I was fortunate to spend the week of July 16–22 roaming the great spots of Colorado in search of wildflowers and scenery at the peak with a friend. We made a loop of the entire state stopping at some of the places that we hoped to find at least some good shots. We were not disappointed. Here is a rundown of some of the places we were able to visit.
Sunday July 16 – Got up at 3:45 am and drove to the trailhead of Mohawk Lake and Continental Falls near Breckenridge. We made it to Lower Mohawk Lake just before sunrise at 6:00am. The sunrise was good but the lack of clouds kept it from being spectacular. Continental Falls was running good and we were able to get several good shots of the 600 foot falls even thought the sun was bright. It was the perfect opportunity to try out my new Sing-Ray 8 stop variable ND filter. It worked well as advertised and I got some decent shots in spite of the bright light. The wildflowers were good in the area, especially the Columbine. Late in the afternoon we made it to Horseshoe Mountain, just west of Fairplay, and got a few good shots of this glacial cirque.
Monday July 17 – We headed to Crested Butte via Cottonwood Pass. We took the road over Kebler Pass but found the flowers to have peaked earlier, at least in this area. We moved on to the Ouray area to check out Black Bear Pass Road. The mother load of wildflowers was here! We spent the afternoon taking photos of this area and Porphyry Basin.
Tuesday July 18- We were up again at 4:30am and headed for Yankee Boy Basin. The flowers and falls were good but were not as good as the flowers along Black Bear Pass Road. We spent several hours at Yankee Boy Basin and then headed back to Porphyry Basin and Black Bear Pass Road. After lunch in Silverton, we headed north to the Maroon Bells.
Wednesday July 19- We were up again at 4:30 and headed to the Maroon Bells. We got our classic shots of sunrise at the Maroon Bells and then hiked to Crater Lake for more good shots. We were headed down when the parade of hikers were headed up. We made our way back to our cabin near Fairplay and rested that afternoon.
Thursday July 20- We traveled to Steamboat Springs to meet my daughter that lives there and has the best job in the world, recreation manager for the Forest Service. We heard the wildflowers were really good in the Dumont Lake area of Rabbit Ears Pass, so we stopped and spent the afternoon there. This area was a close second to the Black Bear Pass area.
Friday July 21- We went back to the area near Dumont Lake to catch the morning sun and again had great conditions and light.
Saturday July 22- My daughter and her husband took us to the Flat Tops Wilderness to complete our photo trek of Colorado. We took many shots of the scenery and wildflowers.
I was able to put this trip together from many tips from the RMNP website, so thanks for all you great input and inspiration. Here is a link to a few of my shots if you are interested:
Hi Tom - nice first post. A bit small on the pic - feel free to post the full-size version!
Very nice gallery. The columbine detail shot is fantastic! Looks like you did a good job with the flower IDs - was there one or more in particular that are giving you trouble? If you can post here or link to an image, that would help.
Glad you found the info here helpful. That's one of the many things we're here for!
Thanks, Rick, I linked to the thumbnail of the picture instead of the full size. This was my first post. Is there any way to edit the original post an replace the thumbnail with the full size picture?
Posted by Jesse Speer on July 31, 2006 at 12:33 AM
Thanks for sharing a great visual trip report Tom. A gold mine of color indeed!
Thanks for all the good comments, I just wish I could spend more time in Colorado, but it is great to see all the great shots from everyone on this forum. I am still learning the ropes of posting and I am not sure how to link to a photo in a reply. I ran across instructions on how to do this one time, but I can not seem to find them now? Can anyone point me to these instructions or let me know how to link to a photo in a reply? Thanks for you help in advance.
Tom - there's a link to the Text Style Menu just below the smilies, under the Reply box. There are instructions there on how to create a link.
Posted by Chris Ebright on July 31, 2006 at 11:35 AM
Tom, that is one crazy itinerary! You really know how to make use of your time! Great photos, and I agree that the one Columbine close-up is especially good.
Discussion
8 repliesI was fortunate to spend the week of July 16–22 roaming the great spots of Colorado in search of wildflowers and scenery at the peak with a friend. We made a loop of the entire state stopping at some of the places that we hoped to find at least some good shots. We were not disappointed. Here is a rundown of some of the places we were able to visit.
Sunday July 16 – Got up at 3:45 am and drove to the trailhead of Mohawk Lake and Continental Falls near Breckenridge. We made it to Lower Mohawk Lake just before sunrise at 6:00am. The sunrise was good but the lack of clouds kept it from being spectacular. Continental Falls was running good and we were able to get several good shots of the 600 foot falls even thought the sun was bright. It was the perfect opportunity to try out my new Sing-Ray 8 stop variable ND filter. It worked well as advertised and I got some decent shots in spite of the bright light. The wildflowers were good in the area, especially the Columbine. Late in the afternoon we made it to Horseshoe Mountain, just west of Fairplay, and got a few good shots of this glacial cirque.
Monday July 17 – We headed to Crested Butte via Cottonwood Pass. We took the road over Kebler Pass but found the flowers to have peaked earlier, at least in this area. We moved on to the Ouray area to check out Black Bear Pass Road. The mother load of wildflowers was here! We spent the afternoon taking photos of this area and Porphyry Basin.
Tuesday July 18- We were up again at 4:30am and headed for Yankee Boy Basin. The flowers and falls were good but were not as good as the flowers along Black Bear Pass Road. We spent several hours at Yankee Boy Basin and then headed back to Porphyry Basin and Black Bear Pass Road. After lunch in Silverton, we headed north to the Maroon Bells.
Wednesday July 19- We were up again at 4:30 and headed to the Maroon Bells. We got our classic shots of sunrise at the Maroon Bells and then hiked to Crater Lake for more good shots. We were headed down when the parade of hikers were headed up. We made our way back to our cabin near Fairplay and rested that afternoon.
Thursday July 20- We traveled to Steamboat Springs to meet my daughter that lives there and has the best job in the world, recreation manager for the Forest Service. We heard the wildflowers were really good in the Dumont Lake area of Rabbit Ears Pass, so we stopped and spent the afternoon there. This area was a close second to the Black Bear Pass area.
Friday July 21- We went back to the area near Dumont Lake to catch the morning sun and again had great conditions and light.
Saturday July 22- My daughter and her husband took us to the Flat Tops Wilderness to complete our photo trek of Colorado. We took many shots of the scenery and wildflowers.
I was able to put this trip together from many tips from the RMNP website, so thanks for all you great input and inspiration. Here is a link to a few of my shots if you are interested:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/hosting/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=117856
There are many wildflowers I am unable to identify at this point so any help would be appreciated. I would also like any comments on the photos.
Tom Kennon
Very nice gallery. The columbine detail shot is fantastic! Looks like you did a good job with the flower IDs - was there one or more in particular that are giving you trouble? If you can post here or link to an image, that would help.
Glad you found the info here helpful. That's one of the many things we're here for!
I don't think you can edit the link. You can post a 'reply' in this thread and link to the full size image though.