(Late September, 2020) As the saying goes, “There’s gold in them thar hills!”, and we were determined to find it. Or at least, the Aspen gold of fall color high in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. We had just spent a week at the Alamosa KOA, photographing around Great Sand Dunes National Park, and our plan was to move on to Durango, Colorado. Our hope was to arrive in time for the peak of fall color in the San Juans.

Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide…

Our route wound through high desert basins and wildly scenic mountain valleys – eventually crossing the Continental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass.

Cresting the pass, for some reason the seventies trucking song, Wolf Creek Pass, by C. W. McCall, kept playing over & over in my mind – all the way down the steep grades and switchbacks. I can’t even imagine what this road must have been like back in the 70’s, or before!

Durango, and Beyond…

Reaching Durango, we turned north on scenic highway, US-550, towards Silverton and Ouray. About fourteen miles past Durango we arrived at our campground, the Durango North / Riverside KOA, and settled in for a week-long stay. The campground was nestled amidst Ponderosa Pines right on the shore of the Animas River – a simply lovely setting.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we avoided exploring any sights in Durango, instead choosing to take long scenic (and social-distanced) drives around the San Juans. We enjoyed visiting nearby Pinkerton Hot Springs, the historic mining town of Silverton, the Red Mountain Mining District, and having a picnic at Ouray.

I also took several solo trips to shoot fall color and for photo sessions at Animas Forks ghost town and the around ruins of the historic Red Mountain Mining District.

Finding Aspen Gold…

We had hoped to see fall colors in the area and we were not disappointed. Some high elevation areas were already past peak fall color, but other areas were at peak or were still developing. Here was the Aspen gold we were looking for, along with splashes of green, green/gold, rust, and even some scarlet. Simply lovely.

Photos from around the San Juans

Here are some photos from locations around the San Juan Mountains:

Photos – Enhanced Color IR

Photographs from around the San Juans in enhanced color IR:

Photos – Black and White IR

Finally, photos from around the San Juans in enhanced color IR with black & white conversion:

Wrap Up

All-in-all we had a wonderful time during our stay near Durango. Although we have visited the area several times before, we were never here for the fall colors. We really enjoyed the experience and look forward to many future visits to the San Jauns.

That’s all for now – stay safe – stay healthy – stay positive.

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