Start Planning Your Fall Colors Trip…….NOW

By Rick Thompson

History has a tendency to repeat itself. After the pandemic of 1918, everyone wanted to get out and see the world. And they did with rudimentary social tools that were available back in the day. Social restrictions are just terrible both then and now. And as we rotate out of the current COVID pandemic, the urge to get out is stronger than ever. And our social tools are more abundant now than ever.

So where do you want to go?

For me, this last October became a treasure trove of color. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for fall colors and have photographed many venues around the United States and Canada in search of the best place to see these beauties.

Maine has always been a favorite. Surprisingly, Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs offer great colors. Anywhere in New England or southern Canada is usually ripe with fall colors. I had been convinced that this geographic area was both the Alpha and the Omega for capturing fall colors….until the fall of 2020. I had been myopic in my thinking that nothing was better than New England. Boy, was I wrong.

In October of of 2020, I had the opportunity to travel with one of the top travel photographers in the world. In fact, he has been voted the #1 travel photographer in the world by a large travel writer and photographer organization for a couple of years. I have known him for some time, admired his work and have read about him in many publications. I attended one of his workshops a while back and we photographed a spread of Route 66 in Arizona. What fun.

So, he and I and two close associates ventured off to Chama, New Mexico to photograph a steam locomotive that goes between Chama and a small town in southern Colorado. I spent the first night in Flagstaff, the second night in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the third night in Chama. Imagine an incredibly small town in the height of a pandemic where you live on subway sandwiches, eat what ever is in the town market, and luxuries like coffee and Bailey’s with fresh blueberry muffins is only a pipe dream. Open bathrooms were also a pipe dream.

The first day was a day of scouting locations where the train was going. Scouting trips vary but are immensely important. I have been on several scouting trips where I didn’t take any pictures at all. I just watched and took notes. On this trip, I spent the entire day taking notes, taking pictures, climbing up and down the local terrain trying not to break any appendages, drink lots of water and find large bushes or trees where you can’t be seen.

It was a great day of discovery. The weather was perfect and the colors were great. I also collected 125 photos of this steam locomotive going through passes, over the gorgeous countryside, and through a tunnel or two.

After a full night of photographic post processing, a cold subway sandwich and a local beer that tased like embalming fluid, I was ready for dawn’s first light and to actually get on the train and take pictures from a whole different vantage point. We were allowed to pretty much have the open gondola car in the back of the train to our selves so we set up all of our equipment and spent the entire morning photographing fall colors and the scenic countryside from the back of the train. It was fabulous. With over 600 pictures to process, we took a break the next day and ventured up to Antonito, Colorado by car and had lunch at a fabulous Mexican restaurant called Dos Hermanas located at 435 Main Street. This was authentic and wonderful.

After lunch and driving back to Chama on route 17, you will see the real alpha and omega of fall colors. Do not be on a time schedule to get back to Chama. You will need the entire afternoon to drink it all in. This is where you want to see fall colors in immense grandeur. It just doesn’t get better than this. Have fun.