For the first time in a few days we all decided to sleep in, which was a nice change of pace after the last few crazy days. After a while though Barb and I started to get itching to take photos so we decided to get on our way and start exploring the nearby mountain passes. Just south of the ranch is McClure. The East mountainside was “toast” but the main pass area was just beautiful with many vivid yellow aspens. We made a few stops on the way up and really enjoyed the main summit view. You can see our chauffeur Chuck (Barb’s husband) patiently waiting at one the stops… this was the first of many to come for him!

Barb and I noticed this cute corral in the valley beyond McClure. As usual Barb paves the way to wonderful photographs, and in this instance literally! We had an ok view from the road but the real shot was after sliding down a hillside to get the great view. Barb almost hit some thistles, and i got burrs… but soo worth it!

Keblar Pass

We continued on to the well known Keblar Pass. KP is a dirt road for about 30 miles on the way to Crested Butte that passes through/by a few different mountain ranges. We were ecstatic to see that many of the trees still had their leaves and even saw a few orangey red at higher elevations. We also decided to play around and try to get fun sun stars in a few aspen groves… One of the coolest things about Keblar is that it lays claim to the title of largest aspen grove in the world.

The following images are in the Mt. Owen, Ruby Peak & the Dyke area – and I dont think these actually include Mt. Owen or Ruby but that’s because this little area was just too wonderful! We had many quickie stops but this was one of our favorites and we worked it as best we could. After we felt content we continued on to Crested Butte for lunch where Barb and I relived our memories from our previous trip there back in 2003 for the wildflower festival.

Ohio Pass

On our return trip we decided to take a quick detour on to Ohio Pass. We didn’t go terribly far but the views again were spectacular. Off in the distance we could see the “castles” – a mountain ridge that resembles it’s name. After a crunchy turn around (sorry trailer hitch) we were back onto keblar for a late afternoon return trip.

Redstone

After a few more stops for photos we decided to head in to Redstone, CO to explore this quaint little town. The Crystal River runs through on the west side of town (with a lovely reflection of the early evening sky). We then continued to the Inn where no one knew the story of the metal statue out front. We drove on through the little town and just thought the colors of the homes were awesome – every one a different color or scheme, and some had cute paintings on them. One had the mona lisa peaking out a curtain, and another had Mozart in a window (i mistakenly thought it was Washington, my bad). The owner of mozart scared us a slightly with hints that we should pay him and prove what we were going to do with our images… he got distracted by a couple looking for ice cream from the closed shop next door and we took the opportunity to do a grabshot and quickly run away!

Back to McClure Pass

We realized it was close to sunset and might want to head back to McClure to see if we could find a great sunset spot. On our way up the pass we happened upon a cute deer that quickly jumped into the nearby aspens. Cameras now at the ready we continued on for sunset. We hadn’t planned ahead and after a bit of driving just enjoyed the wonderful warm light on the aspens from the van seats… We’d had plenty of great images and were quite content. On our way down the mountain we saw the cute deer yet again, but this time we were ready (or more so). This was my last picture of the day…

We enjoyed our last quiet night at the ranch and had talks of future trips… no decisions yet but I’m sure we’ll figure something out

We only had a few minutes to spare in order to make it to our next adventure so we got back on the road and headed towards Marble. In our research of the areas we heard about Crystal Mill – the 2nd most photographed location in Colorado (the bells are the first). So we figured why not photograph them both in the same day? We’d heard some rumors that the drive up there could be done in a 4WD vehicle but that you might want high clearance and confidence. Now had I had my Annie (Jeep) I would have happily driven, but we didn’t want to risk hurting Kay’s SUV and also wanted the pleasure of taking in the views without worrying about driving, so instead we booked a Jeep Tour which ended up being the right choice… So we arrive at Crystal River Jeep Tours and met our driver, “Smitty” the owner! (we lucked out too as i had called the day before and while we were deciding if we wanted to do the trip another group booked the time slot, luckily Smitty decided to take us anyways!) We noticed a pretty old school Jeep out front (a Willy) with it’s front windshield down and a set of seats in the back and i thought how cool would it be to ride in that one… as fate would have it that was our jeep! So with our hair flying in the breeze we started our 4 hour adventure up to Crystal.

After much bouncing and Smitty pointing out interesting things (like all of the white marble comes from this one area) we finally arrived at Crystal Mill. We opted for an extra hour (well worth it!) to be able to take photos from multiple angles and not feel rushed. We scrambled down to the river and then waited in line to get the typical shot from above on the cliff.

We get the time’s up message and all hop back in the Jeep to head up to the town of Crystal Population 4. Well maybe more but that’s how many people we know were staying up there at the time. No electricity or amenities but they do get running water from a stream that runs through town. They have a pipe further up the mountain that follows the stream and builds up pressure so that they have enough to have showers and even run sprinklers for their lawns! I found the basket of beverages in the steam pretty cool – the natural fridge.

We wandered town a bit and just enjoyed the quaintness and beauty of this town up in the mountains. Eventually we have to head back and hop back in for a bumpy ride back to Marble. After the slow 4W-Low we were amazed at how fast 20 mph felt. We had a blast enjoying the breeze. We were all quite amuzed as we pulled into town and a few folks on the patio of a BBQ restaurant started yelling- “stop! Smitty- we’re out of food!” We thought they might have been joking as Smitty canceled his dinner with them to take us out, but it turns out he really thinks they were out of food haha!

We finished our night with a yummy spaghetti dinner made at the ranch. I was feeling a bit sick – i’d forgotten my sunglasses and after “riding the horse” (i stood up in the back of the jeep for most of the ride) for a long time i think i just needed a good night’s rest (and some advil). We turned in early and decided we might even sleep in!

