Maroon Bells

Mom's in town so we went up to explore the high countr

y and see what was left of the aspens. We drove up to Kenosha Pass only to be sorely disappointed as ALL the trees had lost their leaves. A coffee and ice cream stop in Fairplay (south park) had us sugared up for the drive over Weston Pass. A graded gravel road on the east side took us up high into the tundra before sending us down a (fun, for me) 4x4 road on the west side. The subie handled it like a champ! Down to Twin Lakes before popping up and over Independence pass. Spent the night in Aspen and had some rocky mountain trout for dinner. Very good.

Next morning we hoofed it up to the Maroon Bells. Easily the most photographed mountain in the state. The colors were a little past peak and it was cloudy but mother nature still put on a nice show. We then headed to south down to Mc Clure and then Kebler Passes. Both of which were ablaze with color! I thought of booking it right to Telluride from there but Mom suggested going into CB. Knowing me, given the chance to hit up CB, I will NOT pass it up! :) Stopped in for coffee and snacks at Camp4 and the natural grocer (I did contemplate a quadruple bypass from the conoco grill*yummy!* but decided to pass). We made a be line for the San Juans at that point so that we could time the evening shots right for perfect color. The forests did not disappoint and they were lit up by the setting sun. An exhausting day of leaf peeping with Mom was great and we topped it off with nachos and beers at the local brew pub and then took the gondola up the mountain and went out to check out the stars. Mom lives in Houston so anytime she gets a chance to take in the Milky Way she's alllll for it.

Final day in the mountains did not start out as we would have hoped. Our plans were to hike to the very top of the resort but we awoke to mist, fog and a light drizzle. While the high base clouds made for some great shots down at the base of the canyon our hopes for views on the climb were fading. However as we rode the gondola up the skies began to part and as we started the hike, on the aptly named See Forever Trail, we could see for miles in every direction (over 100 miles to the La Sals in Utah in fact!). Got to the top of the ski resort (just shy of 13,000) and had a very euro mtn lunch. Hard boiled egg, fruit, cheese and chocolate. :) The views of the terrain from the top were spectacular. The dramatic cliffs and huge elevation changes and massive amounts of above tree line hiking (or biking!) has me only wanting more (not to mention a week of hiking around Lauterbruen!). Mom had an awesome time and we'll hit up some more high country fun this next weekend.

As for now, my inbox has exploded and I need to get caught up. Not to mention lots of phone calls!!!

Enjoy the pics!!!

(click to view larger)

Weston Pass

Swimmers take your mark's.

A nice drive

McClure Pass

Neat shot of a rain shower over Ohio pass as shot from Gunnison Valley

Telluride Sunset

A little blurry but it really shows how the setting sun enhances the light on the leaves. An incredible time to view and shoot the leaves!

'nuff said

Wet Telluride morning

speechless

Lizard Head Peak, The Wilsons, El Diente

Box Canyon

Palmyra Peak (?)

Pika! Wish I could keep one for a pet! :)

A long way up and down. The last pitch was really steep!

End of the hike, back down the mountain.