i drove bd to the airport in montrose thursday morning.  i decided to take the backroads on the return trip to telluride.

last dollar road traverses high mountain ranch land, prairies, and passes.  it provides some spectacular views of the southern san juans.

after last dollar, i grabbed a bite in town, and headed back out to drive lizard head pass.

on my way to lizard head, i noticed trout lake, which i had unknowingly visited some four years ago with another best friend of mine, trotter.

as i drove by, i thought to myself that this particular lake looked eerily familiar… like i had known it in some vivid, reoccurring dream.  and then it clicked;  years ago, trotter and i drove up to durango to visit his dad.  we drove remote mountain passes all week long, and at some point came across trout lake.  i wouldn’t have remembered this at all unless i hadn’t captured one of my favorite pics of the trip by chance at this tiny lake.  here it is…

and those same peaks, four years later, at a much worse time of day, choppier water, and minus the human interest…

regardless, it was fun to spend a little time at trout lake, remembering the great times we had just a few years ago.  hard to believe, my friend is now engaged and living in cartagena, columbia!

heading back in to telluride.  i always liked this view.  but i’ve never captured an image of this view that i’ve liked all that much…  guess it’s hard to do justice to such an amazing place.

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009