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:
Granite Teeth and Mountain Lakes, from Windom Peak. Needle Mountains, Colorado, 2014
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:
Sunlight Spire and Windom Peak, from Sunlight Peak. Needle Mountains, Colorado, 2014
Fall at Twin Lakes above Chicago Basin…very little snow, but some nice reflections:
Reflection at Twin Lakes. Needle Mountains, Colorado, 2014
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′:
Class 3 Scrambling, Abstract. Needle Mountains, Colorado, 2014
A still life announcing autumn and the eventual arrival of winter snows:
The Coming of Autumn, #1. Needle Mountains, Colorado, 2014
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:
Engine 482 through Needleton. Colorado, 2014
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:
Cowboy Family. Durango-Silverton Train, Colorado, 2014
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