Just looking for clouds

Decided it was time to take a day trip looking for.... oh, quick, think of an excuse... eh, clouds. That's it, I need clouds. Lots of clouds!

North of Eagle Nest, NM, found the entrance to Elk Shed Ranch, or at least that's what it looks like they are doing.

In either northern NM or was it southern Colorado, found some clouds. The lay of the land north of Questa, NM all looks the same.

Found a spot one could probably walk across the Rio Grande... without getting their ankles wet. No, not the Texas / Mexico border near Presidio, but in Colorado. Getting closer to the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Maybe a higher elevation would yield different cloud formations... turned west out of Antonito, CO... taking CO-17 to Chama, NM.
If out this way, a stop for a bacon cheeseburger with roasted green chili peppers at the Red Bear Lodge in Horca, CO is a must.

Crossed two 10,000 ft passes going this way, but the clouds were starting to bunch up, too many for my use.

However, coming down the NM side, the timing was right to catch the Cumbres & Toltec railcars at a mountain stop, where the engineer jumped down to squeeze a few drops of oil onto the old steam engine. I remember many years ago taking our three boys on this train. We rode in the open car to better see the scenery. When it was over, we wondered how our clothes got so black.... it was the coal soot from the engine's smoke... back when they still used coal. Not sure what they burn today, but it is not coal.

So why the clouds? In photography, when you take a landscape photo of mountains with a clear blue sky, it can be lacking. Today's editing apps allows one to insert a different sky where desired. Rather than buy a commercial package of clouds and skies, I prefer to make my own.

In all, gathered about three or four decent cloud shots that I'll inventory for possible future use. Oh, the ride wasn't bad either, a 280-mile loop on the Wing rig cleared the mind and lowered the stress.

Jan "CCjon" Daub