Independence Pass Continental Divide

• Henry David Thoreau.

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Took this shot while we were on our road trip in Colorado. This stunning location is the Independence pass and the elevation at this specific location is above 12000 ft and no I didn’t make a mistake. Basically, at this location, you are getting a glimpse of alpine tundra environment above treeline, from the comfort of the car.

This pass is located on the route from Aspen to twin lakes and usually closes during winter due to heavy snowfall. I had not expected this pass at all in my planning and when the elevation kept on going up we were a bit confused. Then the road evened out suddenly and we saw tons of people enjoying outside, so we parked and got out and it was freezing. After spending close to 10 minutes frantically putting all our layers on we were ready to explore.

I think this place take a close second behind Mt Washington in NH for the coldest winds in my experience. I was fascinated by this cabin close to the parking lot and decided to include the rustic structure into my shot. The effect of wind can be seen from the fact that this mall cabin is anchored to the rocks. I would have loved to spend some more time here but we had a schedule to keep and places to be.