After the previous post, I realized that I had forgotten to include a few iPhone photos of my final campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road. So this is just a brief post to add those photos. Thanks for your indulgence.
Arising early on September 20, after coffee and a light breakfast, I set out in the Sportsmobile to select an advantageous spot for early morning photos along Owl Creek Pass Road just a short distance from my campsite. I drove back and forth along one particular interval on the road, before picking what looked like a suitable place, gathered my selected gear for the morning shoot and set out across an open range pasture towards the drainage between the pasture and the mountains to the east.
It was a very cloudy morning, after a rainy night, but not completely overcast as most of the previous day had been and the rain was gone, so I had some hope of getting some early morning light highlighting the mountainsides nearby. It was a bit dicey, as all of the clouds were moving towards the light from the sun, which was still hidden behind a mountainside to the east of the roadway.
As I walked across the open range pasture, I recalled the statement credited to Ansel Adams, “the secret to getting a good photograph is knowing where to stand”. Photographers are always going to extremes to find the best place to stand and sometimes get into uncomfortable or precarious positions in doing so. This morning I noted that a corollary to Adam’s statement had to be “knowing where not to stand”, as I carefully selected each step to avoid the numerous cow patties in the pasture. There were so many that I had to be very careful, not only where I stepped, but where I set up the tripod to avoid sticking one of its legs into a cow patty.
I wandered around in the pasture, looking for various possibilities for suitable places from which to shoot. The broad drainage area between the mountainside to the west and the pasture to the east of it was filled with scrubby vegetation, which would make for a messy foreground, no matter where I stood with my 14-24mm wide angle lens. There was no time to scout any other area prior to sunrise, so I had to make the best of this area.
This was, perhaps not the best morning nor the best location for sunrise shots, but the views were quite good, even though I might not have captured the scenes as well as I would have liked.
Part 2 of this post will continue with mid-morning shots and experimentation with tilt/shift lenses.
Until next time, best wishes to you all,
Ken
After shooting near Dallas Divide in the early morning of September 18, I stopped at a little coffee house in Ridgway for a cup of coffee and a breakfast taco, then topped off the fuel tank, since I planned to be in the mountains with no services for several days.
I then proceeded to Owl Creek Pass Road, aka County Road 8 and forest access road 858, when it enters the national forest. There are spur roads off of 858, along which are dispersed forest campsites. The campsites are free and available on a first come basis. The best sites are always popular, so it is best to find one before very late in the day. There are also several fee campgrounds near the Silvercreek Reservoir that are run by the National Forest Service. Those campsites are nestled in Aspens, have trash service, pit toilets and potable water available (no RV hookups at the campsites). There are also pit toilets near some of the dispersed camping areas.
Most of the dispersed campsites have fire pits constructed of local rocks and some even have free firewood stacked at the sites, which I did not take advantage of, not wanting to reek of smoke and having to tend to the fire late into an evening; even though, I would have really enjoyed a cheerful, crackling fire.
Owl Creek Pass Road is rated as an easy, maintained, 4-wheel drive road and usually drivable by an ordinary passenger vehicle. It is wide enough in most places for vehicles to pass and there are pull outs along the road, otherwise.
There was road maintenance (new gravel and grading) work going on over the lower portion of the forest road during my visit, which caused very little delay; but I did have to follow a grader over one stretch during one day on the road and shared the roadway with dump trucks a couple of times.
The road can be washboarded, which was the worst condition, other than mud after a rain, that I encountered. Most of the worst washboarding was on county road 8 prior to getting to the forest road.
The drive itself is quite scenic along all of the forest road and along the spur roads, which I explored, scouting for a good campsite that would allow for late afternoon and maybe even early morning photos without having to drive to another location. I was fortunate to find a very nice, secluded site with great view from the site and good photo opportunities within short walking distances from the site.
In fact my site was so good that a couple walked by as I was setting up the solar panels, came back by in a few minutes and hailed me. They asked how long I would be staying, since they wanted to bring friends up to camp and they said my site would be perfect. I told them that I anticipated only staying for the night and would then move on in search of another site. We chatted a bit. I learned that they had a place in Telluride and Tucson, Arizona, staying in Telluride in the summer and Arizona in the winter. They were intrigued by my camper vehicle, as most people are that see it, asking lots of questions about it.
After setting up the solar panels, I walked around near my selected campsite shooting scouting photos with my iPhone mid to late afternoon, checking locations which I thought would have favorable sunlight near sunset with interesting features to photograph.
