Scenes from Colorado

 

"It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen." 

 

So said a guy with a huge telephoto lens as we stopped at an overlook on a Colorado highway. He was referring to a lake just a little ways down the road.  So I took my little Nikon, hopped back in the car and took his advice. I was glad we did.

Just a few miles down the road was Trout Lake. It was an unscheduled - but beautiful - stop as we traveled between Mesa Verde National Park and Montrose, Colorado. The sun wasn't in an ideal spot for photos. But it was beautiful anyway.

Trout Lake is operated by the Public Service of Colorado as part of the historic Ames Hydroelectric Development. Trout Lake Recreation Area is open to the public for day use from "ice out" to October 31.

That other photographer knew what he was talking about. Another internet site says "Trout Lake is one of the most photogenic spots along Lizard Head Pass, the mountain route connecting Rico and Telluride, Colorado."

Of course, I also finagled some earlier photo stops from my chauffeur. 

One of the stops was Lizard Head Pass. The sign said that elevation was 13,113 feet. No wonder it was so chilly, and there was some ice on water.

 

Along the route, I could glimpse the river from the road and wanted a stop that also showed some fall color. Mission accomplished. 

This was another random stop along a road near Cimarron, Colorado. (At least, that's what my phone says.)

While we were past the peak color for aspens, an early stop in the trip helped satisfy my desire to find a few iconic Colorado aspens still dressed in their fall finery.

These were taken at Conejos Canyon. 

 A stay in Salida offered beautiful fall scenes along the Arkansas River. 

The water in the Arkansas River in Colorado seemed more plentiful than in Kansas. In fact, there have been lawsuits between the two states, with Kansas contending that Colorado took more than its "fair share." 

 All the rain that fell before our arrival in Colorado probably helped the river's flow as well. 

  We were there on the perfect fall afternoon.

Originally founded in the 1800s, Salida was a stagecoach stop and later became a stopover on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Salida's downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  

 

We enjoyed the art galleries and the unique stores in downtown Salida.

Salida is a premier destination for trout fishing, with sections designated as "Gold Medal" water, meaning they are in the top 10 percent of all Colorado rivers for fish size and quantity. We saw a fisherman trying his luck. 

Randy got to eat his second meal of trout during our Colorado trip and watch the fisherman's progress at the same time. 

 

More from our trip the next time.