Colorado Wildflowers and my adventures in beer drinking at 13,000 feet

[Pezpix]

Greetings. I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Colorado for the summer wildflower colors along the San Juan and Uncompaghre National Forest area near Ouray and Telluride, CO.

The colors this year were awesome with many varieties of alpine lupine, primrose, desert paintbrush, columbines and sunflowers spread throughout the area. Needless to say, it made for some beautiful and grand vistas.

The first part of our tour took us through the lovely town of Grand Junction, CO, where temperatures of excess of 100 degrees greeted us and made me lust after some tasty suds at a local watering hole. However, we were losing daylight, so my quest to be a cheap drunk at high altitude was put on hold as we drove off for the beautiful Ouray-Ridgway area.

When we arrived in Ouray, I noticed that the local suds houses had my favorite brew, Fat Tire Ale on tap. Needless to say, being stuck in Southern California where they dont distribute Fat Tire, I was understandably salivating for my first taste of the good life....

...but wait, put that beer back in the fridge!!!
The photo nerds who I travelled with wanted to immediately head out and see Yankee Boy Basin, a beautiful high mountain meadow surrounded by grand 14,000 foot mountains. Sigh. I guess my beer tour would have to wait for just a few more hours. Onto a bumpy, muddy 4x4 trail we go!

The view from Yankee Boy was specatacular,
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84392171-M.jpg

Mmmmm beer errr Columbines

http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84391458-M.jpg

Last light catches Mount Gilpen
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Mt Sneffles Wilderness
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Lichens on Granite
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Waterfalls at 12,823 feet (ish) :D
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[Pezpix]

At long last, we caught that last glimpse of light, dodged a heavy-duty high mountain thunderstorm, and made our way back down to Ouray for the night.

Of course, by that point, exhaustion had set in so rather than finish the day with a cool pint of suds, I was relegated to being stuck with a granola bar and carrots before heading to bed! How gauche!

On day two, we headed back out to the area above Ouray at first light, and ended up near the town of Silverton up a pass that I cant remember right off hand. However, our driver kept reminding us that we were nearing 13,200 feet at the lake near the top of the pass.

Needless to say, my plans of drinking beer at that altitude had me very, very excited, since I expected that one measly beer would be quite effective at 1/4 the oxygen level :thumb But, my project beerfest was dashed yet again when I was informed that Ouray does not open its liquor stores until 10am. Geez! What a gyp! Sigh, well, in the waiting, I guess I decided to take more landscape pictures... the nerve! :rofl

Wildflowers at 13,200 feet
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Hmmm, I wonder if this old mine water storage could be Mythbustered up to making some serious high altitude brewskis?
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84393458-M.jpg

Geez, could these flowers BE any more pink? :D
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Beautiful creeks above timberline
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From there, we headed down for lunch and my first realistic chance at some refreshing, tasty, carbonated suds in the lovely town of Silverton, CO....

[David_S85]

http://users.aol.com/bikedave1/fattireale.jpg
Wildflowers and waterfalls good. Fat Tire Ale better. :slurp

http://users.aol.com/bikedave1/fattirehat.jpg

[Pezpix]

... ah at long last! Our first run-in with beer! Success! Wait, what's that? We only have Pepsi and pepsi products on our menu? Noooooo! Well, ok, I'll have a burger then.

We stopped in at a little saloon/grub shop in Silverton, which is nestled very high above the Rockies. It has a tourist trap/mining town feel to it but is very beautiful and has some wonderful, quirky and friendly folk living there. And of course, if you arrive there at the same time as the famed Durango-Silverton trains get there, the quiet little town gets exceptionally busy!

http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84397371-M.jpg

Camera lesson #234,955 - Dont meter the black on the trains! D'oh!
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The colorful town of Silverton
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Ah, summer tourist traps!
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Pezzy! Stop it! Cant you see I'm not interested in your fisheye lens?
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Andy our driver, now in technicolor!
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What do you mean we only serve Pepsi?!?
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84408162-M.jpg

[Pezpix]

:slurp

http://users.aol.com/bikedave1/fattirehat.jpg

David, I am commissioning your beer drinking smiley if you dont mind :thumb

[Pezpix]

Sigh, well, even if I did not actually "drink" any wonderful suds for lunch, I had time to aquire a 12 pack of that delicious golden ale of life known as Fat Tire. So, muahahahha! At least I could ration it out in case Lake City or Crested Butte didnt sell my precious lifeblood of beer goodness. :slurp

After lunch, the clouds and rain decided that they must punish us, so instead of grabbing more grand images, we ran for cover back at our hotel where we were holed up for the rest of the afternoon. However, I did manage to get my bud Connie to do an artsy fartsy rustic picture of an old mine building to preserve my old western cliche.

http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84398631-M.jpg

After that, our evening offered the first chance for relaxation on the trip as we knocked off a few brews, and partook in the amazing nightlife in Ouray. Needless to say, there arent alot of nightclubs in town, so we settled with windowshopping and looking for cheesy wares to bring home to our loved ones before calling it a night.

