Montrose & Ridgway, CO (10/22/2019)

This has been a crazy year for Fall color in Southwest Colorado.  A late Spring, dry Summer and early Winter seemed to conspire to confuse the Fall season.  It didn't ruin Fall color, there was plenty of that, but it started late and, for the aspens at least, ended early.  Fortunately, other trees also provide nice color and they typically come after the aspens and last longer.  These were the targets of my latest outing.

Billy Creek State Wildlife Area, about twelve miles south of Montrose, is primarily for hunting deer and elk, but there are also numerous cottonwoods and willows to provide good color.  The Uncompahgre River runs through it to encourage and support such trees.  Several ponds are also found in the reserve.

Farther south, smoke from the Cow Creek Wildfire mixed with early morning clouds to present an eerie image over Cimarron Ridge.  This fire has been burning for several weeks, forcing closure of roads into the Uncompahgre National Forest.  I started up County Road 8 to get a better view of the "smoky" mountains.  Along the way I saw several photo ops, including a nice ranch sitting in the valley.

One of our adobe hills appealed to me with the golden cottonwoods in the foreground.

There were more good views of the ridge above the wildfire, particularly Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain. 

Several impressive ranches are scattered around these mountains, including Stealey Mountain Ranch that happens to be for sale.  I didn't get a look at its ranch house from the road, only the visitor's entry gate.  However, there is a nice YouTube presentation at Stealey Mountain Ranch for those interested.  Just so you know, the asking price is about $23 million.

Another ranch I did see, but don't have its name, was also pretty impressive.  Notice the planetarium on the grounds.

There were also good views of the Sneffels Range in the distance.

On the return to Montrose, I drove a couple back roads and found more colorful trees.  In fact, within town are many nice trees, but the scenery around them isn't as attractive.

FYI, with cold weather coming to Colorado, I will be leaving soon for my regular Winter hiatus.  At this point, I still haven't decided exactly where I'll be going first, but I'll try to make it somewhere interesting.

Ridgway, Cimarron & Montrose, CO (10/11, 15 &16/2019)

Two days before the full moon, I drove to Ridgway in time to catch the nearly full moon rising over Chimney Rock.  I knew this was the best chance for me, since the next two evenings would find me in front of the TV watching football.

I also hoped for color over the Sneffels Range, but got very little.

Over the week-end, the area received an early cold snap with low temps at 21F for a couple days.  It quickly went from Fall to Winter, forcing many trees to go straight to brown without showing their normal Fall colors.  Not sure what to expect, I made a couple forays east of town, driving back roads that have been very colorful in the past.

In Cimarron Canyon,  most of the trees were brown, with only a few aspens that were still golden.

 

Big Cimarron Road was much the same, although many of the trees along the river and near ranch ponds had a nice orange color, almost a bronze.

Realizing there wasn't going to be much color, I aborted the mission and started toward Montrose.  On the way, I passed an old cowboy camp, apparently no longer in use.

Mountain bluebirds were plentiful in one area, but only one was willing to cooperate.

The next day, I decided to visit Black Canyon.  Since the rim of the canyon is above 8000 feet, the vegetation there is mostly small trees and shrubs, so I didn't expect much color.  However, the East Portal road drops nearly 2000 feet to the bottom of the canyon, where the Gunnison River flows.  I always enjoy this road with its 16% grade and changing scenery as it descends.  

At the start, there is a good view of the top of the canyon and the West Elk mountain range behind.

About half way down, this stand of aspens shows the full range of Fall color...some still green, some golden yellow, and some already bare.

The canyon is so deep, late afternoon sun can be a real challenge for photography.  Still, such high contrast scenes can also present opportunities.  I probably took too many shots of colorful trees reflecting in the river, but I really enjoy that type of photo.  Also, I love the jagged formations in the canyon walls, created by millions of years of the earth's crust being uplifted, while weather is busily eroding as much as it can.

Here is the diversion dam that sends water into a tunnel through the mountains to provide irrigation to Montrose and the surrounding area.  Farming and ranching in the valley would not be possible without it.  The six mile long tunnel, completed in 1909, was the first project undertaken by the Bureau of Reclamation.

 Beyond the dam, the river enters Black Canyon National Park on its way to the Colorado River about 75 miles to the north.