Aspen Trees Changing

I wanted to see the fall aspen colors as they approach their peak, so I took a drive up Gold Camp Road today to Victor and Cripple Creek, two old mining towns (Cripple Creek is now filled with casinos). Gold Camp Road is a dirt road that passes to the south of Pikes Peak, and it is a favorite for viewing the aspen as they change color in the fall. Some storms started building but I was lucky enough to get enough sunshine to see the colors spectacularly. We don't have the fantastic variety of colors found in other parts of the country, but the aspens make it worthwhile. In some of the shots you can see how clearly the aspen groves stand out in the mountains as they change.

Ouray Waterfalls

Ouray includes a couple of great waterfalls. On one side of town is Cascade falls, a fairly tall but relatively thin waterfall in a very pretty setting.

On the other end of town is Box Canyon. A thundering stream falls through the rock, reappearing in a crack at the end of a steep box canyon. The canyon is so steep that the only way in is over a metal walkway. It's hard to get a good picture because so little of the fall is visible, but it's an incredibly impressive feeling to be there. The first picture is of the bottom section, just as the water is coming out of the crack.

The second picture is a long exposure (8 seconds) taken with a tripod (using a neutral density filter to get the extended exposure in daylight), to try and capture the roiling water after it comes out of the fall.

Ouray

The next day we went on to Ouray, a town in a beautiful valley.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

The Black Canyon itself is spectacular. Unfortunately there was substantial cloud cover much of the time, but I was still able to get a couple of shots that give an idea of the grandeur of the setting. Here's one looking into the canyon.

This shot is of Painted Wall, Colorado's tallest wall with a height of 2,250 feet. You can't get an idea of its size from this picture, but believe me, it's an impressive cliff!