Lost Location

March 31, 2011 11:42 AM

[Colorado-filter] I awhile ago I asked this question. I'm now driving around Western Colorado, seeing if we can find where this was originally filmed. Anyone have any ideas where it might be?

A few shots before this one, on the Super 8 reel from which this was taken, there is a shot of the family driving - clearly along the I-70 West, passing right by the turn off for the 330 E, towards Collbran. We've looked around the Collbran and Carbondale area (checked the 65, the 133, and the 92 without any luck). Do you have any ideas where this might be?

Here's the link to the site in question, again.

posted by TheRoach to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Looks like it could be in Glenwood Canyon. I-70 through there used to be a two lane road, but after a couple decades of construction is now a four lane road. Here is a link that talks about the project, and if you scroll down shows some pictures of the canyon back when the road was two lanes.
posted by split atom at 11:53 AM on March 31, 2011

Yeah, my first thought was I70, which wasn't an interstate back then. ("Back then" meaning, the 70s.) Do you have an idea of the time of year the footage was shot?

(what is the project - re-tracing a family trip?)
posted by notsnot at 12:06 PM on March 31, 2011

That doesn't look like Glenwood Canyon to me. The river's too small and clear to be the Colorado that far West. The vegetation is more suited to higher terrain. I see what appear to be some spruce trees and/or lodgepole pines, which you will not find in Glenwood Canyon. That mountain in the distance looks like something you might see around Aspen, but I don't recognize it as any peak in particular, and it could be in any of a dozen mountain ranges in CO.

If I understand correctly, the travelers were headed west on I-70, and passed by this exit and continued west? Any more details from the film to bracket this on the other end? What confuses me is there's nowhere I can think of W of that point in CO with vegetation that looks like this, plus the high (well above treeline) mountain peak in the background.

Is it possible they then headed south on US 50 from Grand Junction, towards the San Juans (Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, Durango)?

And a pro tip for asking directions from locals: you can drop the "the" in front of highway numbers. The roads you checked are simply 65, 133 and 92.
posted by partylarry at 1:12 PM on March 31, 2011

My husband was born and raised in the Western Slope region. When he gets home I will let him take a look and see if it's familiar to him.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:27 PM on March 31, 2011

Also something to note - they're headed upstream, so they wouldn't be headed westward on I70.
posted by notsnot at 1:39 PM on March 31, 2011

Response by poster: partylarry - you are correct: they passed that exit and continued west. We are in Gunnison right now, about to head back West on 50. There are a few shots in between the shot on I-70 and the shot in question, and who knows how much distance/time elapsed in between. We'll see if anything looks promising.

The only real time clue we have is the cars - which, thanks to the previous question, at least the white one has been identified as a 1967 Pontiac Bonneville. My guess is that places the film in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

Thanks for all your thoughts thus far!
posted by TheRoach at 1:46 PM on March 31, 2011

It looks really familiar to me. It is informally called "Cascade Falls" - a part of Chalk Creek near Nathrop & Buena Vista (I used to live in BV). You can see some photos here, here, and here. It's more central Colorado than western, but just off 24 on the way to 50 or I-70.
posted by mattbucher at 2:08 PM on March 31, 2011

The only problem with the Cascade Falls theory is that the mountains in the background look very different. It's hard to say, but those mountains look to me like the San Juans, which would mean that the shot may have been taken off of Highway 50 heading east. That said, I've traveled that route many times and that particular location doesn't look precisely familiar to me.
posted by forza at 2:30 PM on March 31, 2011

Ah, you're right. And the road looks too big there. My bad.
posted by mattbucher at 2:51 PM on March 31, 2011

I agree with the others who are suggesting that the mountains look like the San Juans, in the southwest part of the state. I lived around Telluride for about 10 years, and that picture could have been taken anywhere along the route from Placerville to Dolores along Highway 145. Also could be the first 10 miles or so of Highway 62 driving out of Placerville towards Ridgway.
posted by i less than three nsima at 3:00 PM on March 31, 2011

Ralph says it looks like Clear Creek by Marble-but he does say there are other creeks that look like that so it's hard to say.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:52 PM on March 31, 2011

I think I may have to agree with Ralph on something...there's a little spot at 39°08'32"N,107°15'30" where the river is on the right side of the road. Google Earth calls the mountain "The Cleaver". I've got some shots from slightly different angles that *could* be the same mountain as in your pic, only with different snowpack.
posted by notsnot at 7:41 PM on March 31, 2011

Response by poster: We actually took 3, from Highway 133, towards Marble - the road was a little too small to be the location, though we stop and scope it out.

Unfortunately, we had to head back West before we could check out the Southern part of the state - did get any farther South than Highway 50. It may be worth a return visit this summer though - when the foliage would actually map - to make a second go at finding the location. Thanks all for the input!
posted by TheRoach at 4:12 AM on April 1, 2011