The Animas River begins it’s journey at the tops of the beautiful San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. Unfortunately, it became breaking news recently when the EPA accidentally released millions of gallons of toxic mine waste out of the GoldKing Mine near the town of Silverton, CO. Videos and pictures circulated the news and web for many months showing the toxic orange stained water flowing through several states, eventually entering Lake Powell hundreds of miles downstream.
This is a river that I play in or at least have the great fortune to witness most everyday with it being only a few hundred yards from my doorstep. Today, the news crews are gone but the ugly orange sediment still lingers at the bottom and edges of Animas especially where the river flows slowly. The experts are hoping that the spring run-off will wash away and further dilute this sediment. Nature does have a wonderful way of cleansing itself and hopefully this process will happen sooner rather than later.
I have tried to ease the pain via photography by trying to bring out the true colors of this beautiful riparian ecosystem. My hope is that the natural colors I have captured will help overpower the orange-stained banks. If nothing else, it makes me feel a lot better about this special river and begins the healing process…
This picture was taken on a subzero morning hike along it’s banks. It was refreshingly beautiful with the steam coming off the nearly frozen river channel with a heavy frost clinging to anything within it’s grasp.
#animasriver #sanjuanmountains #colorado
