Color Report - Maroon Bells - McClure 09/17/06

Sunday early morning to Maroon Bells from Grand Junction. Color near peak but not over. Snow on the peaks all around. This coming weekend will be the time to be there. 5 to 6am gets you sun on the peaks till about 9-10 am to get good light in the lake for reflections, if no wind. Be ready for lots of fellow Shooters! I counted 25 at 7am. Aspen Valley is still mainly green now. A few more cold days to get good shots over the valley. Aspen was 24 degrees Sun morn! McClure is in good shape, lots of color. Hurry though. Ran up to Marble. Excellent color this weekend. Didnt make it to the Mill but color is near peak all around. On backside of McClure, Paonia, Cederedge etc. still some time left over there. Storms are predicted mid week out here with clearing over this next weekend, so this next weekend should be at or very near peak. Dont delay too much. This coming weekend or at the latest the next! Thanks! -Scott-

Thanks for the report Scott, but lets see some pictures!!!!!!

Super! Just what I wanted to hear!! I'll be at the Bells on 9/26. What time would be the best time to arrive at the Bells for sunrise these days? I think sunrise is officially around 6:30am, is that correct?

Thanks so much for the report. I've been worrying that I may miss out on the color so am very happy to see your post.

And ditto Brent, where are the pics?!

I was at Bells on Saturday and Sunday (and many other places along the way). Things are turning fast, just overnight, some real noticeable change. I would say it will peak on Wednesday, and hope there is no wind, it will still be nice by the weekend. The fresh first snow was awesome! We almost had an amazing sunrise this morning, as the bells were 75% covered in clouds/snow, with just the peaks showing, about 10-minutes before sunrise, but those clouds disappeared by first light on the peak. I'll post a picture soon. This was my second time at the Bells, so I tried to focus on some non-traditional shots. Though I've yet to review, I think I got some cool non-lake shots.

Thanks for the update Brian. I was looking to head up there Wed or Thursday morning. Looking forward for some photos.

Brian

This is simply for conditions, as I did very little editing (notice the obvious cw tilt). I have some good ones lurking in my files from today that are better then this one, but I thought this shows the cloud that vanished before our eyes, as well as the change from Saturday. On Saturday, there was very little yellow on the right area of aspen, so most of the yellowing occured quickly. Also, the wind was ferocious, so walking back in the woods revealed that may leaves had already fallen (which is why I think the early to middle of the week will be better, because that center patch of color has already been heavily battered and beaten, and probably will fall off before the weekend).

I did very little reflection shots this time, as I found it kind of boring. But I got some really good different stuff. I had a great weekend around Aspen. Certainly not peak color, but the first fresh snow that attacked this weekend made up for the lack of color (and then some, especially on Saturday, but I'll keep that too myself for now).

HOLY COW, BRIAN!!

I absolutely love the silvery tones in the reflection.

The silver comes from almost icy water and fog... There are some much better ones I will really work on before sharing...

Thanks for the update, Scott. We came over McClure yesterday on our way home from Kebler. I was going to post the same thing pretty much: Paonia side is mostly green with a little yellow and a few stands really showing off; the other side is well along with the best color coming later this week most likely.

VERY nice, Brian! Snow + aspen...doesn't get much better than that. Looking forward to seeing more.

Brian,

That is a great shot! I can only imagine what the others looked like. I think you were *there* this year. The clearing conditions, color, snow, etc... all came together for you.

We have two more storms forecasted by next week. That should definately be impacting the rate of change we are seeing.

Brian - I can't wait to see the 'good' ones.