In the "rendezvous....again" thread below Frolin described his hike into Cascade and crossing the Los Pinos to get pictures of the trains on the bridge from the other side of the valley. His narrative reminded me that there are a lot of great spots on the C&TS that are difficult to photograph, and may require spending a entire day to get one picture, assuming you can figure out how to get there. Probably most photographers of the C&TS have dreamed of getting to the other side of Toltec gorge or walking into Phantom curve, and some have actually done it. So I thought a thread on the subject might encourage the folks who have done it to share their successes with those who have only thought about it.

I will start the process with one of my modest successes. While rounding the curve over Wolf Creek before making the final accent to Windy Point I often looked up the almost vertical hillside to the east and wondered if there was a shot down. So one morning I hiked up the trail that takes off just north of Cumbres and provides nice views toward Coxo crossing and part of the climb toward Windy Point. Only I kept going on the trail for another quarter mile or so, and then headed west more or less cross country, although there were traces of a trail so I was not the first to do this. It was not a difficult hike at all, actually rather pleasant. As the ground started to slope down steeply soon a nice vantage point emerged with a good view of the railroad far below. This is what it looked like.



Hopefully others can share similar adventures and perhaps inspire the rest of us to try similar treks.

JBWX



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2016 04:56PM by John West.