July is the month that many of the wildflowers start to bloom at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. Last weekend, I made a trip to Crested Butte and Ouray to make images of the flowers. Heading north from Crested Butte, the dirt roads leads to the village of Gothic. Once a mining town, Gothic is now home to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Heading north, past the village of Gothic, the dirt road climbs up Gothic Valley to Schofield Pass. The valley was full of wildflowers. Although not a difficult dirt road to drive, one spot along the road caused a Texas registered vehicle to hold up all traffic for 20 minutes! This year was very dry with the result that all vehicles kicked up clouds of dust as they passed by. Near the top of the pass is Emerald lake, where I parked the truck. The lake drains through a creek that passes behind this boulder.
Wildflowers And Boulder, Emerald Lake
Near one end of the lake is this pool where I captured reflections from the sunlit mountainside.
Reflections, Emerald Lake
The sun was disappearing fast behind the mountains so I worked fast to capture the light before the mountainside fell into shadow.
Reflections In Emerald Lake
Soon after, I set up camp for the night. The next morning, I took a drive down the north side of Schofield Pass. The road leads down to the Crystal River and the remains of Schofield town site. This area was the site of mining activity in the 1800’s but all that is left now are some mine dumps. There are several cabins in the area that appeared to be occupied for the weekend. But I did find one cabin that had fallen into ruin. There are remains of the frames of bunk beds both inside and outside the cabin. There is also an old cast iron stove standing on concrete bricks. The post which supports the roof proclaims “Do Not Remove Braces”.
Derelict Cabin At Schofield
Heading back, I took to road towards Paradise Basin. The Crystal Creek flows down from the basin. While setting up my tripod, a biker rode his mountain bike out of this creek!
Reflections In Crystal Creek
I drove down from Paradise Basin, back through Crested Butte. Then I headed over Kebler Pass, through Somerset, Delta and Montrose before arriving at Ouray. Here I made my way up to Yankee Boy basin. Now here is a road that would have really freaked out those Texas drivers!
The Columbine is the Colorado State Flower. These are pretty lilac and white flowers that appear to have “tails”, as can be seen on these flowers.
Columbine At Yankee Boy Basin
On nearby boulder scree slopes, this little Pika was calling out to neighbors.
Pika At Yankee Boy Basin
Sneffels Creek flows down the basin. Many waterfalls may be found in the basin, as the creek flows down to Ouray, where it meets the Uncompahgre river.
Waterfalls On Sneffels Creek
Another common flower in the Rocky Mountains are these Paintbrush flowers. I found these red and orange varieties growing next to a rock face.
Paintbrushes At Yankee Boy Basin
Here is a another trio of Columbine that I found.
Columbine Trio
Yankee Boy basin gets its name from a mine with the same name. Many remains from the mining past may be found among the wildflowers. This looks like the hub of a paddle wheel that may have powered some machinery with water power.
Yankee Boy Mine Artifacts
Lower down the valley from the basin, is the Sneffels town site. At one time there were 2000 people living in the town in the 1800’s. Towering above the Yankee Boy basin is Mount Sneffels, a 14′er. Today this is a popular location for hikers climbing one of 59 mountain peaks over 14,000 feet elevation in Colorado.
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