This is Horseshoe Park, where we stopped in the trees on the mid right of the photo to see Elk in the forest (on the slopes of the inappropriately named Deer Mountain). We had travelled up several switchbacks (including the one in the bottom right of this picture) to here, which was the carpark at the gate where they block the road over the mountains if the weather is adverse.
With this being October the weather was starting to get more wintery, and when we set out that morning the road was closed, and the rangers were not able to tell us if it’d open that day or not. Given we were meant to be in Glenwood Springs that evening, this was potentially disruptive, but what a place to be stuck in.
This certainly isn’t the most dramatic of pictures of the Rockies, and whilst there were jaw-dropping sights to be had, given our schedule we had to just enjoy them as we motored on. But I like this as a reminder of the kind of landscapes we saw, and I encourage you to click in and explore the detail.
7 October 2017