More Colorado - The Dyke

Title says it all...one of the locations most photographed along Kebler Pass Road. Turned out I decided to camp here last Wednesday night, hoping for a good sunrise. I think I could get used to waking up to this view every day!

D2x
Nikkor 24-70mm
f/8, 1.3 sec

Hey Bill, I think that is a view we could all get used to in the morning. Great shot.. I just wonder where the road goes you can see in the center of the shot? Maybe some good trout fishing ??

The golds and yellows pop and make a great surround for the green and orange in the center. I Love it..

I hiked up to those orange trees a couple of years ago and spent an afternoon underneath them - starting out along that road - it becomes an ATV road and narrows the farther up the hill it gets. The range in contrast and colors of the aspens is one of the things that makes this area so great - one of the best drives in Colorado that I know of, and you are allowed to camp anywhere you like...

Thanks Merle. The main road (not shown) continues on to Kebler Pass and Crested Butte to the east, and Paonia Lake to the west. Plenty of beautiful mountains and aspens both ways. There's also Lake Irwin campground (closed), and Lost Lake CG where you could probably catch a few trout for breakfast.

Tim - so those are the trees!?...In my pre-trip planning I went back to your Cloudland Journal archives several times to get some ideas about where to go. I am sorry to report that the bathroom facilities at the Maroon Bells are not being maintained as well as when you were there...the dang lights were out! Nothing quite so disheartening as having to go in the dark...

Yup, that was a weird experience at Maroon Bells - although now that you mention it I am going to have to go back to the Journal myself and read it again. I had camped out in the open up on Kebler Pass the night before that happened, and was awakened by falling aspen leaves. The biggest issue with finding a spectacular fall like this one is - is where do you stop to take photos - kind of like Arkansas in the springtime - there is just so much going on all around. Just be happy you were not still shooting FILM! Remember how expensive that was? I was shooting 4 x 5 on my first fall trip to Colorado - I had to live on beans and rice for the next six months just to pay the processing bill...

Bill, great capture you have here. It is amazing how much more the aspens have turned in the short time I was there before you.

Tim, Bill and I talked about the very issue that you mentioned above about there being so much to shoot that sometimes you just had to stop and admire the scene. We decided the correct word for this is 'sensory overload."

I think Tom sums it up well "sensory overload". I can't imaging that much color in a single place. You capture it well, Bill.

Nothing beats Colorado in the fall. Great color and a great image.

My turn to pile on. Certainly a lovely image. It must have felt a little unreal to be in the middle of all that. Much more of this and I'm afraid we'll be running out of superlatives to describe it.

A beautiful catch Bill. The colors are just perfect and the comp is great also. Wish I was able to go this year.