Tag: Rocky Mountains

Scenes Along 4 Wheel Drive Roads in the Ouray, Silverton and Telluride Areas of Colorado, Part 1

In late July, 2018 my oldest son and I traveled a number of four wheel drive roads over high mountain passes in Colorado near the towns of Ouray, Silverton and Telluride.  My son did the driving, I just hung on for dear life.

All of the photos in this post (part 1) were shot with an iPhone with some editing in Lightroom.

My son used a GoPro attached to the driver’s side front fender of his Jeep to capture video along some of the drives.  Edited versions of those videos are posted on U-Tube:

Ophir Pass, Imogene Pass, California Pass/Hurricane Pass/Corkscrew Gulch and Engineer Pass.

The videos may make the rides look fairly smooth and fast.  Trust me the roads could not be traversed very quickly and the ride was very bouncy.

In a previous post I shared photos taken in Yankee Boy Basin.  Continuing up the 4 wheel road past those photo areas, the road leads to a lake and a trail head popular with hardy, mountain hikers.

A small lake at the end of the Yankee Boy Basin 4 wheel drive road near Ouray, Colorado (iPhone photo)
A portion of the lake at the end of the Yankee Boy Basin 4 wheel drive road and a mountain peak in the background. (iPhone photo)

Many, maybe all, of the 4 wheel drive roads over these mountain passes were made by miners, during the exploration phase and production phase of mining operations.  There are remains of many abandoned mines visible from these roadways and there are some active mines, as well.

An abandoned mine along the Yankee Boy Basin 4 wheel drive road (iPhone photo)

One may encounter much wildlife along these roadways and almost anywhere in this area.  We saw numerous deer and many marmots.  Marmots are usually rather shy and run away as anyone approaches them either on foot or in a vehicle.  But one little marmot only gave up its ground hesitantly, moving only a short distance away several times as I intruded into its space, while trying to get a shot of a really long water fall.

A not so shy marmot.  The depth of field in this shot is very shallow.  The rock just above the marmot is actually across a deep ravine, through which a stream flows down the mountainside. (iPhone photo)

The marmot was lounging near a very scenic waterfall and cascade with a great view across a valley and mountain tops.  Maybe that is why it was so reluctant to move away as I approached.

Low water flow in this really long waterfall and cascade along which the marmot was lounging. (iPhone photo)
The marmot’s view into the valley and across the mountain peaks (iPhone photo)

There are many small lakes in the mountains that are popular with fishermen and popular places to camp, although the mosquitoes can be quite a bother.

Clear Lake and Fishermen at the end of Clear Lake 4 wheel drive road near Silverton, Colorado (iPhone photo)

The mountains at these elevations are rugged and continually eroding.

Rugged, eroding mountainside above Clear Lake (iPhone)

Wildflowers were past their peak, but there were still quite a few scattered around.

Wildflowers in the meadow around Clear Lake (iPhone)
Wildflower and a busy bumble bee near Clear Lake (iPhone)
A few of the remaining wild flowers near Clear Lake (iPhone)

(To be continued in Part 2).

 

Yankee Boy Basin

Yankee Boy Basin, located in the Colorado Rocky Mountains near Ouray, Colorado, is accessible via a 4 wheel drive road.  My oldest son, who provided the 4×4 Jeep, and I spent several early morning and evenings in the basin, since it was a relatively easy place for us to get to and there were multiple photography opportunities in the area.

Yankee Boy Basin

It is best to have a high clearance vehicle with skid plates and good off road tires before attempting to travel this road.  If the road is not wet, it might be possible for a high clearance vehicle equipped with only stock tires and an experienced driver to make it up the road.  On one of our outings there, a thunderstorm came up at our destination, so we went back down to a safer place to wait out the storm.   We encountered a young man in a Subaru Outback, who was planning to make the trip up the 4×4 road.  His vehicle had stock tires and no skid plates.  My son, who has some 4 wheel drive road experience and has been up this road a number of times, advised him not to try the road with his vehicle;  however, he told him that he could follow us, if he liked, and at least he would have someone nearby in case he had difficulty.   He tried to follow us up the road, but very soon got to a point where his tires could not get sufficient traction on the wet rocks and he turned around.

We ended up aborting one of our planned evening shoots due to a continuing storm.  We had hoped to get gorgeous views with clouds and mountainsides illuminated with the late evening light as often happens after a storm; but the storm and sky showed no signs of clearing, so we retreated to our campsites, where we were treated to sky, clouds and a double rainbow; but I only had time to shoot a few iPhone photos before these all faded away.

A view from Ridgeway State Park, Colorado, after an early evening rain.
This is the kind of sky we had hoped to see during our aborted Yankee Boy Basin evening photo shoot.

Yankee Boy Basin is a picturesque setting and can be covered with wildflowers in the early summer months.  There were some wildflowers remaining during our visit in late July, but they were mostly past their peak bloom.

Early morning view in Yankee Boy Basin

The 4 wheel drive road follows a stream much of the way and there are a number of waterfalls and lovely cascades along the way.

Early morning light above Sneffles Creek
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin
Sneffels Creek Waterfall
Early morning light in Yankee Boy Basin along Sneffels Creek
Yankee Boy Basin Waterfall
Yankee Boy Basin Waterfall
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin
Sneffels Creek Cascade
Sneffels Creek Waterfall/Cascade
Close up view of a portion of a waterfall on Sneffels Creek
Close up view of one of the Yankee Boy Basin waterfalls

At the end of the 4 wheel drive road is a small lake surrounded by mountain peaks.  A popular hiking trail begins at the end of the 4 wheel road that takes one to Mount Sneffels, 14,158 feet high mountain, which many hikers like to bag.

The elevation everywhere in this area is high enough that one not used to it might have some difficulty with the thin air.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noted that higher elevations are more of a problem, but so far I’ve not had altitude sickness.  I can move around quite well at altitude, as long as I am not carrying a load; but as soon as I pick up a loaded day pack and camera gear, the effort to walk up an incline becomes noticeable, requiring frequent stops to catch my breath.  I’m sure that my normal sea level life adds to the altitude effect.

One of the fun things about such outings as this is meeting other people with similar interest.  On our first morning in the basin, we chatted with the only other person there, who was also into photography and from the same metropolitan area as me.

I hope that you enjoy this post and I welcome your comments and suggestions.