Clear Creek Falls

The arrival of summer for this teacher means time for another road trip to see some beautiful nature.  Inspired by a random post that popped up in my Facebook post months ago, I decided to drive around the southern and western parts of the state visiting various waterfalls.

After conducting some additional research I came up with 12 waterfalls in total.  That number was sadly reduced to 11 before I even set forth, as Hanging Lake was closed for trail maintenance.  I'd fortunately visited it before, so my main disappointment was with 11 being nowhere near as cool of a number as an even dozen.

Be that as it may, I set off with my first destinations being a couple of cascades near Creede (my love of alliteration can truly be shameless).

It was good to stretch my legs after five hours in the car, even if it was to walk only a sixth of a mile from the Silver Thread Campground.  The first view I got of South Clear Creek Falls was a very promising start to this entire endeavor. 

Even better news -- the falls were absolutely roaring.

Even better better news -- you can walk right to the base of the falls...

...and also off to the immediate side, where I took a series of images and stitched them together as a panorama to capture their full height.

From there a short drive brings you to North Clear Creek Falls, which at more than 100 feet high were much taller than I'd expected.

Another panorama was required to capture the falls and creek together.

Falls are always more impressive viewed from the bottom than the top, but there is no trail down from the parking area.  Undeterred, I carefully followed a faint route down from the plateau (clearly other visitors had had the same idea) until I reached the rocks along the creek.  From there it was a relatively easy scramble to this spot.

Two falls down, both impressive in their own ways, with many more still to go!

Related Links:

• Pagosa Springs Area
• Silverton Area
• Ouray
• Telluride
• Ames
• Rifle Falls

Trail 403

I wanted to catch some of the wildflowers around Crested Butte, but I didn't want to deal with crowds during the Wildflower Festival.  I figured heading up a day before the festival started would result in fewer people and, thus, a better shot at a parking spot for Ludwig.  So on the morning of July 6, I made the four-hour drive to Gunnison County.

After lunch in town at one of my favorite spots, I decided to try Trail 403.  I'd never hiked it before, and recent reports mentioned lots of beautiful wildflowers.

I started seeing wildflowers like this Ballhead Waterleaf at fairly low elevations.  But a lot of what I saw wasn't blooming yet.  Late snows may have delayed the growing season.

No matter.  Views like this were just fine without fields of blooming wildflowers.

Gothic Mountain beckoned, and I considered pushing for the summit.

Then I saw the trail make a HUGE drop before ascending again.  I was uninterested in essentially double the elevation gain, so I turned around and headed back a little under two miles in.

I stopped for a very nice panoramic looking north-northeast.

The view included Maroon Bells, which were nice to see from a different angle.

The trail splits at one point, with the lower portion leading to...

...a couple of sweet chairs.  I've seen lots of simple benches on trails, but never seating quite this posh.

I had come for wildflowers, and even though I wasn't seeing the bonanza I hoped for it made no sense to capture what was in bloom, like Glacier Lily nourishing a Swallowtail...

...Bluebells, most likely Prairie...

...another Glacier Lily nicely lit against a dark background...

...Fitweed...

...and some good old Blue Columbine.

One of the great things about Colorado is that "now what you'd hoped for" is often still pretty great, and that was the case this day.  A solid 3.72-mile hike with a very modest 685 feet of elevation gain, it still took me 2:23:57 with all my photo stops.  And OK, maybe the altitude was a small factor!

Related Links:

• Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part I
• Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part II
• Scarp Ridge, Part II
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2015
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2014: Part II
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2014: Part I

Olympic Peninsula, July 2021: Hurricane Ridge

Having visited coasts and forests, it was time to make our way to the third of Olympic National Park's biomes -- the mountains.  Hurricane Ridge was our choice.

Wildflowers like Broadleaf Lupine brought fond memories of our former home in Colorado.

The area around the visitor center has hiking trails with nice payoffs, like this view north to Port Angeles and the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Cirque Rim Trail ...

... and this 360-degree vista from Sunrise Point.

This scraggly Mule Deer was quite comfortable with people, grazing contentedly near the parking lot as it filled with visitors.

The deer was sufficiently nonplused that I was able to move around for a front shot.

A quick trip for a nice walk in some alpine air!

