Van Life Adventures & Stunning Landscapes: Chasing Fall in Colorado
I have created a vlog that is live on my YouTube channel that you can watch by clicking below. If not, scroll on down and you will be greeted by my attempt at story telling through writing!
Chasing fall colors in Southwestern Colorado has quickly become one of my favorite adventures each year. This year’s adventure did not start the way I thought it would, but the thing about adversity is, that it makes success that much sweeter.
Mountains and Meadows
I was excited to see that I timed my ten-hour drive from Las Vegas to Telluride, CO perfectly. I arrived on location with plenty of time to spare in hopes of scouting a few locations for that evening’s shoot. In fact, I wasn’t even to my desired final location for that evening before I found myself shooting an image!
The dappled light on the Cimmeron Mountain range just outside of Ridgeway, CO looked absolutely stunning. The road up to Owl Creek Pass provides panoramic views of this iconic mountain scene, which is exactly where this image was captured. The splattered fall colors around the base of the jagged peaks built so much excitement within me for what the rest of the trip would entail. I decided to keep the cows grazing in the field below to add context to the vast fields leading up to the main subject, the mountains.
It wasn’t long after this moment that my heightened excitement was met with disappointment and despair.
Adversity Strikes
I wasn’t too far up the road from where I captured the last image when the most annoying thing that could happen, happened. The fact that I was just minutes away from the most gorgeous display of Fall colors arguably in the entire world when my trusty camper van decided to deflate my momentum.
Thankfully I had a code reader handy, which provided some insight into what the potential trip-ending problem could be.
The code read:
EGR Control Valve Bypass Stuck
Since it was Sunday evening, none of the dealers or mechanics I knew to call were open or available. Thankfully with the help of a quick Google search, I was able to find out that this is a common issue in my particular model of Sprinter.
Mercedes actually had quite a few helpful articles about the topic, which provided some useful information for me to base a new gameplan off of. The articles explained that this valve often becomes clogged with carbon due to the… honestly speaking here… poor design of the emissions system. I was able to locate a few different helpful YouTube videos which gave me confidence that I could resolve this issue myself if needed. But, I decided it would be best to forgo trekking up any further into the mountains and go back into town.
After a quick stop at the local Autozone to grab the necessary parts and cleaners to attempt the repair in the morning, I decided to park up for the evening in hopes of getting a good night’s rest. While I was preparing for bed that evening, I kept thinking of possible solutions to this problem, all in an attempt to rebuild my hopes for my favorite shoot of the year.
You see, Fall is my favorite time of year. Chasing fall colors as a landscape photographer means so much to me. It is financially lucrative for me as these are always best-selling prints year after year that I produce, but more importantly, it marks the time I decided to move away from my career as a golf professional and into one as a full-time nature photographer. So suffice it to say, the thought of having to turn tail and head back home was not sitting well with me. The main issue I was having digesting this code error was the fact that my van was experiencing NONE of the mentioned side effects of the faulty valve. This solidified the idea that I needed to find professional help since I am no mechanic.
That is when a thought occurred. There was a custom camper conversion company not far away called Adrenaline Vans…maybe they can help me?
Since I converted our campervan myself, I came across companies such as Adrenaline Vans in the past during my product research stages. After a quick visit to their website, I saw that they were able to provide official Mercedes diagnostics and repairs, which would save me from having to drive to Denver, or all the way back home to Las Vegas to get a better idea of the severity of my problem. But, since I knew that this issue was on the emissions side of my system and that there is limited chances of causing significant damage to my rig, I decided I would drive to a safe spot I knew of to shoot sunrise.
My First Colorado Sunrise of 2023
Last year, I ended my trip to Colorado at this location, which is where I captured the image you see here. That morning was Absolutely EPIC! We had a cloud inversion, paired with an incoming snow storm which created such a unique and dramatic scene.
I knew that I wanted to revisit where I captured this image in 2023, so what better time than the first sunrise of the trip?
As I made the short hike from where I parked to where I knew I wanted to place my camera was not very far. The hill is VERY steep though, and with the added wind we had that morning, I had to be careful not to slip.
As I was setting up my first shot, I could hear a bull elk bugling down below, which if you have never heard this sound before, it is by far my favorite sound to hear in all of nature. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in a storm, which meant that direct light on the peaks was unavailable. I was still happy with the shots I captured though!
This morning's shoot was EXACTLY what I needed to lift my spirits. But to make things even better, for a split second, a rainbow appeared, and I was able to get the shot.
