August 2011 Colorado Road Trip

[Darkanion]

Day 1 : Getting out of Texas

My second road trip in the Subaru. Today's goal : Get to somewhere / anywhere in Colorado!



Somewhere East of Amarillo, off in the distance, I saw something that looked vaguely familiar.. What could that be, falling from those.. clouds?? Onward, to find out!!



On the edge of Amarillo, I caught up with that mysterious substance falling from the clouds.. What is that hitting my windshield!? Could that be.. RAIN!? I thought that was only a legend..!?



Somewhere between Dalhart, Texas, and Clayton, New Mexico.. I knew it was too soon to be seeing mountains. But, these ant hills sure teased me at the thought of seeing mountains!



The one good thing about the "Safety Corridor" and the artificially low (compared to Texas) speed limits, was a little better fuel mileage.



Outside of Walsenburg, CO, I noticed storm clouds brewing, up ahead. So, rather than push it and pay more for a room in Westcliffe, I decided to stop in Walsenburg.

[Darkanion]

Day 2 : Hermit Pass

My goal had been to run Hermit Pass and then maybe Hayden Pass and then head to Salida, get groceries, make a quick run down Marshall Pass, up to Wuanita Hot Springs, over Wuanita Pass... and to the cabin I had rented in Pitkin!

That was an under-educated set of goals and expectations, which resulted in a lot fewer pictures than I had anticipated. :lol:



As I was leaving Walsenburg, I stopped to top off my tank before heading to the hills. While there, I noticed a pretty sunrise. Hopefully, that's a sign of a good day!



At one point, I had thought about trying to squeeze Medano into the day. But, the stuff I read made it sound too easy. So, I had decided to skip it. Even if I hadn't already decided to do that, the warning sign (next picture) probably would've steered me away.



"Warning : Keep Out : Buffalo are extremely dangerous." Yep, I'm glad I had already marked that one off my list! :lol:



Somewhere up there is the pass I'm going to.



This seemed like a good place to stop and grab a bite to eat before heading UP.



And so it begins.. I'm making note of the time because I had no idea it would take so long to get up & down this pass. It was 9:11 AM, according to the timestamp on the picture.



The road up.. That doesn't look so bad! This should be fun!



Nice scenery! Just a random view, along the way.



The road ahead.. This is looking a little less friendly. But, hey, no problem! Almost 9 inches of ground clearance and AWD. Noooo problem!

[Darkanion]

Day 2, Part 2



At Horseshoe Lake.. On my way up. This was one of the more "open" areas. So, I stopped and took a few pictures.



At Horeshoe Lake.. Same place, without the car, with the lake.



These poor stock street tires took a beating.



A view from the top!



I did find some snow. But, I did not get out and play in it.



On my way up, I wanted to stop and get a picture or two of these rocks. But, I knew I'd be back this way in just a little while. So, I waited for the downhill side of the trip.



Just a quick view back up the road.



The book mentioned "proper wheel placement." Yeah, I know I went UP this way. But, I'm not remembering which LINE I took! :lol:



Finally back at the bottom! 2:21 PM.. So, 9 miles up, 9 miles down, over 5 hours ...and not a lot of stops, really; well, except to cool the brakes, coming back down! :lol:

[Darkanion]

Day 2, Part 3



A cool little car in Salida. I wish I could've gotten some better pictures. This guy was decked out.. goggles, the whole bit. Nice car!



FINALLY, at the cabin! The view from the back porch.

[Darkanion]

Day 3 : Loafing around the cabin

After 600 miles on Saturday and the ordeal Hermit Pass turned into, I decided to just chill out at the cabin for the day. I ended up with some pictures of things I would not normally shoot... and a sunburn.



What could that be?! Frost!? No way!! In August!?



Yep! It's f-f-f-frost alright! I have no idea why that one side of the picture looks kinda red.



The view from the front porch of the cabin.



Birds, feeding.. When I first saw these nests on the back of the cabin, I thought they were giant dirt-dobber nests. They weren't.. There were at least 3 babies in the nest. They sure kept a close eye on me.. :lol:



Beeeee yourself! I sat out on the back porch for a while, taking pictures of things I usually wouldn't take pictures of, with a lens I never would've considered for these types of pictures.



