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A landscape photographer's tour
Keith's travels in the Colorado Rockies - September-October 2008
Steamboat to Leadville
Down CO131, I70 and US24| This photo-diary covers a driving tour around the Colorado Rockies in the Fall (September/October 2008).
Although my third visit to the state, it's actually the first time I've been in Colorado at this time of the year. A good year for the Fall colours. There are also photo-journals on this site covering a 2006 trip to Colorado and two to the Pacific coast.. There are lots of excellent photo books by people who've had a bit more time to look round than I have, such as this one by John Fielder... (lots of places I didn't get to). |
Since I'm not on my own, it's a bit more of a road trip and not quite so heavily phototgraphy oriented as before ;-) That said, I'm getting some excellent photos and look forward to creating some great new prints, black and white as well as colour.
Colorado is a great place for a vacation, or just a road trip round the state to photograph some of the scenery. If you've any questions about the hotels/inns/motels where I stayed, then please do feel free to drop me a line.
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Posted 8:30am - from a motel in Leadville :-)
We headed off down CO131 south of Steamboat. I've been this way before (see the last Colorado blog) and was keen to see how different some aspects look.
The shed below (near Yampa) is in several of my photos, but never in such strong colour...
Just a bit further south comes the aptly named 'Finger Rock'
The plains get higher and flatter as you head south
There was a great sky though
As the road descends, there's plenty more colour (this blog is getting a bit yellow isn't it? :-)
The road goes down sharply as we head for the Colorado River
Not all trees have changed yet.
Minor genetic variations in different related groups of trees affect the precise timing of leaf drop. Trees tend to be related to those near to them. Of course, rock type and drainage have an effect too.
After reaching I70 and driving along (East) for a while, we turned south at Minturn, towards Leadville on US24
The weather was definitely looking worse as we carried on
Eventually we reached Leadville
A reminder for vistors finding it a bit bleak at 10,000 feet :-)
After stopping of at a motel, I went for a quick ride to turquoise lake.
This is the road at the top of the dam that creates the lake
The following shots just show some of the 'interesting' weather :-)
Meanwhile, back in Leadville, it's lost none of its unique charm ;-)
As you can see, the weather wasn't looking to improve any time soon...
Time for an excellent coffee at the "Provin' grounds"
A quick walk round the town afterwards - but not too far, I'm used to living at 150 feet above sea level, not 10,000.
I saw this lorry and remembered that some product names just wouldn't transfer across the Atlantic :-)
Don't know what/who you'd expect at the Bimbo USA web site, but it probably wasn't cute, white and furry...
After a day at altitude I think a couple of days at somewhere a bit more upmarket...
>> Next Day >> To Aspen via Independence Pass
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