Early morning photo of Wilson Peak taken from Alta, a deserted mining ghost town.   Alta can be reached by traveling on a mountainous dirt road approximately four miles of off Colorado 145 south of Telluride, Colorado.   Located at 11,800 feet, Alta was an active mining camp but never incorporated as a town. It had a population of approximately 100 people during the gold boom. 
 
Wilson Peak is a 14,017-foot mountain peak located in the Lizard Head Wilderness of the Uncompahgre National Forest, in the southern San Juan Mountains.   It is the highest point in San Miguel County.  Wilson Peak is climbed by hundreds each year, primarily in summer months, but winter ascents are not unusual and sometimes serve as the beginning of backcountry skiing descents.