The next morning, we headed out to Animas Forks Pass, a really cool 4x4 trail with some incredible scenery. We stopped off at the old Animas Forks mining camp for first light and were treated to some great content and light.

More lupines in the deserted mining camp
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84399392-M.jpg

Bring those .9 ND grad filters for those long mountain shadows!
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Ok, one last gratuitious shot of the abandoned house near the mine
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84400573-M.jpg

In case anyone wondered, that water temp was near perfect for chilling a certain type of alcoholic drink :1drink

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Up on the Pass
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Onward we headed to American Fork Pass and the peaking flowers!

[Pezpix]

So, we arrived to an area surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks called American Basin, nestled right under a beautiful and rugged mountain called Handies Peak. These are some of the toughest climbs in Colorado, so rather than risk injury to myself, I stayed nice and close to the valley floor, right in range for my beer in case it came a calling ;D

The wildflowers in American Basin were absolutely stunning and peaking perfectly for us. The only downside was that we arrived a bit too late in the morning and the towering cumulous clouds above (and below us) began to build, forcing the good light away. However, even though the contrast was lost, we still managed to take in the beauty of the area before heavy winds and rains forced us to retreat down to Lake City, CO

American Basin with Handies Peak in the background.
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This view of the peak offered up a unique chance for me to try some unique techniques of soft-fill flash and closed apeture to create a wonderful long view.
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84537262-M.jpg

Flat light due to the clouds did not hamper the feel of how beautiful the basin was.
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Photonerds were all over, and even some large format cameras made their appearances at the basin, for those brave enough to drive the 4x4 trail
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The clouds actually afforded me the chance to use a bit of my 180mm macro since the winds were very light all morning
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Shooting wide open gave great shutter speeds, and good background bokah without being "too" distracting.
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Metering yellow flowers = Ick! Nailing a successful shot of a yellow flower = Beer time!
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A bit of flat contrast, but still very beautiful scenery
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Last look at American Basin before the booming storms arrived
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From there, we drove down the long winding mountain roads to the famed Lake City, CO where they tried and convicted Alfred Packer the Cannibal. Mmmm, sounds like a good town to grab a brewdog no?

[Pezpix]

Upon arrival at Lake City, we were greeted with beautiful weather, little in the way of crowds and pleasant locals. All this would have been great if not for one little thing. The restaraunt we went to had its main chef out of town for the week so they were running abbriviated menus and weird hours. Needless to say, we arrived at 2PM, just in time for closing. So, again I was left with the sad dilemma of no beer!

We drove on, rounding the way back to Ouray and one last look over at the beautiful Yankee Boy basin before we packed up and headed to Crested Butte, home of the Colorado wildflower festival.

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Yankee Boy Wildflowers using my 1DsMII and 24mm f/1.4L
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Last glimpse of the summer flowers in Yankee Boy Basin
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[Pezpix]

Arriving at Crested Butte, my pet project of beer swilling at 13,000 feet was in jeopardy as it was raining very hard and showed no signs of breaking up. Nevertheless, my trusty 12 pack was nearby, just begging to be broken into for just such an emergency. But, alas, once again I was foiled by a technical glitch. Our little hotel did not have a refrigerator, (or air conditioning for that matter) so, it was suffer through warm beer syndrome, or wait til they got cold enough in the sink filled with ice... decisions decisions...

Yup, I couldnt wait, so finally, at 7:39pm MST, my quest for Fat tire was achieved. Not at 13,000 feet mind you, but at least I had a taste of the forbidden beer at long last :1drink:slosh:slurp

Onto the next day we go! The weather cleared, and out came the blue skies (and the mosquitos!)

