I thought others on the forum might also find the area an interesting photo opportunity. Amazingly few people in Colorado have heard of the place, and it's only a 2 hr drive from Denver!
The outcrops are all Precambrian (1.4 BY), Sherman Granite. The joints and solid rock make it a world class rock climbing area with over 900 routes. Elevation ~ 8,000 ft.
The most difficult thing about finding the place is getting the spelling right. It's located 37 miles west of Cheynne, WY. The drive from Denver is 133 miles ~ 2hrs. I-80 takes you right to the entrance.
These were all taken in 2002, so I definitely need to get back and spend more time there. The lighting is late afternoon, just as a storm was clearing. I only stopped for about an hour, on my way home from Laramie, so the images are all from around the main campground /entrance area.
Hey, Scott, did you make it up there on Sunday?
Posted by Brett Deacon on May 14, 2007 at 11:21 PM
Bill, you have a really nice portfolio there. I live in Laramie and make the 20-minute drive to Vedauwoo quite often. It is seldom visited and there are many scenic areas off the beaten path where you can hike for hours and never see another person. I was just there last week and the conditions were really nice - lots of small flowers blooming and surprisingly green sage brush and grasses for this time of year. If anyone's interested in making a trip up here I can recommend some really nice hikes and photographic spots. June is the best month to visit. Great place to camp as well, especially car camping with the family. Also a great place to let your dog run around and swim in streams and beaver ponds. My golden retriever can barely contain herself when she figures out we've arrived at Vedauwoo.
Posted by Kalin Wilson on May 15, 2007 at 12:06 AM
Bill,
Nice lighting and good job on the pano. My dad has a small (by wyoming standards) chunk of land to the southeast of Vedauwoo between Cheyenne and Laramie. I haven't explored it much but I agree it's an interesting place. Thanks for jogging the memory!
Yes, Bill, I did spend the day hiking and exploring the Vedauwoo area. Here's a mid-day shot from the Devil's Playground area (even less visited than the Turtle Rock complex).
I have known of Veedauwou for a long time as I used to rock climb alot. Its a climbing Mecca, right up there with Joshua Tree and Yosemite. I always liked granite that was really blocky like that.
Bill, as usual, nice composition and lighting on these shots.
And as a side note, there are some formations like this in Colorado that might spark some interest as well. The best part is they are between 30 minutes and 2 hours from Denver or Colorado Springs. There is the Turkey Rocks north west of Woodland Park, and a number of formations East of Pine including the Cynical Pinnacle, the Bishop and others. Beautiful places to climb, and back when I was climbing there, I would rarely see another person.
After reading, it looks like there was alot of fire damage up there, though I drove near the cathedral spires last summer and it seemed like it was OK.
And thanks for reminding me of a cool place! I've only hiked around in there once, about 9 years ago, but no serious photography. Every time I drive to the Snowy Range west of there I think about stopping, but never seems to happen. And it really is so close to Denver! One of these days.... By the way, love that shot of the balanced boulder in your Vedauwoo gallery.
Thanks, for the comments, everyone.
Even a point-and-shoot can do wonders with that kind of light.
Scott, glad to hear you made it up there. Nice place to relax.
I wish I would have found the area while my boys were younger.
The exploring and rock scarmabling opportunities are endless.
It would have been impossible to drag them away.
Brett, I have some free time in June and am glad to hear you think that is the best month to visit. I would like your advice on trails and photo spots. I'll probably camp out there for 3 or 4 days. Maybe you can stop by and we can throw a few steaks on the grill ?
Bill, I'd love to get together for a hike, steak, beer, or whatever else works. I really do encourage anyone who hasn't been here to check it out. It is quite different from the typical rocky mountain region scenery and it's easy to get original photographs. Here's a digital snapshot from a hike there last week...
Ah, Vedauwoo. (Pronounced vee'-duh-voo) One of my very favorite places! During the oil embargo of the early 70's my high school friends and I would siphon the dregs of gas from all our cars to scrape together enough to get one car up to Laramie's always-stocked Gasamat, thence to Vedauwoo for a day of scrambling and exploring. The formation in Bill's nice pano is called The Nautilus, because from the right POV it looks like a submarine surfacing.
The extent of these granite rockpiles is quite large, from the Sherman (or Pole) Mountains of southern Wyoming south to Poudre Canyon in northern Larimer County, CO. The best areas for photography and climbing are Vedauwoo Recreation Area, the Red Feather Lakes area, and Greyrock Peak NW of Fort Collins.
Discussion
14 replieshttp://pelzmann.smugmug.com/gallery/2849183#152737423
I thought others on the forum might also find the area an interesting photo opportunity. Amazingly few people in Colorado have heard of the place, and it's only a 2 hr drive from Denver!
The outcrops are all Precambrian (1.4 BY), Sherman Granite. The joints and solid rock make it a world class rock climbing area with over 900 routes. Elevation ~ 8,000 ft.
The most difficult thing about finding the place is getting the spelling right. It's located 37 miles west of Cheynne, WY. The drive from Denver is 133 miles ~ 2hrs. I-80 takes you right to the entrance.
These were all taken in 2002, so I definitely need to get back and spend more time there. The lighting is late afternoon, just as a storm was clearing. I only stopped for about an hour, on my way home from Laramie, so the images are all from around the main campground /entrance area.
Hey, Scott, did you make it up there on Sunday?
Nice lighting and good job on the pano. My dad has a small (by wyoming standards) chunk of land to the southeast of Vedauwoo between Cheyenne and Laramie. I haven't explored it much but I agree it's an interesting place. Thanks for jogging the memory!
Bill, as usual, nice composition and lighting on these shots.
And as a side note, there are some formations like this in Colorado that might spark some interest as well. The best part is they are between 30 minutes and 2 hours from Denver or Colorado Springs. There is the Turkey Rocks north west of Woodland Park, and a number of formations East of Pine including the Cynical Pinnacle, the Bishop and others. Beautiful places to climb, and back when I was climbing there, I would rarely see another person.
Here is some more info.
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/154860/cathedral-spires.html
After reading, it looks like there was alot of fire damage up there, though I drove near the cathedral spires last summer and it seemed like it was OK.
Mel-
And thanks for reminding me of a cool place! I've only hiked around in there once, about 9 years ago, but no serious photography. Every time I drive to the Snowy Range west of there I think about stopping, but never seems to happen. And it really is so close to Denver! One of these days.... By the way, love that shot of the balanced boulder in your Vedauwoo gallery.
Even a point-and-shoot can do wonders with that kind of light.
Scott, glad to hear you made it up there. Nice place to relax.
I wish I would have found the area while my boys were younger.
The exploring and rock scarmabling opportunities are endless.
It would have been impossible to drag them away.
Brett, I have some free time in June and am glad to hear you think that is the best month to visit. I would like your advice on trails and photo spots. I'll probably camp out there for 3 or 4 days. Maybe you can stop by and we can throw a few steaks on the grill ?
I have always wanted to visit, but never made it up there. Looking forward to a little climbing/photo excursion sometime soon!
The extent of these granite rockpiles is quite large, from the Sherman (or Pole) Mountains of southern Wyoming south to Poudre Canyon in northern Larimer County, CO. The best areas for photography and climbing are Vedauwoo Recreation Area, the Red Feather Lakes area, and Greyrock Peak NW of Fort Collins.