Rio Grande Headwaters

The third longest river in America begins on the north side of the pyramid shaped summit you see in the distance in the first photograph, the 13,821-foot Rio Grande Pyramid in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. From there the river flows nearly 1,900 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. In the foreground are some of the lakes and wetlands that form the Rio Grande headwaters. The second photo shows more of the wetlands downstream. The third and fourth the river as it bends and bows across another meadow, still above 9,000 feet. Click on any image for larger versions of all four.

Click image to advance slideshow.

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Photos taken Sunday afternoon. Not the best time of day for lighting, but I hope to head back to this area soon. It was stunningly beautiful, with the exception of Creede, Colorado, the rattiest town I’ve ever seen (at least the part I drove through).

As the eagle flies, the Rio Grande Pyramid is about 18 miles ESE of Silverton, Colorado.

3 thoughts on “Rio Grande Headwaters”

  1. Ah, fond memories. My brother-in-law, one of his friends, and I tried to hike to the headwaters from one of the jeep/mining trails north/east of Silverton … and were defeated by torrential rains. Couldn’t walk uphill because we were sliding back two steps for every one we took. We spent a miserable cold wet night.

    Beautiful back in there, though. Thanks for posting these!

  2. I saw around 500 miles of Colorado over the weekend. I swear 450 miles of it was breathtakingly beautiful — Independence Pass, the Maroon Bells, Crystal River Valley, the West Elk Loop, and of course the San Juan Mountains — the ever remarkable San Juans, my personal favorites.

  3. Before Creede, Colorado was known as the “rattiest town I’ve ever seen”, its claim to fame is where Bob Ford died. He was known as “the dirty little coward” who shot Jesse James. Ford was the turncoat member of the Jesse James Gang who shot James in the back. Ford had a saloon in Las Vegas, NM and hung out in Cimarron, NM before going Creede, Colorado. It was in his saloon in Creede where he received his just rewards- a shot in the back. Casey Affleck was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Ford in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”. Brad Pitt portray Jesse James in the movie.

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