San Juan Mountains, Fall Colors Tour 2011

[Greg]

Took a daytrip down to the San Juans with some friends to see the leaves as they change colors, we got lucky with our timing and hit the mountains with the trees showing brilliant yellows, oranges & reds.

We drove thru Ouray, then left the pavement in favor of the Alpine Loop, headed to the Summit of Engineer Pass. We stopped for a few neat mining relics along the way.

At the top of Engineer Pass, the clouds unleashed their moisture and it started snowing, coming down fairly hard after we got done shooting our photos and enjoying the views.

 

[Greg]

We dropped down into Animas Forks and the snow turned to a cold rain. After investigating Animas Forks, we continued on to Silverton for a late lunch at Handlebars. Ever had Rocky Mountain Oysters? After today, I can say I have....

 

[Greg]

With our bellies full, we walked around Silverton enjoying the mountain atmosphere and tried to work off lunch. Eventually we loaded up and headed for Red Mountain Pass and a few other interesting mining sites.

Back down to Ouray, topped off the gas tank in Montrose and back on home to Fruita for the night! I was very impressed with the colors in the San Juans, probably one of the best Fall trips I've ever taken! The weather was great, even with the snow... I love this time of year! Hope you enjoyed the pics.

 

[Stephen]

Awesome!

 

[ttora4runner]

Wow!

That's a nice change from just a few weeks ago. Thanks for sharing the photo's.

 

[LT.]

As always, beautiful photos and a wonderful trip report. I have got tho get out there.

LT.

 

[scoutabout]

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[DaveB]

Very nice ! We need to get out that way and see the country.

 

[HardLuck]

Wow! Beautiful up there, Awesome shots!

 

[4mill95]

That looks awesome!

 

[ret32]

Nice!! Thanks for sharing. Never thought of the San Juans as an autumn destination. It's always been a late summer/ after the roads open/ before it gets cold destination for me. Time to rethink.

 

[Herzog]

Great photos Greg!

 

[Hickey]

It looks like you hit the peak time for color. B E A youtiful pics!

 

[Skylinerider]

Nice! That Olympus takes great photos, I'm thinking about picking one up for my wife.

 

[Taco4life]

What type of camera were you using?

 

[Greg]

Thanks everyone, glad you all enjoyed the pics! And yes, our timing couldn't have been better, we got lucky there. It was a great trip, kind of wish we had the time to camp & enjoy the cool weather!

The camera is an Olympus E-PL1 and I really like it. It captures colors amazingly well, as you can see. It's way more camera than I need, I just hope I can grow into it. It took me a long time to spring for a proper camera, but with some of the places we go, I wanted a nice camera that could do some justice to the scenery... and the E-PL1 does that job well.

 

[Paul R]

Very cool pics Greg! Super vivid colors.

 

[Rot Box]

Awesome!

 

[wydej]

Wow it has been too long since I have been to teluride, ouray , silverton and durango. I Like the red mountains that are in the middle of sanjuan range, and the yellow river that runs along the highway.

 

[Greg]

Wow it has been too long since I have been to teluride, ouray , silverton and durango. I Like the red mountains that are in the middle of sanjuan range, and the yellow river that runs along the highway.

Yeah, the San Juan mountains are one of the most amazing ranges in the US, IMO. We're fortunate to be able to make daytrips down there every now and again.