Sunday was a big day for us with two major locations planned: Maroon Bells and Crystal Mill. Barb and I opted to get up at 4:30 AM to head up to Maroon Bells for pre-sunrise. We made it up to the bells by 5:30 and it was surprisingly warm compared to the freezing temps we were originally expecting. Hats and layers sufficed – no hand warmers or frozen extremities!

We joined the 30 or so photographers already up at the lake and scouted out what we thought would be a good spot for the alpenglow pre-sunrise. While we were waiting I played around with some moonlit shots. I didn’t have a lot of time for a good long exposure but it was fun and might be worth another effort another time. Before we knew it the sky was brightening and we started getting some nice pink light on the bells. Soon after the sun came up and we got some really warm light but as expected it got hard to keep taking photos due to major shadows and contrasty light. We had fun playing around and exploring maroon lake’s coast looking for more places to possibly set up.

As usual Barb made many friends (one of the many reasons we love her) and luckily her new friend Chris was able to help me with my tripod difficulties (it kept freezing and wouldn’t let me go into vertical – poo!). After a quick trip to the cars to attempt to fix my ballhead we went back to the lake to scout our spot for the “postcard” shot. Here we made some more friends and watched the osprey hunt for an hour or two. We kept taking photos of the surrounding aspens, reflections, or whatever caught our attention as we waited.

As Barb made more friends we found out that the Sheriff had been called the day before – the tourists were getting feisty and were fighting over spots for their cameras! Crazy! Of course it did seem crazy that by the time we left there had to have been hundreds and hundreds of people all around the lake.

After some wandering we realized we weren’t going to have time to wait out the shadow and just kept shooting as we worked our way back. After some prodding – “Barb, 2 more minutes! Barb, we need to go!” we were on our way. We were a bit tempted by all the wonderful yellow aspens but restrained ourselves and went straight to town. We checked out of the hotel and I made my way to the photo store to figure out my options (both a mini ballhead and a tripod were purchased… and returned a few days later.)

I took the day off of work and joined up with my family for a quick birthday celebration Monday night. In preparation to see His Holiness on Tuesday in Cedar Falls, we went to bed early knowing we still had a 90 minute drive in the morning with the doors opening at 8:15.

The drive went quickly, but as we got closer to the university of Iowa, we noticed a long line of cars and time started ticking by and the cutoff for closing the doors got closer and closer. It seemed everyone arrived right when we did. I opted to go the sneaky route and hopped in the quicker moving right lane. I was able to sneak in further ahead after getting through a yellow light that got us to the turn for the parking much quicker. I let Tiff hop out to get in the quickly growing entry lines and I went to find parking. I somehow lucked out and found a super close spot in the lot right next to the building – not sure how everyone else didn’t figure this out but I was ecstatic!

I eventually find Tiff in line and we start working our way forward. It was fun noticing the variety of people attending – young and old, hippies and conservatives (at least conservatively dressed), all colors and religions (we were guessing). There were a few tv crews there and tiff made clear her opinion of Fox…

The lines moved pretty quickly and we made it through the metal detectors with no problems, even with my camera and tiff’s purse. (this was much better than when we saw His Holiness in Chicago of 07 – that was crazy!) We found our seats and watched as the 1,000s more people filled in the stadium.

Eventually the festivities began and the panel, along with the Dalai Lama, were introduced. He informed us that he was late due to a discussion with a chinese journalist (which it sounds like that was interesting) and giggled as he always does. He then got comfortable on his cream loveseat by taking off his shoes, sitting indian style, and pulling out an Indiana visor from his matching robe (which is maybe why he chose that specific visor in the first place).

Discussions started by each panelists giving a quick introduction and talk on their focus whether it be the university’s activities, religious focus, protection from violence, or thoughts on violence and education in general. After each the Dalai Lama would give his thoughts on the discussion topic which most of the time reverted back to his usual message of compassion, respect, and kindness.

A few things i specifically remember were his emphasis on de-emphasizing specific religions but instead focusing on the more basic need of moral ethics in both education and in life. He said do not disrespect religion but rather respect all religions. He said “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” Later he continued with “Respect a citizen, respect entire member of society” and said to ignore money, gender, race etc we are “one human family.”

In regards to education he said we have “education for brain” but need “education for heart”. That was one of my favorite quotes of the day and I think that is something that everyone can take away. As always he made jokes, though I think sometimes just to himself and giggled and laughed throughout. His laugh always makes me smile as does his openness to everyone. We left with light hearts.

And lighter wallets… haha! Outside were vendors of various tibetan goods. A few postcards, bumber stickers, scarves and figures called to us. Our stomachs argued and eventually won out – so we left to get a quick lunch.

As part of the festivities a sand mandala was created and put on display during the visit. A sand mandala is a temporary piece of art created out of tiny granules of colored sand intricately laid out to create complex designs typically on a table or flat surface. Tibetan monks train for a long time to design these and 3 Tibetan scholars in the US came together to create this one at UNI. Traditionally these are destroyed shortly after completion as will this one on the 19th.

We were amazed at the design and wandered around it multiple times to catch the small details… the pink people, a tiger, a large lotus, mountains, trees… just awe inspiring. Outside stood a Tibetan tent of some sort so we hopped inside. Tiff showed off her yoga skills while i took a nice break and enjoyed the breeze.

It was a great day to be out and about and we headed home with thoughts on the world, religion, and peace in our minds.

We end up finding 2 caches – 1 right next to the lagoon that required some tricksy maneuvering to not be seen, and another one was right in the middle town disguised as a sprinkler head (with me nonchalantly pointing it out). With the bats heading out for their afternoon snack we headed to the mall where i couldn’t make up my mind and chose to just stick it out with my ultra wide lens… we ended the night with a food court selection for dinner.