Forest Road 317

"Life is a journey, not a destination."

That quote is well known to most, in one form or another. It's originally attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. And though I doubt he was talking specifically about Forest Road 317 in Colorado, his words certainly kept popping into my head as I found myself repeatedly stopping on the way to Emerald Lake to capture a scene that caught my eye.

The first picture I took was just a simple shot of some fireweed starting to bloom.  I find it important to shoot something quickly when I'm out; it doesn't have to be anything to special.  The longer I wait, the more selective I become about what "deserves" to be the first shot.  Gotta get the first one out of the way early.

Mount Bellview stood out prominently to the northeast, so I stopped for a nice scene with the East River in the foreground ...

... and a broader four-shot panoramic capturing the full surroundings.

On the return trip I noticed a nice spot with a clear view of Mount Crested Butte and a reflective pond in the foreground.

I don't think these peaks have names.  I was drawn to this scene by the foliage in the foreground.

OK, so maybe in this case my Emerald Lake destination proved to be a little more memorable than the scenes along the journey to get to it.  But the journey had its moments as well!