On September 15th I picked up my 560 and over two days drove home. This is the story of my first shakedown trips.
Each year I drive down into southwest Colorado to shoot fall colors for potential images that I will use the following year on the art show circuit. (see images from past years on my website at www.reflectionsimaging.com) This year with the dry weather and a late start I wasn’t sure what I would find but usually play it by ear.
I headed out on October 6th and setup for the night in Ridgway State Park in Ridgway, CO. This is a great area most years. Close to the Sneffels range, Dallas Divide, Owl Creek Pass and a lot of great shooting areas. Also known for the original filming of John Wayne in True Grit. On the back roads the homestead in the opening part of the movie is still standing albeit very run down and will probably collapse in the coming years.
Bit cold overnight but the heater seemed to be working although weak. Throw on the comforter and hunker down.
Up for shooting at dawn and the trees did not cooperate. Way past peak with a huge amount of bare areas. So decide to head toward Wilson Mesa and Woods Lake which is southwest of Telluride. Great trip, lots of back roads just for fun, looking for some images. Back roads = lots of dust.
Placerville, CO post office - for sale if you want a bit of history
I have seen great images of the lake and trees. But not to be this year. Setup camp, got my Maximum Signal cellphone booster turned on and still had cell/data signal to use.
Woods Lake
This was the first night of really cold, 15 degrees, and the furnace was not cooperating at all. Would run about 10 minutes and turn off by its self. Really cold night even quilted and layered up.
Decided the next morning to head to Durango to see if the trees in southern Colorado were any better and check out the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad and see what photos I could get there.
Took the long road, less traveled to get to Durango.
Headed west out of the Telluride area up through Redvale, CO and then south on CO 141. Never realized that Colorado had it’s own version of the Grand Canyon on an immense scale. Beautiful scenery, literally no traffic with everything from mountains to canyons to desert. The road takes you through the aptly named Disappointment Valley. Which as a point of trivia has one of the last large wild horse populations in the US.
Along the way I grabbed some general images of things that caught my eye.
Antique Farm Implements at Dove Creek, CO
Patriotic Truck Dove Creek, CO
Ready to be sold Cortez, CO
Checked into the KOA in Durango. Why do they build campgrounds like KOA right next to busy roads? Based on recommendations in the All Stays app I asked for a spot towards the back of the park where the road wasn’t as noticeable. Only issue was that they had closed down all of the water/restrooms for the winter in that part so it was a long walk/short drive to get to the restrooms.
Another observation about KOA’s. Have the gents in the crowd noticed that all of the men’s restrooms seem to be designed for those who are much shorter than 6 foot? All of the mirrors in nearly every KOA I have now been in were setup for someone maybe 5 foot tall. Did stay in one where there 5 mirrors. 4 short standard KOA height and 1 for the 2012 average male height. ☺
Spent the first two days in Durango riding the train to Silverton and back and wandering through the museum.
After two more days of a temperamental furnace and several phone calls back and forth with Cary and Craig they suggested having the furnace checked by a Suburban dealer. Closest one was in Farmington, NM so on October 9th I drove down to Farmington. Left the trailer with contact instructions to the factory and went discovering in Farmington. Visited the local museum and a local arts co-op.
Late afternoon got a call from the rv shop. It had been determined that the vent assemblies had too much depth and were not allowing enough air flow. They got sanded down, seemed to be working and so I hit the road. Decided to go back up to Durango to chase the train the next day from Durango to Silverton to see what images I could capture. Stayed at the Alpen Rose Campground. If you ever get to Durango that’s the place I would suggest you stay. Great spots, lots of trees, nice folks and good facilities.
It is also located across the road from the rail line for the Durango-Silverton and is about 30 minutes train time north of the Durango.
Spent all day Oct 11th chasing the train and exploring the town of Silverton. They have a great historical museum in town and lots of old buildings. Walked the streets shooting images that caught my eye. Drove back down to Durango and had some pretty good barbeque turkey at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q. It’s a chain but was pretty good.
Along the Animas River
Rolling into Rockwood This is the site where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed. Etta's house is still there.
Final push into Silverton, CO
But the furnace was still acting strangely. Since the fall colors were so poor I decided to cut the trip short, drive home for a day, regroup and then head north into the Wyoming/Dakota’s. But did get this last shot near Monarch Pass.
