Thursday, October 2, 2014

Foliage Extravaganza

Today we got down to the serious business of driving around Colorado looking for fall foliage.  Last night I found a site that had up to the minute listings of where things were at their peak and based upon that we set our itinerary.

Our first target of opportunity was the Gunnison Valley leading up to Crested Butte










A Brief Interlude

I saw this in Crested Butte and had to text the picture immediately to my two grandsons


If you haven't gathered it, I am in serious Camera Sherpa mode.
After a hard day of sherpaing, my comrades and I like to gather at one of the watering holes that cater to our kind to knock back some Nepalese fire water and tell stories about our photographers


Our photographer in full battle gear including two cameras

 

Geology 101

On our way to our next stop, we saw this called the Dillon Pinnacles.
They represent two different volcanic activities.  The lower, more vertical part is 25 million years ago and is accumulated lava explosions.  The upper cap is welded tuft, volcanic ash and dust from an explosion about a million years ago.


Outside of Ouray there was a fabulous example of really old rock.
The rock with the ripples in it is Pre-Cambrian, over 1 billion years old!
It was a water front with wave action that created the ripples.  It became a sedimentary rock when it was buried.  Then it got shoved deep into the earth where it became a metamorphic rock.  Mountain building brought it up and turned it on its side.  Recent erosion has now exposed it.



Next Target - the Road from Ouray through Sliverton to Durango












 Whew.  Time for bed.

5 comments:

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Those pictures are all beautiful, but I think my favorite is the knight fighting the dragon.

alexis said...

jeeze, why is Colorado so damn pretty?

Bernice said...

And these were taken with your phone? Can't wait to the the photographer's pictures. The Sherpa cafe was too good.

de-I said...

Yes, Bernice, with my iPhone. Hopefully the real photographers pictures will be ready by next year some time :)

terri said...

Seriously amazing scenery. Your pictures are so vibrant, some look more like paintings than photos.