my friend bd and i pulled in to telluride mid-day saturday.  sunny and 72 degrees.  mountains all around.  fantastic.

we got a bite to eat at smugglers, then spent the rest of the day at brown dog drinking full flavored ipa’s and watching the rangers beat the bosox.

i love telluride.  i lived and worked here in the summer of 2000 with one of my best friends, john.  and since then, i’ve been back more times than i can remember.  but what i appreciate most about this part of colorado is the insane beauty.

so, i decided on sunday to take a short trip up to alta lakes to spend a solitary night in the high country of the san juans.

the road up is narrow, but stunning.

i found a perfect campsite, but this wasn’t it.  i went ahead and made camp at this spot, which was really nice, but i chose it specifically because of the view.

as the sun dropped behind me, the light played a symphony with colors in ripples on the lake.

all of the afternoon fishermen left, and i was completely alone as darkness came.  it reminded me of why i live for solitude in the wilderness:

it’s terrifying.  but it’s also soul-washing.  experiencing the primal fears that we in modern life have lost touch with, are essential to my sanity.

late at night, i shot a 1 hour exposure of the view from my tent…

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009