Continued in part 2.
Each year I drive down into southwest Colorado to shoot fall colors for potential images that I will use the following year on the art show circuit. (see images from past years on my website at www.reflectionsimaging.com) This year with the dry weather and a late start I wasn’t sure what I would find but usually play it by ear.
I headed out on October 6th and setup for the night in Ridgway State Park in Ridgway, CO. This is a great area most years. Close to the Sneffels range, Dallas Divide, Owl Creek Pass and a lot of great shooting areas. Also known for the original filming of John Wayne in True Grit. On the back roads the homestead in the opening part of the movie is still standing albeit very run down and will probably collapse in the coming years.
Bit cold overnight but the heater seemed to be working although weak. Throw on the comforter and hunker down.
Up for shooting at dawn and the trees did not cooperate. Way past peak with a huge amount of bare areas. So decide to head toward Wilson Mesa and Woods Lake which is southwest of Telluride. Great trip, lots of back roads just for fun, looking for some images. Back roads = lots of dust.
Placerville, CO post office - for sale if you want a bit of history
I have seen great images of the lake and trees. But not to be this year. Setup camp, got my Maximum Signal cellphone booster turned on and still had cell/data signal to use.
Woods Lake
This was the first night of really cold, 15 degrees, and the furnace was not cooperating at all. Would run about 10 minutes and turn off by its self. Really cold night even quilted and layered up.
Decided the next morning to head to Durango to see if the trees in southern Colorado were any better and check out the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad and see what photos I could get there.
Took the long road, less traveled to get to Durango.
Headed west out of the Telluride area up through Redvale, CO and then south on CO 141. Never realized that Colorado had it’s own version of the Grand Canyon on an immense scale. Beautiful scenery, literally no traffic with everything from mountains to canyons to desert. The road takes you through the aptly named Disappointment Valley. Which as a point of trivia has one of the last large wild horse populations in the US.
Along the way I grabbed some general images of things that caught my eye.
Antique Farm Implements at Dove Creek, CO
Patriotic Truck Dove Creek, CO
Ready to be sold Cortez, CO
Checked into the KOA in Durango. Why do they build campgrounds like KOA right next to busy roads? Based on recommendations in the All Stays app I asked for a spot towards the back of the park where the road wasn’t as noticeable. Only issue was that they had closed down all of the water/restrooms for the winter in that part so it was a long walk/short drive to get to the restrooms.
Another observation about KOA’s. Have the gents in the crowd noticed that all of the men’s restrooms seem to be designed for those who are much shorter than 6 foot? All of the mirrors in nearly every KOA I have now been in were setup for someone maybe 5 foot tall. Did stay in one where there 5 mirrors. 4 short standard KOA height and 1 for the 2012 average male height. ☺
Spent the first two days in Durango riding the train to Silverton and back and wandering through the museum.
After two more days of a temperamental furnace and several phone calls back and forth with Cary and Craig they suggested having the furnace checked by a Suburban dealer. Closest one was in Farmington, NM so on October 9th I drove down to Farmington. Left the trailer with contact instructions to the factory and went discovering in Farmington. Visited the local museum and a local arts co-op.
Late afternoon got a call from the rv shop. It had been determined that the vent assemblies had too much depth and were not allowing enough air flow. They got sanded down, seemed to be working and so I hit the road. Decided to go back up to Durango to chase the train the next day from Durango to Silverton to see what images I could capture. Stayed at the Alpen Rose Campground. If you ever get to Durango that’s the place I would suggest you stay. Great spots, lots of trees, nice folks and good facilities.
It is also located across the road from the rail line for the Durango-Silverton and is about 30 minutes train time north of the Durango.
Spent all day Oct 11th chasing the train and exploring the town of Silverton. They have a great historical museum in town and lots of old buildings. Walked the streets shooting images that caught my eye. Drove back down to Durango and had some pretty good barbeque turkey at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q. It’s a chain but was pretty good.
Along the Animas River
Rolling into Rockwood This is the site where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed. Etta's house is still there.
Final push into Silverton, CO
But the furnace was still acting strangely. Since the fall colors were so poor I decided to cut the trip short, drive home for a day, regroup and then head north into the Wyoming/Dakota’s. But did get this last shot near Monarch Pass.
Continued in part 2.
