i awoke tuesday morning at alta lakes.  the sun shone bright in the cloudless sky, silhouetting the mountains in front of me.

i left the lakes in late morning, and headed back to town.  wilson peak and lizard head wilderness became distant memories behind me.

on wednesday, travis, bd, and i decided to hike silver lake.  just above bridal veil falls, on the east end of telluride, silver lake is another high alpine pool that sits near 12,000 ft elevation.  the hike is short but strenuous.

travis and i hiked the surrounding summits while bd fished the lake.

telluride and it’s surrounding wilds is one of the first places that my love of photography, and more specifically, landscape photography, grew.  the shot below, looking out from bridal veil toward town, is framed the way i shot it nearly ten years ago.

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009