Riding with my neighbor down the hill I realized I had an opportunity not to miss. I asked her to pull over at the bottom, in the hairpin turn where Buck Canyon emerges and crosses under the road on its path to the Smith Fork River. She opened the sunroof and let me stand on the seat and ride like a prom queen up the hill to Crawford, slowing down or stopping when I asked.
Looking back uphill from the hairpin turn.
Heading towards the Smith Fork.
Crossing the Smith Fork.
Looking down into the Smith Fork past the power line.
Towards the Crawford Reservoir dam, and beyond, Mendicant Ridge.
On the other side of town, coming down Buckskin Pass to Piburn Flats.
Rocky on my knee looking out the window to Needle Rock with the Sleeping Indian beyond clothed in snow.
Heading home, we took the back road cut from 92 to Hotchkiss to scoot past the stripe painters poking along the highway.
We stopped at the Hotchkiss bridge so I could shoot the river…
… and pulled out right behind the stripe painter!