I mentioned earlier that I chose to make this trip by car because I've recognized just how much I love seeing the sights from behind the wheel. I've discovered that getting there has become my idea of a "vacation." My efforts for this year's trip to Colorado have been directed toward seeing the sights – a Driving tour. Heather knows this and had several feasts for my senses (and camera) planned for my visit. Today's adventure began near the city of Bellvue, Colorado, (west of Fort Collins), at the entrance to Poudre Canyon.

Poudre Canyon is a 40-mile-long gorge that stretches from the northern end of Rocky Mountain National Park to where I was standing at the moment when I took the photos above and below just north of the city of Bellvue, Colorado. The name is a reference to the Cache la Poudre River, (or simply the Poudre River), that flows therein. The river's name is based on an incident from the 1820s. Legend has it that French trappers exploring the canyon got caught in a big snowstorm. The only way they could make it out the canyon was to lighten their load. The decision was made to bury all of the excess supplies, including a large amount of gunpowder, along the banks of the river for later retrieval when the weather improved. The trappers used the name "Cache la Poudre," which translates to "Hide the powder," to identify the spot.

Colorado Route 14 runs east-west across the state passing through the city of Fort Collins before heading west into Poudre Canyon, (where it is designated a Colorado Scenic Byway), and eventually to the Continental Divide. The plan for today was to explore a small portion of Route 14 through Poudre Canyon before returning back to Fort Collins via nearby Rist Canyon. Essentially, we would be making a beautiful scenic "loop" through the mountains.

We pulled over at a small roadside park at the intersection of State Route 14 and US Route 287 north of the town of Bellvue, Colorado to take some pics.

This is where we are heading. Westbound Route 14 heads into Poudre Canyon on the appropriately named Poudre Canyon Road.

Several unnamed summits to the southwest in the 7,000 - 8,000-foot range can be seen from our vantage point.

This spot seemed like a great place to take a series of portrait pics in hopes of stitching them together for a nice panorama. This is picture 1 of 4.

Entrance to Poudre Canyon picture 2 of 4.

Entrance to Poudre Canyon picture 3 of 4.

Entrance to Poudre Canyon picture 4 of 4.

Four-picture panorama looking southwest near the entrance to Poudre Canyon.

Looking southwest near the entrance to Poudre Canyon.

I spent some time zooming in on the various unnamed peaks to the southwest.

Zooming in on some of the various unnamed summits to the southwest.

The photo above shows a great location for a house ! The camera has a hard time capturing the sheer scale of what your eyes are seeing in person. This is the best I could do for trying to convey a sense of the size of the mountains. That's quite a back yard !

Zooming in on some of the various unnamed summits to the southwest.

Zooming in on some of the various unnamed summits to the southwest.

Zooming in on some of the various unnamed summits to the southwest.

Panning the camera counter-clockwise brought the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area and Reservoir Benchmark (5,735 feet) into view to the south.

Looking south zooming in on Reservoir Benchmark (5,735 feet).

I continuing the counter-clockwise camera panning and encountered Goat Hill (5,603 feet).

Goat Hill is a dome rock formation that is also known as the Bellvue Dome.

Looking southeast at Goat Hill (5,603 feet).

Looking east at a 5,500-foot unnamed summit.

An unnamed summit (5,285 feet), to the north.

Zooming in on an unnamed summit (5,285 feet) to the north.

I haven't started the drive into the canyon yet. But I've already taken 26 pictures. You can probably guess where this is going. We hit the road wondering how far I could make it before stopping again.

Being a "canyon," I figured the roadway would be flanked by the river and the mountains and wasn't disappointed. And as expected, resisting the urge to take more pics lasted about 5 minutes.

Poudre Canyon is a very popular place that attracts hikers, kayakers, climbers, and especially fishing enthusiasts, (this area is known for trout fishing). Poudre Canyon Road is filled with small pull-offs for not only all of those people, but also for camera-happy tourists like myself. This particular pull-off sat at the point where the Poudre Valley Irrigation Canal seen in the photo above diverts water from the Poudre River, (which is on the opposite side of the road), to be used for irrigation. There is nothing special about an image of an irrigation canal. But I liked how the sun's reflection in the background made the tree on the side of the hill appear blue.

According to the topographic maps I examined, the canyon walls on either side of the roadway in this area consist mainly of unnamed summits in the neighborhood of 6,000 feet. The photos above and below look south across the river.

I did what I usually do in these cases and started playing with my 35x lens, zooming in toward the top of the peaks on random trees and rocks.

Zooming in on a cluster of trees on an unnamed summit to the south.

Zooming in on another peak to the south.

Zooming in on a single tree on top of an unnamed summit to the south.

Zooming in on a tree on top of an unnamed summit to the south.

We continued on our way and made it about three minutes before I stopped again near the Picnic Rock Natural Area.

Stopped again near the Picnic Rock Natural Area.

Stopped again near the Picnic Rock Natural Area.

I stitched the previous two pictures together to create a panorama looking south, behind where we were parked.

The hillside across from where we are stopped.

Zooming in on the hillside across from us.

Rock formations next to the car.

Zooming in on the rock formation next to the car.

Rock formations in front of where we are stopped.

Zooming in on the rock formations in front of us.

Cliff directly in front of us.

I tried to take a perspective shot of the tree off in the distance while having the cliff in front of us in the shot. The camera focused on the wire on my first attempt.

My second attempt was better.

Zooming in on the hillside to the north.