I have not been back through Glenwood Springs and why 82 to check the traffic, so I went sight seeing close by. This time it's ranch land I was cruising through...county road (CR) 311, Dry Hollow Rd, it will eventually bring you to Vega State Park, where I took you before. I got rained out so I had to turn back but I enjoyed what I saw...
Dry Hollow Rd.
Lots of Horses....
..this looks like an old school house, and I love the old truck...
still a beauty..
the road started out arrow straight then it began to get more interesting...
Rare to see large deciduous tree standing out alone here...
I've seen several of these older stone buildings...a barn? A food storage cellar? Don't know!
Saw lots of birds of prey out hunting...a red tailed hawk...
the road eventually turns to dirt as it enters the National Forest land...
yellow rabbit brush is blooming now...one of the uses of this plant by Native Americans was to make dye for their fibers....
Then rain came down....
so I turned around...
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Yesterday We went North up Hwy 13, to Rio Blanco County.
Then County Road 5 through the Piceance Creek Basin.
Piceance, a UTE native word for "tall grasses".
Yesterday We went North up Hwy 13, to Rio Blanco County.
Then County Road 5 through the Piceance Creek Basin.
Piceance, a UTE native word for "tall grasses".
Ranching has been going on here in this Basin since the late 1800's. Now a days it's hay and Gas Wells...I didn't photo any of the Gas Wells, I'm sure you have seen them...It's the only drawback to this awesome area. I read there are at least 7 ranches in this area that are Centennial Ranches. We were heading up to a couple of Cemeteries to take some photos..
We passed a few ponds, and saw a few ducks, Mallards, Mottled and Mexican ducks? as far as I could tell..
and we saw this dam, we now think it's a muskrat lodge, it just didn't have the look of a beaver lodge or dam...
They use mud and grass and roots, more so than woody stems
...and yet another stone building, I checked for barn owls saw none...but lots of Barn Swallow nests inside...
This door seems to be cut for a cat to get in? Some research told us this may be the old rural schoolhouse? They have this old School House Historic Trail, it marks the locations of old rural schools..
Close to this we saw an immature Golden Eagle...
he landed on the rocky ledge across the road..
After as picnic in the Little Hills Wildlife area....
We headed up to the second Cemetery...
Strawberry Cemetery where more of the pioneers of this area are buried.
rio blanco reservoir
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Monday was the Eclipse...we were not in the direct black out like my home back in SC was..(darn it) but we made up an eclipse viewing device out of a card board tube...this is what we saw when the moon moved across the sun...
and a photo just pointing my camera at the sun gave me this result...
the eclipse seemed to be refracted on one of those light spots...
check it out..and these weird patterns on the ground
the eclipse seemed to be refracted on one of those light spots...
check it out..and these weird patterns on the ground
My long time blog friend Diana got some fab shots She was in the black out total path! Hop over say hi and subscribe to her adventurous blog!
what a beauty
what a beauty
Till next time...
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
What a truly stunning landscape, one to get lost in indeed. Lovely photos and warm greetings!
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly!
DeleteWe were in totality. My pictures of it are crap, but i will post them anyway, for m own memories if nothing else. it was awesome to see. A different kind of beauty in this post from what you've showed in the last couple.
ReplyDeleteI am looking so forward to your Eclipse shots....I didn't even try for the special glasses, they had loads of them at Lowes, but that would mean fighting that traffic gnarl so we didn't go for any...wish now we had we didn't think we'd get much we got enough of one to make it interesting for sure.
DeleteMore beautiful views the sky can look so clear but for a few little puffy clouds then poof rain. But is seems you drove out of it and were able to have a picnic.
ReplyDeletethe stone barns seem like they will last a very long time and are sure pretty. The Golden Eagle is huge but so majestic. In the picture right after the rain there is a circle or wheel do you know what that is?
I have seen some weird shadows brought on my the eclipse all so very interesting.
Yeah I wish I had taken a side view of that large tube...it appears to be part of an underground tank...
DeleteTo me its always more interesting when you're on a winding road. Those sone barns are very similar to ones we see around here. Golden eagles are rare in the UK and I've only ever seen one, on the Isle of Skye, many years ago, so I was very lucky. Uk Mallards are notorious for interbreeding and identifying them can sometimes be a pain. Again thanks for the route descriptions as following on the map adds so much.
ReplyDeleteDiana took some great pictures.
The golden eagle to me looks larger than the bald eagle...and the colors of a mature Golden is superb. I know what you mean about the hybrid ducks...it's impossible to figure them out!
Deletei was thinking that I'd forgotten to say before that I loved the old school house and truck and those little buildings -- all of it looks like it could be from an earlier era. And that's good!!
ReplyDelete