After a sunrise shoot at Tunnel View, I stopped at the parking area for Bridal Veil Falls. The falls can be seen from the parking lot and there is a short trail that gets one much nearer the falls. The trail is easy, but is slightly uphill most of the way, so it does take a little effort to hike.
I switched back to my 24-70mm lens before hiking the trail, but soon realized that the 80-400mm lens would have allowed me to capture close up images of details in the tall, slender waterfall.
The image above gives an idea of how far away the end of the trail viewing area is from the falls. This view covers the entirety of the falls from top to the bottom most part that I could see, including small portions in the bottom left, but excluding the sky to avoid exposure difficulties. I could have gotten a little closer, as a few people do, by climbing beyond the viewing area border, but I elected not to do so. One can easily see how a big lens would be useful for isolating smaller portions of this waterfall.
Bridal Veil Falls
This long, slender waterfall does not fall straight down, but swings back and forth across the rock face. Maybe with a heavier water flow it might fall in a more linear fashion, but this meandering path creates more interesting features and that “veil” appearance.
Bridal Veil Falls – Wide 2
This wider angle view gives a better indication of the local environment.
Since we were in the neighborhood, I made a spur of the moment decision to take a 4 wheel drive road to the ghost mining town of Animas Forks.
I’d been to Animas Forks with my oldest son a few years ago, accessing it via other 4 wheel drive routes. I thought I recalled the route from Silverton being very easy and suitable for even regular passenger vehicles and it is a well maintained gravel road for the initial few miles out of Silverton. However, where it begins to climb into the mountains, it becomes rocky and rough. This route is still classified as an easy 4 wheel drive route, but it is not safe for regular passenger vehicles. But we did encounter a young female driver in a low clearance small passenger vehicle, returning towards Silverton. She was either a skilled driver, crazy or stupid. A bad move could easily result in undercarriage damage or a punctured oil pan, punctured gas tank or high centering on rocks.
This was the first 4 wheel drive road that I have taken in my 4Runner TRD off-road Toyota. I still have road tires on this vehicle, which are only a couple of years old with low mileage, so I was not overly concerned about the tires, but knew I needed to exercise more care in driving than if I had more suitable tires for such roads.
Waterfall and Mountain StreamConvergence
This mountain road, like all here, is scenic with great views of mountains, mountain streams and waterfalls.
Mountain StreamStreamingRocks in the StreamDown Hill RushDownstream Rush
Just after shooting at this waterfall, another driver pulled in behind my vehicle. He was “local”, being from the Durango area and knew this area well. We had been driving for awhile, making slow progress and I had no idea how far we were from Animas Forks, but he assured me we were not far away now.
As a side trip from Capitol Reef National Park, we decided to hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls in the Escalante National Monument. The trailhead to this waterfall is just off of Utah Route 12 near Boulder. We traveled this route numerous times going to and from Torrey and the southern portion of Capitol Reef National Park.
The trail to the falls is only about a mile one way, but it is very steep over slick rock for the first portion, before becoming moderately level, then moderately steep just before the base of the falls. It is so steep that not only is coming back up the trail strenuous, but going down the trail takes some effort to avoid slipping and falling. There were a few places on the trail that required big steps down and up.
The information we found for the trail says the grade is 14% at the top and my son’s trail app showed as much as 20+% grade over some portions. Anyone reasonable fit can do this trail, but care is advised.
We had planned to make the round trip to the falls in about an hour. When we signed the trailhead register, we noted that the two previous hikers had taken hours on the trail, which gave us pause to consider whether much of that time was due to the strenuous nature of the trail.
Anyway, we proceeded cautiously down the trail. I knew the trip out would require me to stop to take periodic breathers, but I had no doubt that I could safely navigate down and back.
Due to the steepness and strenuous nature of the trail, I elected not to carry the weight of my heavy DSLR and lens. So the few photos in this post are via my iPhone.
Upper Calf Creek Falls and Pool, iPhone PhotoUpper Calf Creek Falls, iPhone PhotoUpper Calf Creek Falls, iPhone Pano
We took time at the base of the falls for photography, snacking and hydrating, before heading back to the trailhead. Our round trip time was 90 minutes, 1.5 times as long as we had anticipated. The additional 30 minutes was mostly due to the strenuous nature of the trail both going down and coming out.
We had done the trail to the Lower Calf Creek falls years ago. That trail is three times as long, but mostly on flat, sandy ground along the creek bed.
Even though we had reserved our Bandelier campsites for a couple of more days, we decided to journey north to the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado, since we were not satisfied with the photographic opportunities in Bandelier at this time.