A 180mm Macro experiment with some aspen groves at first light
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Some more macro work, nearly wide open apeture
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Lupines dominate the trail
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Amazing fields of color at 10,000 feet
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[Pezpix]

Above Crested Butte along the White River National Forest
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Our palette of work
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Ponds above timberline
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Even the horses have rooms with a great view!
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Mmmm, wildflower lunch
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[Pezpix]

On the last day of our tour, we headed out to Georgetown, CO to prepare for one last day of beautiful scenery and get some climbing in. We headed out for Grays and Torreys Peak, two 14,000 mountains that are close to Denver (and so are the insane crowds). After a successful climb of both mountains, we made our way down to Idaho Springs, CO and ate some delicious Beau Jo's Chicago style Pizza (Andy can keep his icky NY style pizza) :D

From there, we drove up to Mount Evans, where I celebrated the end of my trip with a long overdue brew above 14,000 feet. I was told later, that beer and altitude make me very sleepy, but I cant verify that since I was passed out in the backseat all the way back to Denver :rofl

Anyway, there you have it, my experiment was a success, I came home with some forbidden beer, 2000+ photos, and one heck of a high-altitude sunburn. Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed the pictures :thumb

The view up Torreys Peak outside of Georgetown, CO
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Playing photonerds at 11,800 feet
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When I took this picture, it was just an excuse to stop and catch our breath...
http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84549064-M.jpg


THE END!

[David_S85]

That looks like a great journey. Those flowers and scenery go together very well. :clap

BTW, Fat Tire Ale is available in Chicago now, so there's no need for the locals to travel all the way west. Not that it would be a bad idea, as your pictures prove. :thumb

[truth]

Having lived in Durango for 6 years, having camped in YBB too many times to count, having ridden the passes between Ouray and Durango on bicycle more times than I can even fathom I'd say you nailed it. Great shots of one of the country's most scenic and unspoiled regions. Glad you enjoyed your trip. :thumb

[Owen]

http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84543063-M.jpg

http://www.pezpix.com/photos/84543668-M.jpg


:clap:thumb

[Charla]

Fabulous! Beautiful shots all around. I've been itching to go down to Ouray for probably 5 years now and this definitely isn't helping!

I heard a rumor that Colorado actually produces more beer than any other region in the world. No wonder I like it here! :D

Thanks so much for taking us a long on your journey.

Charla

[erich6]

Excellent shots Pez! What a great trip! Next time buy a cooler and bring it with you...priorities man! :rofl

You captured some great scenery. The colors in your pictures are vibrant and the composition works well. Good job!

Erich

[ian408]

CO is a special place. I would like to get back there (just there several
weeks ago) with the big camera :thumb Up to RMNP too.

Thanks for the tour!

[pathfinder]

There's still time Ian.

We're going to be there in 4 days, and spend 5 days riding Colorado

Great series of Colorado scenes.

Nicely done, Pezpix!!

A great demonstration of the use of a wideangle lenses:thumb

[Pezpix]

There's still time Ian.

We're going to be there in 4 days, and spend 5 days riding Colorado

Great series of Colorado scenes.

Nicely done, Pezpix!!

A great demonstration of the use of a wideangle lenses:thumb

Thanks Pathfinder and thanks again for the kind words everyone :thumb Ian, come with me on the Colorado fall color trip later this month! You wont regret it.


Oh yeah, and even as I type this... I am still enjoying the fruits of my labors. Mmmmm precious Fat Tire Amber :1drink

On the trip, I tried an experiment with my 24mm f/1.4 prime lens to see if I could get as many compositions without the use of a zoom as possible. At times, it really was a very tough challenge because of the nature of the background I used. Especially hard was the effect of compressing my subject while keeping the background from overshadowing my intent. I tell you, my respect for large format photographers went up about 100x after trying to emulate their style with prime lenses!

As for the macro work, the real challenge is finding that perfect degree of sharpness with a 180mm macro, while trying to freeze the action as best possible. I found myself closing my apeture to f8-f16 far too often in the field while trying to capture the sharpness of an entire flower. What I should have been doing more is keeping my apeture open at f5.6-7 to keep the background from being as distracting with some of my critical focus points.

Nonetheless, it was a fantastic trip, and a very challenging event to capture considering the altitude, difficult lighting, and weather factor. But I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see some of the Rockies most stunning grand summer vistas!


http://www.pezpix.com/photos/92794943-M.jpg

[ian408]

I wish I could go out to CO again this year. But I'm thinking there's not much
chance of that :(

Ian

[KA0TVO]

Did I miss something :scratch or did you NOT take a pic of the drinking:huh

[Andy]

:bow

and here, my fave, an oatmeal raisin cookie:

http://www.nothingbutcrumbs.com/images/icons/oatmeal_raisin_cookie.jpg

[truth]

Ahhh...memories. I lived in Durango from 1993-1998. Sure do miss that place. Spent many a night up in Yankee Boy Basin with a certain girl in a certain tent...ahhh....college.

[Derno]

wow those are great! i really liked all the macro photos. looked like a lot of fun.