Tag: U.S. National Forest

Colorado Fall – Sep 2026 – Part 1

It had been years since I visited Colorado in the fall. Not because I didn’t want to be there in the fall, but because the timing never worked out. This year I had a narrow window of opportunity to visit Colorado and I took advantage of it.

I knew in advance that this year might not be a great year for fall color in Colorado, due to a wide spread drought; but I knew that if I passed up this opportunity, I might not get another for years. So I went.

On the second day of travel, as I neared my destination in Southern Colorado, it began to rain. Mostly, light, intermittent showers, but sometimes heavy downpours. It rained and was overcast most of the time I was there with only the last couple of days partly sunny with occasional light rain.

Ominous Clouds

I’ve driven past these peaks numerous times in my trips to and from this part of Colorado. Today those heavy clouds above the peaks inspired me to stop and shoot this image.

I arrived at the south end of Forest Service Road 250 in the late afternoon and I stopped a few time along the road to shoot a few images, while looking for a place to overnight in my vehicle.

A Change is Just Down the Road
Fall Color Layers
Autumn Quilt
Colorful Lichen

This time of the year is not only leaf peeping season in Colorado, but hunting season as well. So there were many hunters in the Rio Grande National Forest, taking up many of the open campsites. I was also surprised to see that a number of forest campgrounds that were closed the last time I was in this area were still closed. I don’t know why, but I suspect budget cuts by the current Washington regime is responsible.

And the rains made some dispersed camping areas difficult or impossible to use. Fortunately, I found a suitable place to stay overnight, although I did walk into the area first to make sure I could navigate the muddy dirt roads and puddles.

First Night’s Campsite

This is an iPhone photo with the wide angle lense distortion making it look like those evergreens are leaning in to protect my vehicle from the inclement weather.

View from Campsite
Bent Aspens

I found it interesting that this group of small aspens near my campsite are all bent in the same manner. Perhaps these were deformed when very small by a snow load and maintained that shape as they have grown.

More Colorado fall photos to come. Thanks for following,

Ken

 

 

 

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 18 – T. C. Steele Historic Site

I found the T. C. Steele Historic Site marked on an online map of the area around my operational base in Indiana.  I had never heard of T. C. Steele, so I did what I usually do in such situations.  I searched for information on the internet and discovered that T. C. Steele (1847 – 1926) was an American Impressionist painter, and a member of a group known as the Hoosier Group of painters.  I decided it worth while to check out this historic site.

The site is located at the actual home and studio in the countryside, where T.C and his wife lived and worked.  There were maybe a couple of more visitors at the site, when I arrived at a fair sized, newish looking parking lot that even had an electric vehicle charging station.

As I walked towards the visitor center, I stopped at the wagon with iron rimmed, wood spoked wheels that served as T. C.’s portable studio.  The wagon is a custom built, enclosed wagon with a wood burning stove in one corner.  I made a few iPhone images of the interior and exterior, but none were sufficient to fully capture the utility and quaintness of the vehicle.

There is a modest fee, payable at the visitor center.  There are scheduled tours that one can take to see the interior of the studios and there are hiking trails around the grounds, garden and through a portion of the Hoosier National Forest across the road from the site.

I elected to walk the grounds on my own, then take a trail through the forest.

Golden Tree, T. C. Steele Historic Site Grounds

The grounds and gardens are attractive and pleasant to walk through.  I was impressed by the large hardwood trees on the site, but my attempts to photograph those trees and showcase the grounds did not work out well.

I chose a forest trail and hoped for better photographic results in the woods.

Yellow and Green, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
Woodland Path, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

The sheer volume of objects in a forest make it difficult to get really unique images (at least for me).  I went through my photos a number of times, thinking most were a lost cause, before finally beginning to choose a few to edit.

Deep Woods, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
Hillside, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

Photos in forest can seem so much alike, that I get easily discouraged trying to capture the scenes.

Intimate Hillside, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
Green Profusion or Intimate Forest, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

In the end it seems that forest photos are mostly about colors, textures and light, since most of the objects in the photos are so much alike.  I struggle to come up with good titles for images, especially the forest ones.  I could not decide which title was best for the image above, so I gave it two.

Woodland Creek, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
Leaves, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021
Path to the Light, Hoosier National Forest at T. C. Steele Historic Site, Indiana, Fall 2021

To be continued,

Ken