The campground in the Great Sand Dunes National Park is not open in the winter, but there is a decommissioned Colorado State Park about 20-30 minutes west of the Great Sand Dunes. At the time we were here, this decommissioned park was managed by Colorado’s Game and Fishing agency. To stay in the park, one had to have a Colorado fishing license. So we each purchased a two day fishing license at a local convenience store, which allowed us to stay two nights. Other than the cost of the license, which for an out of stater was still less than the typical fee to enter and stay at a Colorado State Park, there was no other fee to stay in this facility and there were still electric hook ups. Having external electric power was great, since the night time temperatures were in the teens (degF).
The requirement to have a fishing license to stay in these wildlife and fishing areas were already set to change in May. Now one can purchase an inexpensive yearly pass that will allow one to stay in such places.
Our first outing, the afternoon of our arrival, in this area was to Zapata Falls, which is a few miles outside the National Park. We had visited these falls last summer, but it was crowded and many visitors were not wearing masks in close proximity to each other in the confined area near the falls. So we were not able to get close to the falls, which are not visible from a distance.
During the winter, there are still visitors, but many fewer. The drive from the paved road is rocky and rough and there was construction work along this route, when we were there.
At the end of the access road, one has to hike about 3/4 mile to the falls. The trail is wide and rocky and slightly uphill most of the way. It is much more pleasant hiking this trail in cold weather than in the heat of summer. There were patches of icy snow pack on the trail, so it was occasionally slippery, requiring prudent care while walking.
The falls are contained in a narrow canyon and one has to walk in the stream to view the falls. The stream is usually shallow, so even in the summer it is not to difficult to walk, but the rocks can be slippery.
In the winter the stream and fall freeze over on the surface, requiring one to walk on very slippery ice. As it turns out I had ice cleats for my hiking shoes, that I had purchased a couple of years ago for a winter visit to Bandelier National Monument, where I was expecting icy trails; but there was no ice there and I had never used the cleats. Today I got to use them and they really made it much easier to walk on the ice. While others were slipping and sliding on the ice, we were nonchalantly walking around on the ice. My son, being from snowy and icy Colorado, had ice cleats, too.
Setting up.
One can see how narrow the canyon is in the photo above. The main portion of the falls are actually around the bend. In the summer one might get a little closer to the falls, getting wet with the spray. With the ice cover on the stream, it was not possible to safely get much closer and still be able to stand on the ice with a tripod and camera.
Getting the shot. Frozen Zapata Falls and Stream.A downstream view from Zapata Falls.
A view downstream from near the falls, shows an exaggerated narrowness of the canyon from my point of view. There were thinner icy covered areas of the stream, requiring care in where one stepped. Wet feet here would be uncomfortably cold.
From the visitor center area there is a trail to a waterfall. The trail is supposed to go to two waterfalls an upper and a lower on the Frijoles River; but the trail to the lower falls was not open, presumably due to damage to the trail and safety concerns.
The trail is not a long one, but it has some steep portions. Still it was not overly difficult. Initially the trail follows beside and crosses the river at one or two places, then climbs out of the river valley, going up the valley wall.
As one nears the waterfall, a deep canyon comes into view. Geologists will find the canyon wall interesting as many layers of rock and geologic features are exposed.
Frijoles River Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, March 2021
The Frijoles River dumps into the Rio Grande at the end of this canyon.
There is a view point for the falls, after one hikes past the falls and looks back upstream. The trail here is far above the river and there is not a way to get close to the upper falls.
Upper Frijoles Falls, Bandelier National Monument, March 2020
A big lens is required for getting a close up of the falls. We planned to come back here again, but we never got back. So these images are all I have.
Upper Frijoles Falls, Bandelier National Monument, March 2020
This wraps up this visit to Bandelier National Monument.
Next up: Zapata Falls and The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado.
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.
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.
During my second day at Teal, after reserving my site for another night, I drove further up the road to Cimarrona Campground.
Just past Teal Campground, I stopped to photograph an old ranch building in a valley below the mountain side to the east.
Scene adjacent to Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 1250, 80-400mm @ 80mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Modules.
Continuing to Cimarrona, I found this campground is significantly different than Teal. Here there were Aspen trees, rather than Ponderosa Pines, the campsites seemed to be closer together and the campground more confined by the Aspens. There were no good views from this campground, but I expect it would be quite nice in the fall, when the Aspens turn their golden yellow.
I continued on to Palisades (the horse campground) Campground at the end of forest service road 640. There is a parking area in this campground for Williams Creek Trailhead. Williams Creek trail goes far up into the mountains, eventually connecting to the Continental Divide Trail.
