Terry & Diana's
Photography and More

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Colorado July 2024

July 2

This year Diana and I headed back to Colorado for a family wedding on July 15 near Crested Butte. Diana's sister, Becky, has a new house in Greeley so we headed there first to visit her. On the way out of Texas we stopped once again at Collinsworth Pioneer County Park on the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River off of US 83. We arrived at 4:30 PM. I went out to photograph whatever I could find. Very warm this year (106 degrees) when we arrived.

Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River

Campsite at Collinsworth Pioneer County Park

Bluejay

Woodhouse's Toad

Yellow-bellied Watersnake

Eastern Pondhawk

Common Sanddragon

Robberfly (no common name Protacanthus species)

Ocellated Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia ocellata)

Carolina Tiger Beetle (Tetracha carolina)

Virginia Tiger Beetle (Tetracha virginca)

July 3

Boy was it hot overnight!. It did not get comfortable until sunrise. We then headed up the eastern part of Colorado through fields and grasslands. Stopped once at a wildlife management area north of Lamar, Colorado. Didn't see much. There were lots of biting flies along with a few tiger beetles. We got to Becky's around 4:30 PM. Vistied and walked to a park near her house.

Tiger Beetle (Cicindela tenuisignata) Queens State Wildlife Area

Familiar Bluet Queens State Wildlife Area

July 4

I got up early and walked around the local park to check for birds and odes. Gabe hosted everyone to a hamburger cookout at his place in Greeley. There was a turkey hen with chicks which crossed through his yard.

House Finch

Red-winged Blackbird

Vivid Dancer

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Flower Fly

Gabe's backyard, Greeley

July 5

Diana and I headed out early going west along the Pouder River Canyon. We missed the camp site I was wanting to stop at so we went to some lakes west of Walden,
CO. We didn't like the camping spots, so headed farther west. We decided to try to find one of the boat put in places along the Yampa River west of Craig. We ended up spending the night at a abandoned campground called Juniper Spring. It was a cold night (40 degrees).

Pouder River Canyon

Mule Deer at Delany Butte Lake north of Walden

Westerm Grebe at Delany Butte north of Walden

Yampa River at old closed Juniper Creeks camp

July 6

We had reservations at Yampa River State Park starting at 1:00 PM. We were early so we checked out Yampa River City Park. Birds and odes were good. At 1:00 PM, we arrived at Yampa River State Park. It was not much to speak about but there were a couple of ponds and the river on one side of the park. The rest of the afternoon I searched around the ponds and down to river boat lunch. Nice bathrooms and showers.

Osprey, Craig City Park

Yellow Warbler, Craig City Park

Northern Leopard Frog, Craig City Park

Catbird, Craig City Park

Eight-spotted Skimmer, Craig City Park

Variegated Meadowhawk, Craig City Park

Dot-tailed Whiteface, Craig City Park

Blue-eyed Darner, Craig City Park

Yampa River State Park

Mountain Cottontail, Yampa River State Park

Ground Squirrel, Yampa River State Park

Western Tiger Beetle, Yampa River State Park

Tule Bluet, Yampa River State Park

Yampa River State Park

Northern Spreadwing, Yampa River State Park

Emerald Spreadwing, Yampa River State Park

Smooth Green Snake, Yampa River State Park

July 7

We were up early. Checked out and headed into Craig for breakfast and then to church. Nice little congregation. After lunch in town, we headed up into the Routt National Forest, north of town to an area called California Park. Good gravel roads but we drove way too far up into the mountains. It didn't look anything like Google Earth maps. After checking on an old out of commission campground, we headed back down the road. We finally found an area that had a couple of ponds and a dispersed camping spot with small pond in a clearing behind were we parked. The flies and mosquitoes were pretty bad.

Road into the Routt National Forest north of Craig

Routt National Forest

Red Fox

Pond behind our camp

Our camp. This is why we had lots of flies and mosquitoes.

Campsite

Clearing and pond behind our campsite.

Paint Brush

Taiga Bluet, male and female

Boreal Whiteface, one reason why we came to this area.

Four-spotted Skimmer

July 8

We headed down out of the mountains checking for birds and enjoyng the scenery on the way. We stopped in Meeker at a really nice park with a pond that overflowed into the White River. A few odes and birds observed. Ate lunch in town before heading east on highway 8 along the White River. We stopped at Trapper Lake campground for the night. We walked down to the creek but water was running too fast to check out. A sign at the campground showed a lake up from camp on a horse trail. I checked it out. Not bad. Lots of odes but very little diversity.

On the way out of the Routt National Forest.

Mountain Bluebird. On the way out of the Routt National Forest.

Wandering Gartersnake. On the way out of the Routt National Forest.

White River in Meeker

Red Damsel at Meeker City Park

Northern Leopard Frog in Meeker

Western Forktail in Meeker

Four-spotted Skimmer in Meeker

Trapper Lake near Trapper National Forest campground, White River National Forest

Yellow-rumped Warbler at Trapper Lake campground

Western Tiger Swallowtail at Trapper Lake campground

Common Green Darner at Trapper Lake

Scarlet Gilia at Trapper Lake campground

July 9

I was up early to birdwatch before leaving to another area. Not many birds, but I did snap a few good photos. We stopped at a couple of fishing ponds on the way back down to Meeker to check for odes. We then headed down to the Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70. This rest area has two lakes with one of them having a trail all the way around. I walked that trail. We had stopped here once back in 2007. I wanted to compare what I found back then to now. This area had the most diversity of any area we had checked so far on this trip. We were going to check out a campsite south of Carbondale on highway 133, but it was full. Farther south at McClure Pass, there was another campground called McClure Campground. There was only one other camper there. We decided to stay here two nights..

