Today's goal was to drive Kebler Pass to Highway 133 to the west. We drove in to Crested Butte but missed the turnoff to the Kebler Pass Road. Since we were on the Gothic Road, we decided to continue past the ski area and check out Gothic. We thought it was a ghost town, but it turned out to be a private biological study area. There were still a few great old buildings, and the scenery was magnificent. Although somewhat unplanned, it turned out to be a great shooting opportunity.
We returned to Crested Butte and stopped at the Chamber of Commerce for directions. The Kebler Pass Road was gravel, but it was an excellent road. We took the turnout to Lake Irwin and found a gem against the Ruby Range. The mountain was made up of hues of reds, oranges, and browns. The deep blue of the lake contrasted with the mountains and evergreens in the foreground and produced a bit of magic.
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| Lake Irwin | Kebler Curve |
We continued down the West Elk Loop Road through aspen groves, along valleys flooded by beaver dams, and under the cliffs of huge mountains as we dropped down below the pass. We detoured to Lost Lake to check out the campground so many writers had recommended. The campground was a major disappointment, but Lost Lake wasn't. We photographed the lake with its aspen reflections and took a break from driving the road.
From Lost Lake we continued to drop down the West Elk Loop Road. Unfortunately, the scenery was starting to dwindle and we decided to turn back. The clouds had been amazing throughout the day, and we wanted to be sure that we would have a good place to shoot sunset. That place would be the huge curve in the road that overlooked the valley leading to Beckwith.
Without stops, it only took about half an hour to get there, so we parked in a
wide parking area below our spot and read/napped. When the sun finally
started to set, we drove up to our spot and got set up to shoot. It was
then that we realized we had no idea how to expose for this shot. The
valley was deep and dark and the clouds were bright. We wanted the valley
in the foreground with the color of the clouds. That wasn't happening.
Then we realized we had planned this all wrong. We should be shooting this
wondrous warm light against the east slopes of the rugged mountains, not
trying to shoot clouds over this valley. After waiting over two hours to
shoot sunset, we came away with nothing.
We managed to find a food store in Crested Butte and gassed up the Explorer for tomorrow before heading back to camp. That turn in Almont to our little road to the campsite was awfully hard to see in the dark, but we managed to get back to the motorhome.
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