Colorado Autumn 2015 – III and Last

[Categories: Photography, Travel, Travel photography, Photography 101 Forever]
(The Autumn 2015 series is listed here.)

I almost forgot Silverthorne.  IMO some of the best aspen viewing in Summit County. Climb both sides of the valley (one at a time) and look across to the other side.  Beautiful.

  From the east side of the valley looking west you also have views of Buffalo Mt. and Red Peak, as in the following photo from 1 Oct. 2013:

Rainbow Lake, Frisco, Summit County:
This is literally a stone’s throw in back of Frisco.

The Georgetown Loop Railroad, riding from Silver Plume down to Georgetown and back:  (You can do a round trip from Georgetown if desired.)  Great for kids, history buffs, and everyone else.  The 19th century engineering feats to get to the gold and silver in them thar’ hills are fascinating. http://georgetownlooprr.com/our-history

Yes we did not have the little steam locomotive towing our open-air rail cars.  I guess it needed a rest.

(Click on a gallery photo to enlarge it.  Scroll down the enlargement and click “View Full Size” to enlarge again.)

It’s a ‘loop’ because the train crossed the bridge and went back ‘up-valley’ in order to get closer to the ground, then came back under the bridge and on downhill.  The valley floor grade is too steep for a straight uphill climb.

After lunch in Georgetown at the drop-dead delicious Lucha Mexican Restaurant we drove over Guanella Pass to Grant and took familiar ol’ Hwy 285 back to Denver.  When we drove Guanella some 15+ years ago it was rocky road all the way.  Now it is paved all the way!  I’m not complaining.  Kudos to the county commissioners who had that done.  I’m pretty sure it is still closed during the winter.

Man and Nature again.  The fall color opportunities on Guanella Pass are limited to relatively small areas at lower elevations.  Above the tree line are broad expanses of scrub brush and high alpine tundra, beautiful in their own right.

Enjoy.