Trapper Lake campground in White River National Forest

Western Tanager Trapper Lake campground

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel at Trapper Lake campground

Least Chipmunk at Trapper Lake campground

On the way out from Trapper Lake campground

Fishing ponds east of Meeker near the White River

Red Damsel at the Fishing ponds east of Meeker near the White River

Dot-tailed Whiteface at the Fishing ponds east of Meeker near the White River

Common Green Darner at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

Western Pondhawk at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

Orange Bluet at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

Pacific Forktail at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

Flame Skimmer at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

Blue-eyed Darner at Rifle Rest Area in Rifle off of I-70

McClure Pass off of Colorado 133

Beaver Ponds below McClure Pass campground

Wedemeyer's Admiral at McClure Pass campground

July 10

There was lots of bird activity but not much diversity. There were tame deer and lots of Least Chipmunks, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, and Red Squirrels. There are a series of beaver ponds below the campground, but difficult to get down to the site. I made it down between 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Not much activity. It rained some before dark.

McClure Pass

Beaver dam below McClure Pass campground

Beaver pond below McClure Pass campground

Mule Deer doe

Least Chipmunk

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Green-tailed Towhee

Red-napped Sapsucker and Lincoln's Sparrow

Warbling Vireo

Forester Moth

Red Damsel

Taiga Bluet

July 11

Up early to head down the road to Colorado road 12. This is a gravel and paved road that connects to Crested Butte. We decided to check out Lost Lake Slough National Forest campground. This campground did not take reservations but the sign said it was full. We drove through to look at it anyway and found a site that someone had just left, so we took it and decide to stay 2 nights. Beautiful scenery with 12,000 foot high mountains surrounding the lake. The campground was around 9500 to 9700 feet in elevation. Very cool nights, but mild to warm days. Lots and lots people fishing, kayaking, sailboarding, and swimming. Very few odes but fairly good birding.

Lost Lake Slough National Forest campground.

Colorado Columbine

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Bald Eagle

Western Tanager

Four-spotted Skimmer

Common Ringlet

July 12

We are still at the campground. Diana and I decided to walk a trail up to another lake called Lost Lake. People told me it wasn't too bad. The trail got pretty steep so Diana decided not to go any farther. I went on up to the lake and she waited for me to come back. It wasn't too much farther up the trail. I took a few photos and came back down. We spent the rest of the day around camp.

Lost Lake Slough National Forest campground

Aster (Erigeron species)

Red-napped Sapsucker

Anise Swallowtail

Blue-eyed Darner

On the trail to Lost Lake

This is as far as Diana went (on the left). I made it to Lost Lake.

Lost Lake

July 13

Headed to Gunnison at Ohio Pass cutoff. I took a few scenery photos on the way down. We got reservations at Alpine Lodge Motel in town. We found a fishing pond near the airport. I had to check it out.

Ohio Pass road, Gunnison National Forest

Mule Deer on Ohio Pass road, Gunnison National Forest

Cedar Waxwing and Yellow-headed Blackbird at Fishing pond near airport in Gunnison

Yellow Warbler at Fishing pond near airport in Gunnison

Familiar Bluet at Fishing pond near airport in Gunnison

Plains Forktail at Fishing pond near airport in Gunnison

July 14

We met with the church in Gunnison. A small friendly bunch. We ate lunch at McDonalds before heading to Crested Butte. The Reimers had rented a condo in Mount Crested Butte for all of them to stay. We had a reservations in Crested Butte at Old Town Inn. This area has way too many tourist for me. We visited, ate supper, and played games before heading back to our motel. No photos.

July 15

Wedding day. I was supposed to take the photos of the wedding. The road to the site was not suitable for most vehicles, except those with four-wheel drive. We were taken to the site in 3 vehicles. There were almost 30 people attending, so they had to make several trips. The road was pretty scary. I have photos. After getting back to our vehicle, Diana and I went to our motel to rest. We met back at the condo for cake cutting and supper.

Site of the wedding. Mirror Lake north of Mount Crested Butte

Road to the lake. Really nice.

Scenery between Lake and Mount Crested Butte

Taken from condo in Mount Crested Butte

July 16

Diana and I were up early heading for home. We stopped once in Colorado at Russell Lakes Wildlife Management Area for photos. It started to rain so we headed south. I decided to park and sleep for the night at Lake Meredith Recreation Area north of Amarillo, Texas. Rained.

Plains Forktail at Russell Lakes Wildlife Area

Tule Bluet

Cherry-faced Meadowhawk

Rocky Mountain Beeplant

July 17

Up early and headed south. Stopped at Crosbyton US 82 Rest Area. A nice rest area with a trail down below the parking area along a creek. A good place to end a trip. We got home around 6:30 PM.