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…
andrew slaton | blog 