Today was dedicated to driving the back roads along Dallas Divide. We started with Last Dollar Divide road, but soon discovered it would be a better afternoon trip. Because the scenery was amazing, we still stopped to shoot just in case something happened and we didn't get back here.
Our next destination was CR-5, which leaves right at the edge of Ridgway. A
short drive on the excellent road took us to a ridge with a parking area
full of ladies painting. A what a view they had! It was difficult to shoot
because of the trees and private property next to the road. Still, this
will be a great spot to shoot sunrise when we are camped at Ridgway State
Park. We continued up the road as it narrowed and wandered through the
aspens. For the most part, it was a little disappointing as we continued
south, except for an aspen grove at the top of a ridge. We finally reached
the Forest Service land and the road quickly deteriorated until we decided
to turn around and go back. We stopped at the aspen grove and enjoyed our sumptuous
turkey sandwiches before heading back down the mountain. We did find
another great place for a very early morning shot just before reaching the
aspen grove.
Next on the today's agenda was a quick tour on the West Dallas Creek road we
missed yesterday. It turned out to be a pretty quick tour. Shortly after
entering Ralph Lauren's Double RL Ranch, we discovered this county road
wasn't maintained nearly to the standards of the others. The scenery
overlooking Ralph's hay fields with the grazing cattle was great, but just
past that point the road got very rough and showed very little promise of
ROI. We only drove in about 2 miles before turning around and returning to
photograph the cattle in the pasture in front of the peaks. With all the
rain they've had here in the past month, everything was gorgeous green
with cotton balls floating in the skies. The cows even cooperated and
posed for the photos.
Our last road for the day was the return to the Last Dollar Divide road for the late afternoon light. We returned to the gate to the Last Dollar Ranch. The 396 acres of the ranch are going on auction in October. This is an outdoor person's heaven. Inside the gate are pastures of tall grass that lead the eye toward the first ridge of aspens and the first step up toward Mt. Sneffels and its attendants. We must have photographed here for two hours. We even dug out the tripods for serious shooting. We'll return to shoot sunset here after the aspens have more time to change. They are still nearly all green.
The first portion of the Last Dollar Divide road was in excellent condition. We even met a glass truck carrying window glass. The condition of the road deteriorated after we photographed the corrals framing a small patch of aspens on the mountainside. The quickly narrowed and all traces of gravel were gone. Water hazards of varying depth seemed to pop up in many of the low areas. The aspens surrounding sections of the road were gorgeous, although very green. Still, the green leaves were in wonderful contrast to the white bark illuminated by the late afternoon sun. Then we climbed steeply toward the pass on a road that became progressively rocky and rough. Two avalanche chutes were especially rocky. The view from the top of the pass extended all the way to Wilson Peak and the lighting was great. We were quickly reminded why you don't drive this road if it's muddy. The first mile beyond the pass is extremely steep and all dirt. There would be no hint of traction if it were wet. Any mistake and you'd be over a 400 foot drop-off. The next two miles were very rough and slow until we drove out of the aspens on a bench that had views that took your breath away. Right below us was a gorgeous house that definitely had million dollar views. Wow! From there it was an excellent county road past the airport and down to Telluride.
On the way back to camp, we drove up to the Alta ghost town. It wasn't much
except for a couple of old buildings that caught the golden light just
before sunset. We had hoped to check out Alta Lakes, but it was getting
late and I didn't want to have to drive the road back down in the dark. As
it was, we got back to camp just before it got dark.
It was a VERY full and exhausting day. All the driving on the back roads provides no chance to relax while checking out the new areas. Loss of attention can have some very serious consequences.
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