight and maybe finding a suitable one for my son and DIL to use, when they returned on Friday.
I’ve made a mental note of the wilderness trail here and maybe I’ll explore it seriously at some other time.
I continued to work my way along Treasure Creek towards the first significant waterfall I had seen from a distance.
Cascading Creek, just below a waterfall.. iPhone photograph.Wispy Waterfall. iPhone photograph.
After reaching the base of this waterfall, I retraced my steps a little to find a way to get above the falls.
Waterfall from above. iPhone photograph.
I then continued up the creek hoping to see an even bigger falls, stopping to photograph other scenes along the way.
Creek undercutting a tree. iPhone photograph.Cascade and Mossy Rocks and Log. iPhone photograph.
I’m calling the many little waterfalls “cascades”, since I expect these to disappear, when the water in the creek is deeper and there are cascading rapids in their place.
Cascade and Mossy Rocks. iPhone photograph.Cascade. iPhone photograph.
I made a number of various compositions of some of the cascades as the sunlight changed with intermittent cloud cover.
A little farther up the stream from this cascade a second significant water fall is visible.
Small Waterfall. iPhone photograph.
Working my way upstream towards the second waterfall, I had to cross the stream first, making the image above looking down on the cascade shown in the previous images.
No Name Waterfall and Treasure Creek. iPhone photograph.
The photo above shows the steepness of the gulley in which this stream runs.
No Name Waterfall. iPhone photograph.
Getting closer to the base of the greater drop waterfall, it became apparent that the clutter around the falls and the beetle killed trees are going to be a distraction to deal with in getting a good photo here.
Creek Debris, after recent storm. iPhone photograph.
The fallen and splintered trees along and in the creek bed beneath the waterfall reveal the force of a recent heavy water flow here, which I’m sure was an aftermath of the early snow storm a few weeks ago.
No Name Waterfall. iPhone photograph. iPhone photograph.
In this final photograph of this waterfall, I excluded some of the clutter on the edges and at the bottom, but still have portions of the unattractive, beetle killed trees along the top edge.
This concludes this portion of today’s exploration, as I feel great disappointment that I will probably not get back here with my DSLR.
My son and DIL left early this morning to drive back to their home in the Denver area, since both had to report back to work on Monday. They would return the following Friday, so I would be on my own until then.
I set out driving on FSR 380, hoping to find another good campsite farther to the west and stopping at opportune times to shoot a few photographs.
My first stop this morning was at the end of FSR 243, where I had seen indications of waterfalls or large stream cascades on a creek that crosses at the end of this road.
Google Earth Screen Shot.
The image above is a screen shot taken from Google Earth of the end of FSR 243 and the stream, which a newer version of Google Earth labels Treasure Creek. There was a strong water flow along this stream at the time this satellite image was taken. There was not so much water flowing, when I explored this area and maybe had the water flow been much less, when the satellite image was made, I might not have paid it much attention.
There is an official trail into a wilderness area that starts on the south side of the roadway, but no trail to the north, which is the way I wanted to explore. There was a faint trace of a trail, created by hunters and their horses, on the northwestern edge of the creek. So I hiked along that side of the creek. The climb was steep and not knowing what I would find, I decide to travel light with no camera gear and no backpack. I took one small bottle of water, figuring I would not travel very far from my vehicle.
I soon saw that the creek would be picturesque in many places, but getting to the best vantage points for photographing the creek would be challenging due to the steepness of the gully in which the creek ran and numerous back and forth creek crossings, balancing on rocks and/or logs. I decided that I should make many scouting iPhone photos to be sure I captured some of this scenery, since I soon convinced myself that coming back with heavy camera gear, a tripod and backpack might not be safe to do alone and might be more strenuous of an undertaking than I wanted to do.
Light dappled creek details. iPhone photograph.Mountain Creek. iPhone photograph.Mossy rocks and flowing water. iPhone photograph.Rushing Creek and Mossy Rocks. iPhone photograph.Small Waterfall Details. iPhone photograph.Glimmering Water Abstract. iPhone photograph.
