Lingering Autumn

What an amazing autumn…very late, very long and interrupted by damaging snow but at least up here in NW Colorado still a lot of trees remaining that are partially green and turning to gold, not rust. I was at a dinner party Saturday night and was asked what I thought of the “lingering autumn.” “Fantastic” I said, and that I had been out chasing the color during the day (here in the Yampa Valley) and would be again on Sunday (in north Routt and Moffat Counties)---and that “lingering” was a good description of what I was seeing. I wanted to photograph the Little Snake River Valley cottonwoods, which I thought might be at peak, and the way to get there is driving north from Steamboat on Hwy. 129 past Hahns Peak and Columbine to the Wyoming border. From there, I decided to explore the Slater Creek valley south from Slater and then through California Park to Hayden, a round-trip of 140 miles. To my amazement, I found a huge stand of aspens I didn’t know existed in the Medicine Bow National Forest and lots of trees at peak color. Here’s that forest and what follows is a sample of this past weekend…

Saturday morning looking toward the Steamboat Ski Area.

Saturday afternoon looking toward Sleeping Giant.

Sunday morning near Hahns Peak.

Sand Mountain reflection.

Aspens along 129.

Cottonwoods along the Little Snake River.

Clouds build up along the Little Snake River.

Slater Creek.

Aspen forest in a draw below Mt. Welba.

Medicine Bow National Forest.

Aspens in California Park.

What a great bag of images. I feel like I've taken the trip with you. here in Arizona we have a long season- probably 2 months if you follow the color from north to south. IMy choices are #9-Slater Creek, followed by #5-Sand Mountain reflection & the road shot is very nice too.

A very nice collection! Good variety of locations, too. I like Slater Creek, and Lingering Autumn.

Nice collection,indeed. That Mt Welba area is really fascinating with such an expanse of a variety of color! Rod, have you been getting the wind up your way today? If so, not sure how many leaves are left...

Little wind, a bit of snow, the aspens in my backyard are still half green. That area in the north might still be good on Wednesday after this system moves through.

Damn, Rod - these are awesome! Surely you're getting close to having enough new photos for a second edition of your wonderful book. We need to plan another trip together some time in the near future.

I echo Bret - these are awesome! My favorites are the Little Snake River and Slater Creek shots. Very impressive (and lingering) show of color you had up at the Boat this year!!

Hey Bret, how about Zion in early November? We didn't get a chance to shoot together last year.

Rod - We are tentatively planning to be in Zion NP from Nov. 1 to Nov. 12, if the park is open. Let's stay in touch!

Some sweet color there Rod...any chance there will be some left this weekend?

Jack, there's still some pockets of color around Steamboat, particularly on Emerald Mountain, that might last till the weekend. But certainly the cottonwoods along the Little Snake River in north Routt/Moffit counties will be at peak. And, the Slater Creek valley south of the town of Slater is a good bet as the cottonwoods and aspens should also be at peak. Not easy to get to, I know, but worth it if you're still pining for some fall color. I wouldn't drive up Hwy 129 from Steamboat though---the snow of yesterday and more predicted Thursday will make for some even more sketchy places north of Columbine than they were on Sunday. Best way is to go to Craig and then north to Baggs and then backtrack to the east and south.

Rod, those are certainly some gorgeous images!

Excellent set of images, Rod. And here I sat on my rear this past weekend because I thought the color "was over".

Rod, all are excellent but the Aspens in California Park is my favorite.

Thanks to all....I'm going out there today for another look---I'll let you know.

Hard to pick a winner, love the series. Thanks for sharing.

OK, so I made the trip today to the Slater Creek valley again and perhaps this should be in Fall Color Reports, but I must say that three days and a weather system that moved through changed the tree conditions a lot. But it's so strange that in the same valley some trees have lost all their leaves while others are still predominately green. I'd say, with another system predicted tomorrow, that the outlook for the weekend is nice weather but the colors are going fast. This is going to be a road show---here's a few pics from today to judge for yourself....

Slater Creek Cottonwoods.

Moffat County Road 1, south of junction with Routt County Road 82---lots of green.

Huge Aspens tower over MCR 1.

Leaves and snow were falling.

One more road shot....

Gorgeous images , very nice

Thanks, Soubhik!