Independence, A Long Romance

Independence is the second pass in Colorado that you should fail at for a decade before you have the right to photograph it. Cottonwood is the first. After those two, the rest of the passes will let you in.

The road over Independence has been there since 1881, in one form or another, and the photographs that have been made of it are largely indistinguishable from one another. The summit pull-off, in particular, has produced what may be the most photographed and least successful set of postcards in the state.

The pass is best photographed in the four miles between the summit and Twin Lakes, in the half-hour before the light hits the road, from one of the unsigned turnouts most tourists do not see. The Independence Mine ruin is best ignored. It is a popular subject because it is convenient. It is, photographically, almost a cliché.