I had seen this particular view of the Sneffels Range while checking out Last Dollar Road southwest of Ridgway, Colorado and decided to head out there for a sunset this fall. The clouds had settled in and I wasn’t sure if anything was going happen, but what’s new? I found a place to park where I wouldn’t be in the way since this was right off the road and hiked down the embankment into a ravine. The view from up on the road was nice, but I was hoping to find a composition with the mountains more in the center of the view up the valley. After dodging cow piles and thick underbrush I admitted defeat and climbed back up to the road. I had found that the lower I got, the more of the view that was blocked by tall bushes. I resorted to setting on the edge of the road with what was a suitable composition. The wind was howling and I had a good hour and a half until sunset…

Soon I realized it wasn’t really that comfortable standing out there so I moved my Jeep as close to the side as I could. It turns out that not only did sitting in the back with the tailgate open provide shelter, but it raised me up high enough that I was able to frame up the scene better (it has a 4″ lift). The conditions weren’t getting any better and it even started to drizzle a bit. I did some reading, had a beer, and waited it out. About the time I was thinking of heading back to town (just minutes before sunset), the sun broke through and turned the clouds pink. A little light even danced on the side of the mountains for a few minutes and then it all ended as quickly as it had happened. Just goes to show that the proverbial photographers credo holds true, “you won’t know if you don’t go”!