All of the photos in this post are via an iPhone. I will follow up later with DSLR photos made at sunset at this location.
On the topic of iPhone and/or point and shoot cameras, one of my former work colleagues, an avid photographer and photographic mentor, has recently posted articles on National Parks Traveler about shooting with point and shoot cameras, including phone cameras. [Check out her webpage, you will like what you see and may not want to come back to my site afterwards : > )]. I sometimes forget that I have a fairly good point and shoot camera (iPhone) in my pocket; but I have been trying to get into the habit of using it more often to capture scenes for scouting, reminders and documentation, when getting out the DSLR is not practical.
Thanks for following and don’t forget to comment and/or critique the photos or blog writing.
Ken
I made a trip to Colorado in middle to late September to see fall colors and then down to the Bisti Badlands to shoot there while the temperature was not so hot, to explore new areas and to experiment with different lenses.
I was not at all sure that the colors would be good in Colorado, since I would be going a little earlier than the colors normally peak, but I only had a small window into which to fit this trip, so I took a chance. I had seen reports that the colors were early in areas that were in drought conditions, so I knew that I had a good chance of seeing some color, even if not peak color.
As it turns out the colors were quite good with some trees past peak, but many just peaking or not even changed at all. So it does look like the drought is affecting the timing of the color change and stretching out the color change interval. Anyway, I’ll have more on the photography of the fall color in a subsequent post.
As the title of this post implies, this trip was fraught with some not so good experiences. This post is just to vent these frustrations and to reveal the problems one might encounter in any such road trip. I’m sure others, who do these type trips in camper vehicles, have encountered much more serious problems.
The first negative event happened on the first leg of the journey somewhere between Wichita Falls and Claude, Texas along US287, which is a four lane divided highway along most of that route. Approaching an 18 wheeler, I pulled into the left hand lane to pass, then the 18 wheeler pulled into the lane in front of me, moving over for another 18 wheeler that had pulled off of the road with some problem. No problem, I just backed off a bit and the 18 wheeler began to pull back into the right lane as soon as it cleared the 18 wheeler that was parked on the shoulder. The highway surface there consists of aggregate and asphalt. As the truck changed lanes, it apparently kicked up a rock which hit the left edge of my windshield with a loud crack, creating not only a rock chip, but a crack about six inches long. That crack continued to grow throughout my road trip and is now more than double its original length. When the sunlight falls on the crack at just the right angle, it creates a bright spot that flashes directly into my eyes. A new windshield will be required and I just had a minor rock chip repaired after my first real road trip in the vehicle.
The second negative event happened that evening at my first stop in route. I planned to sleep in the penthouse bed, since that is usually more comfortable and cooler than the bench seat bed in the back of the Sportsmobile. I pushed the button to activate the motor to raise the penthouse top and immediately there were loud popping noises from the passenger side of the motorized mechanism. I immediately lowered the roof (the driver’s side was going up and the other side went up less, creating a tilt to the roof). I repeated this process, hoping that whatever was causing the problem would be cleared. I gave up raising the penthouse after several attempts, not wanting to get the top stuck in an up position. I had just had another issue with the penthouse installation repaired by Sportsmobile in Austin a few weeks prior and I had not tried to raise the roof until this trip. (Lesson learned: Always check anything that is worked on before driving away).
So what are the impacts of not being able to raise the top, other than not being able to use the penthouse bed? Items stored on the platform behind the bench seat have to be distributed elsewhere in the vehicle to make the lower bed, then put back before traveling again. This takes time and is somewhat of a pain to do. The bedding (sheets, pillows, covers) all have to be packed away, while these can be left in place in the Penthouse. The lower bed is much firmer than the upper bed (the bench seat and back platform are covered in leather and quite firm). On the positive side, when it is cold outside, which it was several nights in the higher elevations, it is warmer sleeping below, rather than in the penthouse, since the penthouse walls are just canvas and/or plastic in the window areas.