The joy of capturing an image that you know will translate as a fine art peace is something I can’t really put into words. I enjoy the chase that comes with landscape photography, but when things line up like they did this morning, man, there is a next-level excitement that comes out of me.
I was happy to see that I captured a quality copy of this moment because the entire process was a mad rush. I was actually already packed up and heading back to the van when I decided to turn around for one last gander, and voila, there was a rainbow in perfect balance with the entire scene.
Worried the moment would pass too quickly, I grabbed my Canon R5 which I was using to vlog at that particular moment, and started shooting away. I typically like to shoot from a tripod when I know I will be producing large-scale prints, but I had no time to faf around with my bag, this shot HAD to be captured right this very second.
Getting The Van Fixed!
After that amazing display of nature doing its thing, I drove down to the town of Ridgway, CO to grab some cell service to contact my dealer. My anxiety immediately picked back up after I had to leave a message, delaying my ability to find an answer to my problem.
I decided to give Adrenaline Vans a call, and thankfully they had an open slot for me, so I made my way towards their shop. It was at this time that the rain storm I was documenting earlier started to unleash its payload, causing the drive to be a bit slower than I wanted it to be.
Once I arrived at the shop, they used their official Mercedes code reader to diagnose the problem. They were able to see more information than I could on my cheap $150 reader, which gave some good news. It looked like the valve only got stuck once, and was back operating now. The code was still triggering a check engine light as it is customary to have a stored code with anything emissions-related. They were able to go through the proper steps of wiping the code and then did the necessary cleaning for me so I didn’t have to do it with the rain coming down pretty steadily at this point.
I was at the shop for maybe about an hour before they had me back on the road!
Since the weather forecast was looking pretty bleak for the remainder of the day, I decided to turn the day into a scouting opportunity. I made the drive over to the Telluride side to check out how Wilson Peak was looking as well as the surrounding fall foliage in that area. This scouting would pay dividends later as I was hoping to secure a few shots of this iconic peak. The rain did not provide any more shooting opportunities, even though I was hoping for a break in the clouds since this creates some pretty epic lighting if you can time it right. Instead of pushing my luck, I decided to cut my losses and head over to where I wanted to camp for the evening, which was in an area I was excited to shoot sunrise at the next morning.
Making A Plan
The clouds were pretty socked in, which meant that the peaks were getting a fresh coating of snow. With The rain at a more barrable pace, and my camp set up for the evening, I decided to go for a bit of a walk to see what was around.
I saw a small pond off the side of the road on my way in and later confirmed it was in a good position on my Onyx app. I found the creek that fed this pond, which was probably created by beavers by the looks of it. It looked like I would be able to use this pond to frame up a nice reflection shot of Mount Sneffels, which with the fresh coating of snow, would look incredible.
After that nice little walk about, I went back to the van to prep for dinner that evening. To my surprise, the chicken and steak I had set aside to thaw out had not thawed a single bit, so it looked like it was going to be a microwave meal for dinner.
I remember waking up the next morning and peaking outside my window to see the ground was completely white with snow. The conditions were lined up, it was now time to see if I could secure the shot!
That morning was yet again, incredible! The calmness that bestowed the scene was so peaceful and energetic at the same time. I could feel the moment recharging my passion and hope for the trip. To have the issues I had at the beginning of the adventure, to then bag two amazing sunrise shots on back-to-back days left me in awe. I call this image Break of Dawn. This image is actually a time blend of a few images I captured that morning. The little clouds we had did not last long after the first light hit. I felt the time blend did the moment justice and conveyed the story the moment wanted to tell.
I loved the peak fall-colored aspens on the left side of the frame as well as the splatters of color found amongst the mostly still green trees on the right. I love it when I can capture peak color, as well as pre-peak color all in one image. I believe it captures the entire season of change perfectly. And of course, the reflection absolutely ties it all together.
On my way out of this area, I was able to grab a few drone images as well. I was drawn to the drastic color differences of the white peaks, red foreground, and bright blue sky. Often a clear sky isn’t the best thing for nature photography, but sometimes, just sometimes, it compliments the image. I like to think these two images fall into that category.
I parked up for the afternoon so I could make some breakfasts and get some work done. From there, it was planning for what the next stage of this adventure would take.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post! I am working on increasing my output through different genres, so bear with me as I learn how to tell my story in this way. I also encourage you to watch the video if you have not already as there are some visuals in the video that are absolutely stunning. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but in all honesty, I feel like this trip was an absolute level up from the typical content I have been producing in the past.
Until next time!
Riley