During my trip planning, I had noted the possibility of finding waterfalls along Williams Creek, which feeds into the Williams Creek Reservoir. In viewing the trail via Google Earth, I could see that, while I might see falls or cascades from the trail, the view would probably be from so far away, that it would be impossible to get good photos of falls or the creek from the trail. There appeared to be some possibility of walking along the creek for some distance; but eventually it looked impossible or difficult to follow the creek to the possible falls.
I decided to hike up the trail to check it out. I could tell from the map that the trail was fairly steep in some places and I did not want to carry a heavy load, so I did not take my DSLR and heavy camera gear. I did wear my Camelbak with a full water reservoir, a few snacks and items that would be useful in case of inclement weather or an unexpected event.
Gnarly Fallen Tree Trunk. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
This fallen tree trunk was so twisted that I had to take time to photograph it along the way up the trail.
A typical view along Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
This is a typical view of the trail. It was much steeper in some places and flatter or downhill in others; but the trail was mostly uphill. I could hear the creek flowing in the distance much of the time, but not see it very often.
A view from Williams Creek Trail, Palisades Campground, Colorado. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I finally got to a place where I could see one of the features that I had spotted via Google Earth. I was correct in surmising that the trail was so far above the creek that it would be impossible to get a good photo of the falls or cascades from the trail. In the photo above the little white areas in the lower left are cascades or small falls in the creek.
While at this point another hiker came down the trail and said this was the best view point for this feature. He said there was another view a short distance up the trail, but it was not as good. I hiked up to check out that view and found that he was correct. So I came back here and zoomed in on the creek with my iPhone.
Williams Creek as seen from far above on Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
This is the result and not very satisfying. I cannot even judge the scale of these water features from this distance or this photo. This feature on the creek is not the best one that I spotted on Google Earth, but it was evident that it would not be possible to get to the better possible falls or even get a good view from this trail.
It had been cloudy all the time I was hiking and I could hear thunder far in the distance. The thunder finally got loud enough that I knew it was time to head back down the trail. Since it was mostly downhill on the way back, it took much less time to hike back to the parking lot in Palisades Campground than it did to hike up.
Approaching Storm. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
One can see the heavy clouds of the coming storm in the photo above. I made it back down to my vehicle and back to my campsite just before it began to rain lightly. I’m sure it was raining heavier in the higher elevations.
I’m still hoping to get good sunset light this evening at Teal Campground.
Back on Colorado 149, after departing Thirty Mile Campground, I stopped for a snack and to stretch my legs at a pull out along the Rio Grande. I remember this spot from other visits. I think I probably stopped here many years ago on my first drive along this route.
Rio Grand River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
There is a good view of a bend in the river and the cliffs along the river banks at this large pull out.
CO 149 intersects US 160 at South Fork. I headed west on US 160 towards Pagosa Springs. Along the way, I noted a viewpoint sign for Treasure Falls. There is a large parking lot for this attraction and there were many vehicles in the parking lot. It was a weekend day and maybe the crowd would be much smaller on a weekday. I actually drove a little past the official parking lot, pulling out at a wide pull out a little further down the highway. I walked back to the parking area to check out the area, taking a mask and just my camera with the 24-70mm lens.
There was no view of the falls from the parking area. There were information signs for the falls and two trails to the falls, the typical tourist type trail, which most of the folks were taking, and a primitive trail. Wanting to maintain a social distance from all those here, and because I wanted something more natural, I chose to take the primitive trail. I do not suggest this trail for anyone not in fairly good physical shape. It was, indeed primitive, steep with slippery muddy slopes, logs and rocks to scramble over; but there was not a crowd of people on it. However, I was behind a family that had to stop frequently to catch their breath (giving me a good excuse to stop for the same), so I waited at a distance for them to proceed. The primitive trail took longer than I had anticipated to get to the falls.
An information sign at the Treasure Falls parking lot.
Arriving at the falls, it took more effort to keep a distance from others and I made sure to wear my mask all the time in that area. There was a small viewing platform at the falls, which I avoided, electing to keep to the downstream area away from as many people as possible.
Since I did not bring a tripod on this hike, I hand held my camera, so I could not get a long exposure shot of the falls. I also did not have filters and the sky was bright and over exposed.
Treasure Falls, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm (before crop), f/8, 1/25s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
It was possible to hike to the base of the falls, but I decided not to try that on this visit.
Treasure Falls, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm (before crop), f/8, 1/60s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I took the easy trail back to the parking lot. That trail was quite busy with folks coming up the trail, so I wore my mask and stepped away from those approaching. The trip on this trail back to the parking area only took a few minutes.