A third concern, which turned out not to be a real issue, was noted when I returned from the first morning photo shoot. I noted a small wet spot beneath the vehicle near the diesel furnace, which I had used for just a few minutes in the cold, early morning just after awakening. Upon inspection, I saw a slow fluid drip beneath the vehicle. My fear was that it was a diesel leak, but I quickly ruled that out by an inspection of the fluid, which had no odor or oiliness. I knew the furnace used some type of coolant, so I figured it was a coolant leak from the furnace. I had no cell signal where I was, so it was later in the day, as I moved around that I was able to communicate via messaging with Sportsmobile. Since it was not diesel, it had to be a coolant leak or overflow and the coolant, as I learned from Sportsmobile, is just distilled water. I did not see any continuation of the leak on subsequent mornings, after using the furnace, so I assume the drip was just an overflow of distilled water and I now know how to check and replenish the coolant. I did note an electrical connection at the fuel pump for the furnace, that might need attention. The electrical wiring is contained in a conduit up to near the pump, then the wires are exposed. It appears that the conduit may have come loose at the pump.
The fourth issue was noted, when I came down from the mountain camping, setting up at Ridgway State Park for an overnight stay prior to heading to Bisti. Since it was warm during the day and I had electrical hook up at the park, I turned on the A/C to keep the vehicle interior cool during the day. It was only in the low 80s outside, but the interior of the vehicle can get much warmer in direct sunlight on a sunny day. I had used the A/C the first night of my trip with no problems; but this time, the A/C ran for a few minutes then shut off. It restarted after a few minutes, ran for a short time and shut off again. It kept doing this and I knew that was not normal, since it usually ran continuously, until the target temperature on the thermostat was reached. Going outside the vehicle, I noted that the sound from the A/C fans below the vehicle was not the normal sound. Laying on the ground, looking up into the fans, I immediately saw the problem: dried mud in the fans. It had rained one day in the mountains and I had driven on muddy roads. (I actually shifted into 4 wheel drive for the first time, as it felt as if the vehicle was sliding a bit on the muddy roads and there were many places where sliding off of the roadway would be a very undesirable event). The vehicle was quite muddy and I had gone into Montrose earlier that day to a self serve car wash to spray off most of the heavy mud from the upper body, the wheel wells, the wheels and whatever I could get to beneath the vehicle, including the edges of the A/C fans. But I did not realize that there was mud inside the fan assembly and the strong jet spray would probably not have been good for the fan and delicate vanes behind the fan, anyway. I cleared the dried mud with a screwdriver, turned the fan blades manually to be sure there was no remaining obstruction and turned the A/C back on. The A/C ran a few minutes longer, but still shut off and kept cycling on and off in an abnormal manner. Since I had cell service, I put in a call to Sportsmobile. We were able to confirm, via the battery monitor panel, that the current draw, during the A/C operation was normal. However, there is an internal automatic circuit breaker in the A/C unit that might be the problem. It is possible that some damage was done to the system, when it was trying to run before the mud was cleared from the fans. It would have been good to have been warned of this potential problem by Sportsmobile. I’m sure this must have happened to others, since these vehicles are intended to be used off paved roads, where mud is frequently encountered.
Fortunately, opening the sliding doors and back doors with bug screens installed, the air flow through the vehicle was sufficient to keep the temperature inside in a comfortable range during the day and it got quite cool during the night, so I only needed to have the side awning window open during the night.
And another issue that I almost forgot: There is a chirping sound, which I think is from the smoke detector, telling me that I need to replace its battery. The problem is that the smoke detector is only accessible with the penthouse raised. So I had to live with and try to sleep through the periodic chirping.
And yet another issue: The fridge is noisy for a few seconds when its compressor first comes on. It was not always this noisy. It is normally rather quite when running. The fridge comes on periodically and the initial noise is quite noticeable, when trying to sleep.
Other things that I learned and observed on this outing: 1. I should make longer cables for the solar panels to allow for a greater range in placement to keep them in sunlight. The downside to longer cables, is that these will result in a greater voltage loss from the panels. 2. The storage covers I made for the solar panels need revision. The industrial strength velcro fasteners are stronger than the self adhesive, pulling some of the velcro off of the covers. 3. I will need to get a monitor to use with the laptop for viewing and editing photos. The 15inch MacBook Pro screen is just too small for me to adequately work with the photos and photo software. I had hoped to live without a monitor, which is just another item to transport and secure within the Sportsmobile. 4. I need to remember to use hand lotion on a regular basis in cold, dry climates. My thumb print is apparently altered by dry cracked skin, (a painful, bleeding crack resulted, too) and the touch id on my iPhone still does not work.
As a result of all the noted problems, I will have to make another trip to Sportsmobile in Austin to have the noted issues checked out; but I have no time to do so prior to late October or early November.