This stream presented so many compositional possibilities that I spent a considerable amount of time checking out many little details and points of interest along it. I also extracted some of the flowing water details to make abstracts with the light refracting into rainbow like colors and other highlights.
An abstract of a portion of a small waterfall. iPhone photograph.
I made so many images along this stream that even presenting a selected subset of them will require multiple blog post to avoid overwhelming readers of this blog.
Colorful Moss on Rocks. iPhone photograph.
The moss covered rocks ranged from deep green to a golden yellow with the sunlight bring out the colors even in late morning; although, the iPhone does not handle strong light contrast well, so some portions of the images have blown out pixels. One would have to be there in person to really appreciate the magical feeling created by the sound and color along this stream.
Creek Cascades. iPhone photograph.Cascade and Mossy Rocks. iPhone photograph.
Along the ridge above the creek I found a few tree stumps or portions of fallen, weathered trees with interesting texture and patterns.
Weathered Tree Stump. iPhone photograph.Weathered Tree Stump. iPhone photograph.
After working my way slowly along the creek for awhile, I saw a wispy waterfall in the distance.
Below the Falls. iPhone photograph.
Encouraged by this sight, I was determined to continue this journey for awhile longer.
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 we photographed just off of a roadway not too far from Platoro Reservoir. I made a few shots with the reservoir and mountainside behind. This one is my favorite:
Aspen, Platoro Reservoir and Mountain. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/400s, f/16, ISO 125.
It takes considerable thought making compositions within a forest. Even though there is natural beauty all around, it is not as easy as one might think to make an interesting photograph with so much around that can be distracting or unappealing in an image and, after a while, one begins to think that the compositions are too common and repetitive.
I found the contrast of the small evergreens among the tall, rugged Aspens interesting.
Fall Decor. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 800.Fall Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/400s, f/16, ISO 800.
And again I found boulders with fallen Aspen leaves decorating them in the forest.
Forest Boulders. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 100.Aspens and Boulder. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
Near the roadway I found a number of Aspens that had started growing horizontally, maybe from some early life damage, but that had turned to grow upward toward the sky.
As I later discovered, it was not unusual to find such curved shapes in the Aspen trunks. I’m sure there must be a logical explanation for this unusual growth pattern.
I spotted a small shimmering Aspen tree that really stood out against the darker surroundings. I included the small tree as a highlight in a wide angle image. When reviewing that photograph, I decided to crop the image, making it more apparent that the small tree was the primary object of interest .
I made a few close up images of the yellow Aspen leaves late in the day. I had brought only a wide angle lens on this shoot. The wide angle close ups always include much more than I wanted in the images, so I cropped them during editing to pick out the portions that I was trying to capture.
It was late in the day and the sun was rapidly sinking in the sky, but I managed to get a few images with weak back light, then a few more with dispersed light. The three presented here are the ones that I like best.
Continuing to drive farther along FSR 250, checking out the scenery and possible campsites, I pulled off the road, when I saw this view of a red top mountain.
A Red Top Mountain. iPhone photograph.
I made a mental note of this location, hoping to return here again, when I had more time to shoot with my DSLR.
Shortly after taking this photo, I came to Stunner Campground at the intersection of FSR 250 and FSR 380. I was surprised to find that it was not only open, but free and no one else was there.
I pulled into the first campsite that just happened to be a level, pull through site that would be perfect for my son and DIL’s small camper trailer. This campsite came with a pair of hiking boots (image below). I then staked out the next campsite just a bit more down the loop for my vehicle.
Abandoned or Forgotten Boots. iPhone photograph.
Stunner Campground Campsite. iPhone photograph.
Just up the hillside, on one side of my campsite, were tailings from an old mine or exploratory mine.
A few other campers began to arrive in the campground a little later with a few staying and a few driving on.
Since I had plenty of time before my son arrived, I did a lot of walking in and around the campground, scouting for potential photographic opportunities.
Stunner Campground, Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
There were many large rocks and boulders scattered around the campground. The rocks usually had splotches of lichen growing on them in interesting patterns.
Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.
I worked my down towards the Alamosa River that ran beside the campground.
Mine Tailings and the Alamosa River at Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
The photo above was taken from atop mine tailings, looking down towards the river and across to a mountainside. Notice that there are patches of good fall color, but most of the trees are still green or just showing signs of changing.
The beetle killed evergreen trees really spoil the scenery now all around the Rocky Mountains, but there are trees that either are resistant or maybe just not yet attacked by the beetles.
The soil in this area is mineral rich, resulting in an orange-red color in the water, staining the rocks and anything else in the water. The water is acidic from the naturally occurring minerals and the mine tailing contribute even more to the natural elements in the water.
Mine Tailings above the Alamosa River. iPhone photograph.
There were numerous other indications of old mining operations around the campground and I even saw newish claim stakes in one location.
Stunner Campground View. iPhone photograph.
That little Aspen tree in the photo above really caught my eye, so I had to photograph it with a green evergreen tree as background. I tried other compositions and close up views, but this one is most pleasing to me.
Mineral stained driftwood along the Alamosa River. iPhone photograph.Alamosa River at Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
When my son arrived, he said the fall color in this area was the best he had seen on his trip from the Denver area and that there was much smoke from forest fires visible during most of the drive. There seemed to be little, if any indication of smoke in this area.
We drove around a little after they arrived to decide where to go for a morning shoot the next day.
This is open range country, so there were cows wandering around the forest. A small herd of cattle moved into the campground during the night, sleeping in the open, grassy meadow of the campground.
Early morning frost and curious cattle in Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
The darker spots in the grass of the photo above are places where the frost did not form, because an animal was laying there during the night.
At sometime during my second day in Colorado, my son and his wife decided that due to the smoke from numerous large forest fires in Colorado, it would be best to come south to meet me in the Rio Grande National Forest. So I needed to find a suitable campsite for all of us and scout the forest roads for potential photographic opportunities.
Thus Friday morning I continued to drive along Forest Service Road 250 and spurs off of FSR 250, looking for good campsites, stopping above Platoro Reservoir to shoot a few DSLR photos.
I had a small window of time in which to visit Colorado in September, 2020, hoping for good fall color in the Aspens. It is always difficult to determine the best area to target for the best fall conditions with all of the variables that affect the fall foliage and the weather and/or other environmental conditions that may impact travel. After much online research and consultations with others, I decided to check out the nearest area, Rio Grande National Forest, to me first, and if that did not look promising, to move on farther north into Colorado.
Since it is a long road trip from my home in Texas to Colorado, I like to make it a two day trip to avoid very long drives. A convenient stop over location for me is Lake Meredith National Recreation Area northeast of Amarilo, TX. While I would like to drive a bit farther on my first day, there are scant camping choices farther north in the Texas panhandle, without driving much longer than I would like.
There are several campgrounds around Lake Meredith, with only one having a few reservable sites. If I expect hot weather, I will reserve a site so that I can have electric for running the air conditioner in my camper. Otherwise, a free campsite is fine, since I can get by with my own water and battery power. The campsite I target, also has nice restrooms and showers, which are available to all campers.
In mid-September the night time temperatures in this area of Texas are cool, so I took a chance on finding a free campsite, which I expected to be in plentiful supply in the middle of a week. Friday and Saturdays are always busy here, but mid-week is usually not crowded.
When I arrived, there were plenty of free campsites available, but many of the reservable sites were filled.
Free Campsite at Lake Meredith NRA. iPhone photograph.
After settling in, I walked the loop around the camping area to stretch my legs, after the long drive. One of the campsites on the opposite side of the loop had a group of 6-8 large deer grazing. The deer seemed wary of my watching them, but they did not run away.
Deer in Lake Meredith National Recreation Area Campground. iPhone photograph.
I had only my iPhone with me, so I could not get good close up shots. The image above is a zoomed in iPhone shot, so it is low resolution.
