Week 45 - Cottonwoods on the Rio Grande

Day 309
Where we used to dine at Embudo

When you live in the mountains the seasons come in stages. Fall can go on for weeks by just traveling down the mountain. First come the Aspens where I live and lastly come the cottonwoods on the Rio Grande. There are other stops along the way like Chama and Abiquiu but one cannot always get away to visit them all. For me my day trip down to the Rio Grande was the top of fall.

Day 310
On the banks of the Rio Grande

And these are just seven of the many photos I did take. Maybe not even the best but a good sampling. I made it to the canyon just as the sun was topping the walls and lighting up the cottonwoods. It was a glorious day. And the next day it snowed. So next week's blog will be white.

Day 311
Under the Cottonwoods

Aspens are tall and straight and whit with leaves just at their tops. Cottonwoods are explosions of trunks and branches in dark brown and the gold, and orange leaves are everywhere between you and the sun; turning the very light gold.

Day 312
The bend in the river

The Rio Grande runs through the gorge cut through the Taos Volcanic Plateau and emerges into the light in the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument close to Pilar. This is one of the first bends as it leaves the protection of the park. Water is low this year. Snow pack, which feeds the river, had just been about 40% this last winter. It did not dull the colors but it shortened the season of colors.

Day 313
Sun topping the canyon wall

Below the gorge and into the Espanola Valley there are still cottonwoods but here hemmed in by the dark volcanic and granite walls the colors seem more striking. Especially in the early morning as the sun tops the canyon walls.

Day 314
Let there be light

 I raced through the canyon to Embudo Station first and then waited for the sun. Once it was up there I worked my way back up into the canyon and met the sun as it topped the walls and streaked through the trees.

Day 315
All alone

When I photographed this last tree the canyon had broadened out and the sun was fully up. Still the dark shadows on the surrounding landscape made it standout, all alone and away from the others on the banks of the river.

Playing Grasshopper

Outside Ute Park

There is the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper. The ant prepared for the approaching winter and the grasshopper fiddled on the glorious fall days. I played grasshopper with my camera as the fall leaves put on a fabulous show luring me away from winter preparations.

Fall colors against the Ute Park burn scar

Last of the Aspen Glory

Just as the aspens were shedding the last of their golden leaves the cottonwoods in the lower altitudes were in all their glory. And having not captured the best of the aspens I did not want to lose out on the cottonwoods. So when I should have been laying in at least a modicum of firewood to stave off the cold before my two cords were delivered I was off south along the Rio Grande with my camera.

On the Rio Grande

 I went down to Embudo Station where I know the trees well. It is part of my fall pilgrimage in search of colors. I had many a great brunch at the old restaurant there. I mourn that it is closed. 

Embudo Station Remnants 

Lazy River on a Glorious Fall Day

Sun streaming through the Cottonwood

Reflections at Countyline landing

Solitary Cottonwood

And then came the ten inches of snow, an eight hour power outage and accepting offers of firewood from friends and neighbors. But I got my pictures. The ant could learn something from the grasshopper.

Week 36 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 245
Skeletons of Cottonwoods

 These photographs are still from the brief vacation on the Rio Grande shore. Vacations are to refresh the spirit and I believe this is particularly true for artists. As a photographer being able to focus on different subjects from time to time is important. 

I normally argue that it is my familiarity with a subject which yields the best photographs. Ansel Adams believed that. He went back again and again to favorite subjects. It helps to discover just went the light is the best.

I often feel after a series of photographs of a new area I need to go back; do it again. I feel that way about the Bosque. The light is so different from my mountain home. And during my four days at Tamaya Resort the air was smoke filled from the California fires. That did add to the dawns but it generally flattened the light.

Day 246
Cottonwoods along the trail

Day 247
New Mexico Olives

Day 248
The tangle of the Bosque

Day 249
High Desert Bird of Paradise

Day 250
What was the one "clear" day

Day 251
Dawn at Tamaya

Week 35 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 238

If last week was all about flowers this week is all about trees along the Rio Grande. The Bosque is the largest urban forest and because of flood control measures over the last 20 years it is suffering. The cottonwood trees which dominate the forest require the occasional flood to stay healthy and to aid in seeding new cottonwoods.

The Tamaya Resort where my sister and I chose to vacation this fall is on the Santa Ana Pueblo land. The peoples of this pueblo are working to save and restore their section of the Bosque. Walking the trails on the Bosque beside the river is restorative and even magical. It was a challenge to capture with a camera.

Day 239

Day 240

Day 241

Day 242

Day 243

Day 244