Flowers with the Florida

A nice patch of flowers on the bank of the Florida River

Idyllic Florida Canyon

The small amount of water carried by the Florida River transforms the arid high desert into a lush canyonland and creates a habitat for men and beasts.

Reservoirs are looking healthy

As the springtime snowmelt proceeds, the local reservoirs begin to fill. Most in the area are looking better than they have in few years.Compare these photos of Lemon Reservoir to a picture I took a couple of years ago from near the same spot

Winter Florida

Snow and ice cover stretches of the Florida River. I took this photo on a stretch of the river above the Lemon Reservoir.

On the Florida

I really like this river. I like it because of its small size. I also really like the types of forests and the geological landscapes it flows through. The Florida is a tributary to the Animas river, and it originates from a small, high mountain lake called Lillie in the Weminuche Wilderness. Its waters are impounded at Lemon Reservoir to provide a source of drinking water for communities in the southwest of Colorado. I hear that there is good fishing to be had out of this river, but I wouldn't know personally. The Florida eventually joins the Animas River south of Durango, just a few mile north of the New Mexico border. This area of the Florida is right off of  County Road 240 near the intersection with CR 245.

Rio Florida

I will be going on a vacation for the weekend, so posting will be suspended. I'll be back on Tuesday. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Lemon Reservoir

First off, I feel I should apologize for the low-quality of this picture. I took it out of the window of our work vehicle with my camera phone. That said, what you are looking at is the northern end of Lemon Reservoir, which like all the other reservoir around is suffering an extremely low level of water. All the flat, grassy area in view would normally be submerged by at least 15 feet (5 m) of water. Lemon is on the Florida River and is a storage area in the mountains for Durango drinking water. Aside from the low water, Lemon is looking really great right now. The foliage is really going off and the hillside around the area are amazing. If you find that you are in the area, do yourself a favor and check it out. It won't last long.

Flow of the Florida

The Florida (pronounced flo-ree-da, not like the state) is flowing heavy near the Lemon Dam.

Be sure to visit Santa Fe Daily Photo to catch great photos of my native city

Thirtsy?

This reservoir looks like a great place to hang out and play in the water, but it is closed to the public. This is storage for the towns drinking water, which comes out of the Florida River not too far away.

La Plata Mountains over Florida River

I was working outside of town today, near the airport. It is always nice to get out of the valley Durango is in because the view is just massive out on the mesa. Here the La Plata Mountains sit with a healthy coating of snow, and the Florida ( pronounced flo-ree-da) River cuts it's path in the foreground. You can also see one of the several thousand natural gas well heads that dot the landscape of the San Juan Basin