A few images in monochrome from our recent epic adventure to Chicago Basin in the Needle Mountains near Silverton, Colorado…
Looking down from the blocky-airy summit of Windom Peak:
From the summit of North Eolus, a telephoto view of Sunlight Spire. With recent adjustments to the map datum, this pinnacle could be right at 14,000′. That would mean that a person wanting to climb all the named 14er summits in Colorado would be obligated to climb a 5.10 hand/finger crack to bag this one (though it can be done on aid, too). To the right is Windom Peak:
Fall at Twin Lakes above Chicago Basin…very little snow, but some nice reflections:
Sometimes nice photographic accidents occur. In this case, an inadvertent shutter actuation while the camera twirled about on the end of my Black Rapid strap. Not a good camera setup for scrambling over rock, but it did produce an interesting image that reflected the dizzying heights on the East Face of Mount Eolus above 14,000′:
A still life announcing autumn and the eventual arrival of winter snows:
An iron horse classic and a wet dream for rail enthusiasts. The train was used in a number of films–Around the World in 80 Days and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, for instance:
You can practice “street photography” almost anywhere–even aboard the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge train. I think it is a nostalgia thing–to ride the train costumed a la 19th century–as we saw a number of men, women and kids dressed in their western Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes. It sure adds an element of color, history, and charm:
