San Juan Mountains

The mountains of Southwest Colorado near Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride are truly incredible... definitely my favorite area of Colorado that I've seen so far. After hiking Blue Lakes, I drove up the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, and headed out on the Alpine Loop, a 4x4 route into the heart of the San Juans. Thanks to my dad's XTerra I was able to easily get up to Animus Forks, and then over 12,700ft Cinnamon Pass, ending up in the beautiful American Basin. There were more people than I expected around, but still relatively uncrowded thanks to the long rough road only accessible to true 4x4 vehicles. I ended up spending the night here, capturing a night sky exposure along the creek running out of American Basin. I also included here photos from Alta ghost town, Alta Lakes, Ophir Pass, and Last Dollar Pass which I explored the following afternoon.