Tag: Treasure Creek

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

Rio Grande National Forest, September 22, 2020, Part 1

I arose early in the morning, still not sure that I wanted to tackle the creek hike with my heavy camera gear.  I peeked outside to see what the weather and sky looked like, before deciding to prepare for the day.

The sky appeared to be mostly clear, so I had an herbal tea and a light snack, then gathered my gear for a morning shoot, having decided to have a go at getting to those two waterfalls.

I knew that I would need to be careful with the gear and with my footing and balance during this trek, so I brought along my hiking stick as an aid in balance and control.  I usually do not use the hiking stick, since it is just another item to keep up with and easily left somewhere.  I also tend to use my tripod as a hiking stick, whenever I carry it in my hands.

I also wanted to have both hands free when walking, so I fastened the tripod to the back of my Camelbak, slung a filter pouch over my head and shoulder and clipped the DSLR to the front of the Camelbak via carabiners and an old camera strap that I had cut and sewn to the pack years ago.  The camera can still swing away from my body, when I have to stoop over, so I still have to hold onto it sometimes to prevent it from bumping into something.

Thus I began the hike up the steep slope along the ridge above the creek.  I knew that I should have gotten out a little earlier, but my hesitation to even try this, resulted in a late start this morning. I also did not want to start this hike in the dark and I knew that the mountain to the south would shield the very early morning light until later, so the sun would already be fairly high in the sky before I saw it.

Waterfall and Stream. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/6s, f/20, ISO 800.

I was glad to have the hiking stick this morning as it was a safety aid in going down and across steep slopes and helping my balance, when crossing the stream.

The photo set up procedure was a bit slow and awkward, whenever I stopped for a photograph.  I first released the carabiners holding the DSLR onto my backpack and put the camera in a secure place, then I removed the filter case from around my neck, then I removed the Camelbak, then I unstrapped the tripod from the Camelbak.  After shooting at a location, I reversed this procedure to put all items back into place before moving on to the next location.

Wispy Waterfall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, 1/6s, f/22, ISO 800.
Mountain Stream. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/6s, f/18, ISO 500.
Cascade and Mossy Rocks. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/8s, f/11, ISO 800.

To get the shot above, I had to get into a tight place and crouch on my knees, being very careful not to drop something into the creek.  As I was preparing to get out of this uncomfortable position, I could not find the metal plate lens cover for the Progrey filter holder and I was afraid that it might have slide behind me into the creek.  I looked into the creek and did not see the cover from my vantage point.   A closer examination of the filter holder case revealed the cover hidden between the individual filter cases, where I tend to habitually put it, when it is not in use.

No Name Waterfall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, 1/8s, f/11, ISO 40.

When I arrived at the second waterfall, I stood below an undercut cliff on the south side of the creek, where the 24-70mm lens let me isolate the waterfall, excluding all the unattractive and distracting clutter around it.

The last image here was selected for Flickr’s Explore page, where as of the date of this writing, it has received 4,213 views and 103 favorites.  This is not a record for me and far short of the number of views and favorites that others on Flickr have, but still nice for my level of activity on Flickr.  I’m pleased with these photos and glad that I made the effort to get them.  I might never have such an opportunity again.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, September 20, 2020, Part 3 – Hiking and Scouting

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.

More later,

Ken

 

Rio Grande National Forest, September 20, 2020, Part 2

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.

Cascade. iPhone photograph.
Waterfalls. iPhone photograph.

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.

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, September 20, 2020, Part 1

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.

More on that in subsequent posts.

Thanks for following and be safe,

Ken