Winter travel in the mountains - stay low or gear up

 The onset of winter makes it more challenging to reach the backcountry.  Snowshoes are my favorite means of venturing out in winter, even if I can't get nearly as far as I can on snow-free trails in the summer. 

We've received several feet of snow so far, but settling, melting, and evaporation mean that you can get around pretty well with just boots below 9,000 feet.  Above that, I think skis or snowshoes are the way to go.

You may recognize the location of these photos, as the bend in the Crystal River below Chair Mountain is one of my favorite places to shoot any time of year.  We had a one-day break in the winter storms, and I went out yesterday morning to capture many images.

Colorado's colors of autumn

 

One thing I've learned in the nine years I've been photographing the fall colors here in Colorado is that the best photographs are ones in which the photo would be a good photo in any season.  The addition of color just makes it better.  The mistake some people make is to see some trees with nice colors and photograph those.  But if they were just green, you wouldn't take the shot.  Therefore, you ought to reconsider shooting it in the fall.  The two shots here are from a couple of my favorite places around Marble, Colorado, in the Crystal River valley.

Yule Creek Valley after the season's first winter storm

The Yule Creek trail starts a couple miles south of Marble, Colorado, at 9,000 feet.  This overlook, above Thompson Flats, is almost exactly 10,000 feet above sea level, and offers an incredible view of the hanging valley and bordering peaks of the Raggeds Wilderness area.