Trout Lake & Ophir Pass, CO (7/18/2015)

Continuing our  journey on that cloudy, stormy day, the next stop after Mountain Village was Trout Lake.  This man-made lake usually offers some nice scenery, but was drained for repairs the last time I was here in 2014.  Nice to see it restored to normal.

Next, we took a bumpy ride over rocky Ophir Pass.  You may recall this road was still closed by snow when I visited in early June.  While the ride was uncomfortable, the view looking back from near the top of the pass (11,814 feet) was spectacular.  If you look closely near the center of the image, you might see a small white dot.  That is the truck that started down the trail right after we came up.

Starting just past the summit and continuing all the way down the eastern slope, we were treated to a variety of wildflowers, a few waterfalls, and some great views of the Red Mountains spotlighted by the sun peeking through the heavy clouds.