More From Olympic Peninsula:

• Dungeness and Sequim
• Salt Creek Campground
• Tongue Point
• Lake Crescent
• Kalaloch Beaches
• Hoh Rainforest
• Rialto Beach
• Bogachiel State Park
• Northwest Corner
• Camp Forever Young

Shenandoah National Park: Stony Man Overlook

After an absolutely gorgeous sunset at Big Meadows, I went for one more the next evening by taking a short hike to the Stony Man Overlook. The point has a fantastic view to the west, with the Shenandoah Valley, the town of Luray, and the Massanutten and Allegheny Mountains all visible.

According to Wikipedia, the mountain is made up of metamorphic rock known as Greenschist.

I arrived well before sunset on a gorgeous afternoon, with what I believed were just enough clouds to yield some nice color but not so many as to potentially obscure the actual sunset.  Surely not.  But, just to be safe, I shot an HDR panoramic while the sub was still quite high in the sky.

Anyway, about those clouds.  Yeah, they ended up obscuring the sunset.  Oh, well.  That's nature!

Making some lemonade, the haze did produce a nice effect on the ridges to the south.

My walk ended up covering 1.54 miles, the last stretch in the dark.  Coupled with my earlier trek to the summit of Old Rag Mountain, that meant I covered nearly 11 miles that day.

I slept quite well that night. 

Tagus Cove

The third day of our Galápagos adventure I actually wasn't feeling very well, so I spent the morning on the boat. But one does not go the Galápagos Islands to simply stay on the boat. So even though I wasn't significantly better by the afternoon, I still sucked it up and boarded the Zodiac to Tagus Cove on Isabela Island for a one-mile hike to the top of a parasitic volcano cone.

We were immediately rewarded upon arriving on shore by a pair of Galápagos Hawks.  Like most wildlife in the islands -- and unlike most raptors I've seen -- the birds were not especially concerned with us.

I wonder at what point graffiti stops being vandalism and starts being historically significant?  Whatever the case, some of the rock writings where we came ashore are said to date back to the 1890s.

Warm late afternoon light again helps enhance the colors of this Galápagos Land Iguana.

I didn't realize the skeletal appearance of these palo santo trees is perfectly normal when they're dormant.  They reminded me of hillsides back in Colorado after a forest fire.

Our hike quickly ascended above Darwin Lake, which was possibly filled with salt water from earthquakes and tsunamis caused by volcanic eruptions and is now three times saltier than the ocean due to evaporation.  I have two different takes on the view -- a three-image HDR blend...

...and a three-image panoramic stitch.  I like the clouds and the deep hues in the water of the panorama, but do wish the area in shade wasn't quite so dark.

Speaking of panoramas, here's one looking south down the length of Isabela Island from the top of the volcano.  I had to wait patiently for the rest of my group to start heading back down the trail to get the full wraparound.

Our pensive and slightly nauseous adventurer, looking contemplatively into the distance.  You can't even see the shutter remote in my right hand. :)

And as Danelle insisted be my goal for the entire trip, I caught back up the rest of my group before they had finished boarding the Zodiac so they didn't have to wait for me!

Click here for more blog posts from my amazing visit to the Galápagos Islands!

Mount Evans, July 2019: Summit

The photographic high point of my annual summer visit to Colorado -- no pun intended -- is the time I spend with the mountain goats at the summit of Mount Evans. Every year is a little different, but over time I've learned the importance of things like going early, dressing warmly, and bringing extra batteries.  When I check all those boxes, I'm free to just focus on these wonderful animals.

After a great sunrise at Summit Lake Park, I drove to the top before golden hour was over.  As a result, the couple of goats who were already there were bathed in warm light.

One more without the kid.

This one just looks like he has mischief on his mind.

I don't do a lot of high-key shots.  The snowy background and bright sun created that effect here.

I only saw this one really young one, and it didn't expose itself for many shots.

I know my focus is sharp when I can make out saliva strands in the mouth.

These two had quite a little standoff going.  I had to wait patiently for them to creep far enough forward to get some decent light on them.

Even at a young age, the goats are quite comfortable with photographers.

I'm grateful that I don't have to scratch my face with a hoof.

This goat was actually facing in the opposite direction of the sun, but then turned its head to the camera the perfect amount to get perfectly lit up.

My cuteness sensors flipped to overload after this moment, and I knew it was time to pack up.

I actually did a little landscape shooting while overlooking Abyss Lake.  One single shot...

...one four-image panoramic shot in landscape orientation...

...and one five-image panoramic shot in portrait orientation.  There's even a goat in the upper right also taking in the view!

I enjoyed my time with the goats as always, although I didn't get the range of interesting behavior that I have in the past.  Assuming I return again next year, that will be my focus!