I had a long drive on the second leg of my trip, so I got an early start for the second day of my drive. I was not sure where I would find a spot to camp on the second night, either, so I need plenty of time to search for a suitable overnight spot before dark.
My oldest son and his wife were also planning to meet me somewhere on the third day of my trip. So I first had to not only verify the suitability of the fall color in the Rio Grande National Forest, but secondly to find a suitable campground for all of us, if we decided to stay in this area. Otherwise, they would drive north and I would have to drive to meet them elsewhere.
I arrived near the edge of Rio Grande National Forest about mid-afternoon, so it was looking good for having plenty of daylight for scouting out a campsite. On the discouraging side, I saw much freeze damage (brown, shriveled leaves), caused by an early season storm that came through a few days earlier, on the Aspens between Walsenberg, CO and my destination.
The drive became much slower, when I departed the paved route and went into the forest via Forest Service Road 250, which was rough, even though fairly well maintained. There were also many downed trees from the strong winds that blew through in that early season storm. The fallen trees had mostly been removed from the main portion of the road, but some still hung low overhead or protruded into the roadway and had to be avoided. (I have a long superficial scratch, aka Colorado Pin Stripe, along one side of my vehicle as a result of moving over a little too far, to allow room for an approaching vehicle).
The fall color was spotty, with some good patches, but many trees were still green or just beginning to change. I was not convinced that I would remain here.
Bad News? iPhone photograph.
After seeing the sign in the photo above, I was also concerned about finding suitable camping areas. There are free, dispersed campsites in unrestricted areas, but these can be small. So even though I might fit into one, my son might not be able to easily get his vehicle and trailer into one of those.
It was also hunting season, so many of the free camping areas were crowded with hunters’ tents, trucks, RV trailers, flat bed trailers, and horse trailers. After much driving around, I finally went back to a dispersed campground off of FSR 247 past Platoro Reservoir that I had passed up earlier, where there was still some open space in the camping area.
Dispersed Camping, Rio Grande National Park. iPhone photograph.
This was in a high elevation area and it had become cloudy and colder. I walked around the campsite, checking out possible photograph viewpoints, and began to feel the effects of the altitude. So I decided it best to restrict my physical activity this evening and give my body more time to acclimate before moving around too much.
I believe that the mountain peak on the right side of the image above is Conejos Peak and this campsite is just before FSR 247 crosses the Adams Fork of Conejos River.
With no cell signal, I communicated with my son via messages on my InReach Explorer GPS device, expressing my concern about the suitability of this area for our purposes.
This post is getting lengthy, so I will continue later. Stay tuned to see what evolves.
We returned to our vehicles, after our hike up to a saddle in a volcanic dike, to have dinner and prepare for sunset and set up for night photography. The weather was threatening with heavy clouds being blown in by strong winds from the northwest.
Late Day Storm iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I’ve always liked the way the light changes just before a storm. We were a little concerned about the prospects for sunset and night photography, but the weather report showed decreasing chances of rain as the evening progressed and only a slight chance of overnight rain.
English Valley Campsite iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The sky was mostly covered with thick clouds in all directions.
English Valley Campsite iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
After a modest dinner, we gathered our gear and hiked up onto the volcanic ridge to the south and picked our spots for sunset and night images. We used applications on our iPhones to determine when the moon would rise and set, so we that we could program our remote shutter releases to shoot in that time interval. We also knew where the moon would be in the sky, so we could decide which direction we wanted to shoot to take best advantage of the moon for lighting the landscape.
Night shooting setup iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
One can see that the cloud cover is still heavy, but it seems to be clearing, with the clouds blowing to the southeast.
Cloudy sky. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The image above is to the south of my selected location.
Sunset sky view. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Looking back to the northwest from my position, the clouds are much thinner now. Our vehicles are just visible in the center left of this image.
Anchored leg of tripod for extended night shooting. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
After a few sunset images, I finalized my night composition and made sure the tripod was stable and added a few rocks around one leg for additional security. One can see that the standing room is tight and requires care in moving around here.
That’s all for now. I will have the sunset and night image results in the next post.