On the positive side, I was able to survive off the grid for several days in the mountains, during my first real solo trip in the Sportsmobile. I had more than enough food, water and beverages on board for the entire trip, the vehicle continues to get lots of attention and complements and I met friendly and interesting people on this trip. There will be more about the people and photos in subsequent posts.
I know that this has not been a very interesting read for my followers, but I felt that I needed to post something in the interim, until I get time to review the photos from this trip.
As the title implies, this is a continuation of the previous post. The photos in this post are a combination of iPhone and DSLR photos and were taken while traversing these 4 wheel drive roads: Imogene Pass, Engineer Pass, California Pass and maybe others. (I neglected to take notes of where we were each day and I can’t positively identify the location of some of the photos that I acquired and I am not using a GPS device on my current camera. This is an issue that I must address in the future).
A typical view that one sees along these roads in the higher elevations is as shown here:
We traveled Imogene Pass Road from the Ouray side, accessing it from US 550, splitting off from the road that goes to Yankee Boy Basin (covered in a previous post). Imogen Pass is the second highest mountain pass in Colorado at 13, 114 feet. It is rated as moderate, which means that only suitably equipped 4 wheel drive vehicles should attempt this road. There are Jeep rentals in the local area and we saw many of the rental vehicles on this road, as well as some specialized tour vehicles with seating for passengers in a flat bed area. Those tour vehicles looked a bit large for these type roads, but apparently their drivers are experienced in driving these roads. The seating in the tour vehicles appeared to all be in the open, meaning one might get wet and cold, when caught in one of the frequent mountain showers, if not properly prepared for the weather. Views along the road can be spectacular. These two photos show the view looking back down the road that we traveled up to the pass:
A view in the opposite direction, in which we would continue is shown in this photo:
As along most of these roads, there are numerous abandoned mine sites. The Imogene Pass road goes through the large Tomboy mine site, which was a really large operation, before it was abandoned in 1928. The remains of the buildings cover a rather large area and one could spend quite a bit of time wandering around the site. However, these abandoned mining areas can be dangerous and nearly all are on private property with warning signs not to enter old mines or buildings. Tomboy is one of the highest ghost towns in the US. There was a store, school, living quarters for miners and even a YMCA.
One can often see views of other mountain roads from these high mountain roadways. One of the famously difficult 4 wheel drive roads is Black Bear, which has numerous sharp switchbacks, that typically require at least two point turns, even for short wheel base vehicles. We got a glimpse of Black Bear as we neared Telluride on the way down from Imogene Pass.
This is not a great photo, a big zoom would have worked better for showing the details of the switchbacks, but I only had a wide angle with me. Look closely in the green area just below the peak about one third across the photo from the left and you can see the trace of the roadway down the steep mountainside. There is also a long waterfall almost in the center of the photo in the cliff face. One has to look very closely to see the waterfall in this photo.
To drive Engineer Pass, we began just off of US 550 between Ouray and Silverton. This road is rated as moderate and I think most of the difficult part is near the starting point off of US 550. After passing through that portion, much of the road is fairly easy (easy for me, since I was not driving). We did not continue the road down into Lake City, electing to go to the ghost town of Animas Forks and continuing along other roads from Animas Forks, over California Pass, down Corkscrew Gulch and arriving back at US 550.
Animas Forks is a mining ghost town near Silverton, Colorado. It can be accessed by a passenger vehicle in the summer months along County Road 2 from Silverton or via a number of other 4 wheel drive roads. There are a number of fairly well preserved building at this site and, as you will see in these photos, is a popular site to visit.
From Animas Forks, we proceeded along another 4 wheel drive road to California Pass.
We continued along the road that passes to the left of the lake in the above photo. The road to the right of the lake goes to another much more difficult 4 wheel drive road.
We continued back to US 550 on Corkscrew 4 wheel drive, but I did not get any interesting photos along that route.
This marks the end of my July trip to Colorado. The following photos are a few iPhone shots that I took on the route back home.
After picking up the new Mercedes Sprinter Sportsmobile in Austin, TX, I stayed overnight in McKinney Falls State Park to check out the basic vehicle.
As one can see, this is the short wheel base Sprinter, which I think will be best for accessing places off of the main roads. This is a four wheel drive version with both hi and lo range. The wheels and tires are upgrades to allow travel on more primitive roadways.
A roof rack and a new rear bumper with tire carrier and storage box will be added in a few weeks.
