Oh no! Another fall color report!

This year is kind of a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is, a lot of the aspens around the state look dull, or downright sickly. The good news is, there are pockets of good color. The better news is, even in a year with sub-par fall colors, Colorado still offers a lot to aim a lens at.

So here's what I saw from Wednesday through Saturday.

The snow took a toll on a lot of the aspens that still had their leaves. Next time they predict heavy snow while the aspens are still leafy, I'm gonna make sure I have a hand saw in the truck. All sorts of downed trees across roads.

First stop, the Steamboat area. Not much good color, and I don't think there will be. I headed over to the Stillwater area of the Flat Tops hoping for something better, and turned right back around. Dismal.

So I headed over McClure. There were some nice colors along the highway from Yampa to I-70, but not enough to make a special trip. The Marble side of McClure looked healthier than much of the forests I saw elsewhere, and while not stellar, still had potential for turning into something good. Mid-week should be great. The Paonia side looked not as healthy as the Marble side, though. Might still go, but won't be a banner year.

Headed over Kebler, where I met up with John Zinn and took this shot. The aspens around Kebler were a mix of either turning towards greatness, achieving it this week late, or dull, greenish-brown, mostly the closer you get to Crested Butte. John mentioned some good color along the Gothic road, but I never made it there.

After dinner in Gunnison we headed over to the Curecanti rim and parked it for the night. The next day the aspens looked pretty bad, but the weather made for some interesting shots, and the scrub oak was nice in places.

After tiring of waiting for the weather to clear, John and I went our separate ways. I headed up Taylor Canyon, and found some really nice color. I navigated a very treacherous Cottonwood Pass and, as RichieV mentioned, found the color to be excellent on the east side. The heavy snow made it hard to shoot, but quite a sight to see. The next morning provided a winter wonderland that included a spectacular sunrise...

...an incredible lighting phenomenon I came to find out is called a sundog...

...mountains that are generally pretty by nature, but that took on a more spectacular aura in such conditions...

Thanks for the update. The first shot is great. I love a good foggy/moody scene like that.

...and the aforementioned great aspens on the east side of Cottonwood Pass. There's lots of orange, in fact. In conclusion, I'd say there's still plenty of great color to be found, you just won't be tripping all over it no matter where you go, like in a more typical year.

I'll be heading back out this week. Hope to run into a few of my online buddies along the way!

One final note: As good as the aspens are on the east side of Cottonwood Pass, I would suspect other eastern approaches to Sawatch Range passes might be similarly endowed. I plan to check out some or all of the following - Independence, Monarch and Marshall passes, the road to Saint Elmo, Lost Canyon Road and Winfield.

Todd,

Your first image looks exactly like Independace pass, that's the same situation I saw... Many trees bending over the road, and a few down. I drove over on Friday, and there were times that we could not see anything at all..

Still plenty of color in the area, just to much snow to shoot any...

Thanks

Thanks for the report Todd! You came away with some great shots as well - regardless of the aspen conditions!

Hang on till this weekend Kebler!

Excellent report, Todd! Spectacular pics, especially the winter wonderland sunrise.

I drove over Independence on Friday just before they closed it; the saw thing is right on. I was dodging quite a few trees, hoping I wouldn't have to cut anything up with my leatherman...

Good stuff- especially considering the conditions. I like the winter shots and the sundog.

Excellent report, Todd. Wouldn't expect anything less.

Thanks Sundog!

Looks like you had a productive trip! Nice shots, all of them. The Sundog is sweet.

thanks for the report Sundog, three of us are heading to Mcclure, then Kebler then Cottonwood this weekend so fingers crossed.

Bill

Gotta' love Marcelina!
Thanks for the report Todd.
As for the Flattops area - the Williams Fork Valley (east fork) is the place to go, between Dunckley and Ripple Creek passes. Tons of healthy looking Aspen that should be peaking this week/weekend (which is where I'll be). I'll try to post pics if I can get some server problems fixed.
I plan to be in the Aspen to Mclure area Oct 4-7 in my gov't rig. Taking advantage of a meeting in Salida - which doesn't suck considering!

Thanks Chuck. Seeing how things looked in the Flat Tops and around Steamboat, I decided to skip Ripple Creek/Dunckley, specifically because I know how vast the aspen forests are up that way, and I didn't want to get totally depressed so early in my trip by viewing brown aspens for mile after mile. I'm thrilled to hear the trees look healthy. I want some images from up that way, so maybe I'll swing up.

Todd, since you may come up based on my recommendation I better qualify that I haven't been up there since last Wednesday before the latest storm. Hopefully it didn't blow many leaves off. The trees were about 30 % turned and the rest were green - should be ok. There are some brown areas too but just in spots - still lots of yellow, orange and red.
I plan to be up there on Thursday and hopefully can post a pic by then.

Good post Todd, I was in the same area from last Wednesday until Saturday. Ditto on your comments about the Crested Butte area. Saturday I headed back to the east side of Cottonwood Pass based on the color I saw driving over to CB on Thursday. I ended up taking a detour to Cottonwood Lake and followed the road past the campground for about 4 miles. The color along the Cottonwood Lake road was the best I saw, even better than Cottonwood Pass. There is one stand of Aspens in the closed campground that has an abundance of reds and oranges that is really nice. It should be good for at least the next week. Check it out if you are in the area. I will post a few shots of the area tonight.

Tom Kennon

has anyone made it down around dallas divide or owl creek pass yet to see what there is to offer in that area or are we still too far out? i thought some of the recent snow has gone north of the san juans so i was hoping for better conditions but i could be wrong.

Todd great report. Idea, how about next time they decide to give me a few days off, I hang out with you wandering all over the state, taking incrdible images along the way. Damn nice pics thanks for the info. Unfortunately I doubt I will be able to shoot anything until after Turkey day (friggin job).

Cool shots Todd. I like the Jones Mountain shot you took on Sat morning and am glad you got some good light with some clearing clouds. Where did you end up spending the night? I went back to Ohio Creek and spent Sat and Sunday on the east side of the Sawatch.

Great stuff Todd!

John, I parked it at a trailhead along the east side of Cottonwood Pass. I'll probably head to the east side of Independence Pass later this week, and then just follow wherever the photo fairies lead me. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Beautiful images! Makes me want to call in sick and head to the mountains right now!