Thursday, October 4, 2012

ASPENS IN COLOR IN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS PART 2

On October 2 we picked up Jerry Wedlake (an elementary school classmate of mine in Beloit WI) at his Ridgway “cabin”, and after a trip to Subway for sandwiches, we headed up Owl Creek Pass road to the high country for spectacular color and mountain scenery. The John Wayne movie True Grit was filmed in Ridgway and in the vicinity of the Owl Creek Pass road.

The pictures speak for themselves, so I will not put captions on all of them.

 

 

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Cimarron Ridge is the backdrop for the fall color.

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This one shows some of the different colors of aspens in the fall.

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I think that this aspen gold color is now my favorite color1

 

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More variable colors.

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Here is a better view of the rugged Cimarron Ridge.

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We took the West Fork Road from the Owl Creek Road to explore the country, It deteriorated to an easy 4 wd road and we continued to the area where the road forded the West Fork of  the Cimarron River for our lunch stop. There is an occupied beaver pond to the left of this shot. The elevation here is about 11,000 ft.

  

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After crossing the creek the road continued for a mile or so to a trailhead for those wanting to go farther by foot or horseback.

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A group of 5 ladies rode up here in a 2 door Wrangler and was having lunch at the trailhead. Jo is on the far right and Jerry is left of her.

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Chimney rock peeks through the foliage.

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We were greeted with this view as we  returned from the high country.

On the horizon is part of the San Juan range, and Hy 550 is in the foreground.

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