Waving in the wind... I'm not sure why I liked this one, but I did..



Flutterby!! These pictures make the flowers and insects look huge. They weren't. The flowers weren't much bigger than my thumbnail..



"The Defiant One" There's something about the eyes on this one that made him look angry. Maybe it was because the wind was blowing him the flowers around like crazy!



More purple flowers.. I liked how the background kind of silhouetted the foreground flowers.



A souvenir! I guess I will be bringing some color back with me
from "Colorful Colorado."



An old storage building on the property next door, with the town of Pitkin in the background.

[Darkanion]

Day 4 : Another Day In Pitkin

Today has been a mixed bag. A trip to the General Store, a wrong turn and I went to the top of Wuanita Pass and explored a little, a stop by the wood carver's place, some more back porch shots, and an attempt to get some sunset pictures.



I don't normally post screenshots from my iPhone, but.. 36!? In August!? That was worth saving and posting!



A view of the valley from up on Wuanita Pass.



Same spot, just looking in a different direction.



I think this one was from the same spot (or area) too. The limbs were hanging over the road. So, I went for a shot that I probably wouldn't have ordinarily noticed.



Another shot of a Barn Swallow keeping an eye on me..



A real (lasting) souvenir I bought from the wood carver in Pitkin..



This was by the driveway where I bought the carving, near the flip-around sign that said : "open - come on in / closed - keep out!" :lol:



FINALLY! A colorful butterfly that wanted to show-off its colors! Woohoo!! Yeah, that flower not being in the way would've been better. But, oh well! You can't have everything!



What!? A butterfly and a bee in the same shot?! (I had been trying for that for quite a while. But, they never seemed to stay near one another.)



Wow! I don't pat myself on the back much, but I like how that one turned out!



Up above Cumberland Pass, trying to find some sunset pictures that never really materialized.

[Darkanion]

Day 5 : Departing Pitkin

Not a lot happened, photographically today.

The day started with me trying to get some sunrise shots from Cumberland Pass. Little did I know that Cumberland Pass doesn't really have any good views of the sunrise from the pass itself. So, I had to go higher..

Later in the day, I attempted to go to the Crystal Mill. That didn't go so well.

So, like I said.. Not a lot to show for the day..



The view from my new highest spot above Cumberland Pass.



GlamourShot of the Car Hey, I was there. So why not? :lol:



Try my other side.. I may fix the exposure on this one later. But, I kinda like how it turned out.



How high was he? This was more for me than anything. I was just curious how much higher this spot was than where the Cumberland Pass sign is. (12,567 ft - 12,015 ft = 552 ft higher)



On my way to the Crystal Mill, I passed this beautiful lake.



The flowers looked kind of how I felt..

After sticking to my new "Hermit Pass Rule" (one good BANG that I didn't see coming means it's time to turn around and go do something else), I felt a little deflated, too..

[Darkanion]

Day 6 : A Side Trip to Black Bear Road

Another slow day on the photos. On my way to Durango, I took a quick detour up part of Black Bear Road. After Durango, I started heading back to Texas. It's good to be back home!



I don't remember exactly where this was, but it was shortly before I got on the Black Bear Road. :ebiggrin:



My ugly mug with the Black Bear Pass sign.. :lol:



The car and the signs.. "Going UP!" :lol:



Why not? I noticed the GPS said where I was. So, I grabbed a quick snapshot for grins.



The Car, The Camera, the Waterfalls.. Just a quick snapshot of the area and how far I got. (Not very far, I know.)



Waterfall 1.. Clouds were moving through, but I never was able to get this shot exactly the way I wanted it.
Note to self : Get an ND filter before the next trip.



Waterfall 2.. This one came out better. I just wish the colors had "popped" a little more.

[Darkanion]

Oh, yeah!

Video from coming down from up above Cumberland Pass..

Above Cumberland Pass (Hopefully Final)

Above Cumberland Pass (Hopefully Final)

The sound quality produced by the video camera I was using was awful. Lots of pops and static. So, I muted the original soundtrack and added some music.. That made it a little less boring to watch. :lol:

At some point, I'll get some of the Hermit Pass video edited and posted. When I do, I'll post a link here.

[OutdoorOBW]

Looks like an awesome trip. I have yet to see a bad picture of Colorado.