Gondola closed yesterday at Midnight

Gondola closed yesterday at midnight, rode it one last time until November 20. Took so photos.




Long exposure on these two make an interesting photo:

After the first real fall snow 2009 in Telluride

Monday during the day it was cold enough the the snow level reach town. Went up Tomboy road with the boys and took some sunset pictures during golden hour. Will post a few of my favorites individually, but you can see the whole slideshow at the bottom.

Enjoy...


Composite of all of my favs. To view these click on the slideshow at the bottom.



This photo was taken just a bit up Tomboy Road. Love all the colors at play.


Smokie posing for me in front of the aspens.


Valentino chewing on a stick


The town glistened in the late evening sunlight


Tomboy Road is very scenic. AND this is just the start of it. Note 4 Wheel required as you get higher up.



Snow on the peaks at the end of our valley. Zig Zag of the road that goes up to Bridal Veil Falls

Peaking thru the trees.


Maze of white


Golden hour on some late turning aspens.

Ok, that should be enough for the curious to see the whole slide show.

Slide Show of ALL the photos.

(Note: First click the view above to start the slide show, then click on the bottom right icon (one with 4 arrows) to go full screen.)

Fall Colors during Mom and Dad's Visit

Mom and Dad visited me (and the furry kids) this past weekend. On Saturday, we went for a drive over Last Dollar road and East and West Dallas roads. We did not take that many pictures, but it was a wonderful day.



Note: To start slide show click above, also to make the slide show go full screen click on the icon in the lower right (one with 4 arrows) on the slideshow viewer.

Early Season Dallas Divide Fall Colors 2009

Just a couple photos to wet the appetite for the fall colors yet to come. The first week of October is usually peak for the fall colors in the Telluride region.


Note: Click on the icon in bottom right to go full screen.

Backpack trip up to Ice Lake Basin

Last weekend, Mary Dawn, Smokie and Valentino went backpacking up to Ice Lake Basin.



For being as close to Telluride, I had never been. From the map and the descriptions it looked amazing. It is a realitivly short hike but with 2400 feet of elevation gain. We have not been backpacking for several years (Valentino and Smokie's first time), so we knew it would be "up".

To get there from Ski Ranches, the shortest route is over the 4-wheel road Ophir Pass. Another first for me, Mary Dawn had down this route before.

The first couple of photos were of trip over Ophir Pass. It is the easiest of the 4-wheel roads into Telluride.


We did a quick stop in to Silverton, and the we drove to Clear Lake Trail Head. I had been by here when I had done the Colorado Trail, gosh ~15 Years back.

Lots, and lots of vehicles at the trailhead. Which was expected. We loaded up, put Smokie's pack on and headed up the trail.



The trail switch backs up Clear Creek, then turns left across a meadow.


Then a non-stop climb up to Lower Ice Lake basin. We had lunch there. The boys got their normal chicken necks for lunch.



We pass thru the "corn field", and rested before the last climb up in the Ice Lake Basin. The trail here as a little bit of exposure, nothing serious, but we were watchful for the dogs getting to close to the edge.



Once we got up on top, we were treated to the most stunning blue lakes I have ever seen. And I have seen quite a few alpine lakes, but Ice Lake was amazing. The sky and the lake where the same shade of blue.


Speaking of the sky, that weekend weather was incredible. Not a cloud in the sky. You have to understand that August is monsoon season. It typically rains for a bit in the afternoon. Not this weekend.

The wildflowers were incredible!


We scouted around for a spot to set up camp. Found one, setup the Walrus tent, and then went exploring around Ice Lake Basin. Our destination was Fuller Lake. We rested there for a bit, and headed back for dinner.


Dinner:


The pups were so tired. Big day for them.


Went to bed early, during the middle of the night, the dogs started to bark, so into our tent they came. A bit cramped, but it made it warmer. :) Maybe they were barking at the Alpine "elves"


The next morning we did our chores, packed up, and went for a small day hike up to some of the Upper Ice Lakes.


Nice hair!


We both had full weeks the next week, so we headed back down to the truck. Mary Dawn was a bit sore in the shoulders, we might need to invest in a backpack for her next time.



Overall it was a GREAT, AMAZING trip.

There is "a few" more photos that are interesting if you want to dig deeper.

As usual for the full slideshow, you click on on the photo below to start the slideshow. Enjoy.
[note: there is 86 photos here, you can use the arrow keys to advance, or if you hover over the slideshow, you can advance thru the thumbnails. If you want to view it full screen click on the icon in bottom right.]



If you want to see some of the descriptions that go with the pictures, click here.

For the map of the geo tagged photos click here.


Other photos can be found here. www.michaelmowerymedia.com


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