Up at dawn in Ouray after a night that only saw me get rained on for a few minutes (ah, the joys of tent camping), then in the car and off to Telluride. I was excited to be visiting, having never been despite first moving to Colorado almost 30 years ago. By 7 a.m. I was at the Bridal Veil Falls trailhead -- the first car there.
The trail passes two other falls along its 1.2-mile length, and despite a fair amount of online research I could not find a name for this one. That's just crazy to me, since these are just as picturesque as many of the others I'd stopped at on this road trip.
I also could
not keep the spray of my lens, since a pretty strong breeze was carrying it straight at me.
A little farther up the trail and you reach
Lower Bridal Veil Falls.
No spray on the lens issues here, since my vantage points were a little farther away and not directly in the wind.
I don't think I could have arrived at
Bridal Veil Falls itself at a better time, with the sun just breaking over the ridge.
The tallest free-standing waterfall in Colorado at 365 feet completely mesmerized me. They're simply stunning.
Even the outflow is gorgeous, especially when backlit by the rising sun.
I chose to walk the road back down instead of the rather slippery and steep trail. Still managed to catch some nice light on this
Wolf's Currant.
Headed into town, had some breakfast, then made for the
Jud Weibe Memorial Trail which leads to
Cornet Falls. Some
Oriental Poppy was starting to bloom along the sidewalk.
The trail to the falls is steep but short -- just a little more than a quarter mile. And there's a lot of space around the base of the falls themselves to take them in.
A three-shot panoramic provides a little more perspective. Cornet Falls are only about 80 feet tall, but still make a nice impression.
Equally nice is Cornet Creek, tumbling down along the trail to the falls.
Not even 11 a.m., and I'd seen four more waterfalls. The rest of the day was appropriately scheduled for rest and relaxation in this beautiful mountain town!
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