Aspen Autumn Photo Albums

About 6 weeks ago, we made the decision to spend more time in southwestern Colorado to enjoy the Autumn season.  Temperatures are usually mild here and the fall colors can be just beautiful.  As we expected, the fall colors we've seen have been amazing! The colors arrived about a week later this season due to the wetter and later arriving spring.  We made several day trips from our camp homebase on Hwy 145, traveling northward towards Telluride.  We even took a few of the San Juan National Forest Access Roads that are off the beaten path, those drives traveled through some thick and beautiful forests.  I made a lot of photographs, just so many stunning colors and landscapes at every turn on the road, which made it difficult to select which ones to include in the blog.  So..what follows are three blogs of golden aspen leaf pictures along with a brief description of each day's road trip.

Our first day trip was to explore the Last Dollar Road located just outside of Telluride.  To learn more about this historic mining road from the 1800's click HERE.

Valley view of the San Miguel River as it meanders from Telluride.

In this photo, we're entering the Last Dollar Road, it begins as a dirt road just off the Telluride Airport Rd (T60 Rd), traveling through a subdivision of beautiful homes then changes into nothing more than a rocky, dirt path.  We needed the high clearance of our Jeep in some really rocky spots.

Traveling upwards to over 10,000 feet, the Road winds over hillsides, mountains and through thick aspens groves and conifer forests.

The first section of aspens we encountered must surely have been at peak color. The golden leaves were stunning!

We were surrounded by golden hues, this was the unforgettable sight we were seeking.

The Last Dollar Road then opened up from the dense aspen and evergreen forests, going up over the steep hillsides.  The sweeping views of the distant mountain ranges to our west were beautiful.

We passed several other high clearance vehicles, travelers and leaf peepers also enjoying this nice autumn day.

I think this is the Wilson Peak mountain range off in the distance.

Fast forward..View here from our return trip back down the Last$.

Each aspen grove seems to change into their fall colors at different times.  Some trees are bright yellow and other groves still green..slower to give up their summer pigment.

Because of the this year's later and wetter spring, the aspen color change was about a week off from what we recalled when we were in this area last year.

Our lunch spot on this day.  That isn't us at the cliff's edge, it was just too windy for us to walk out on that bluff.

At around 10,000 feet, the winds were really strong up here this day.

It was so windy up here, I stayed behind the Jeep.

This dirt path traveled in and out of thick aspen forests and over mountain tops.

Ronnie would stop the Jeep and we would stand outside in amazement of the sunlight's golden color as it filtered through the yellow leaves.

This grove of aspen was particularly bright and colorful.

We noticed this western mountain range wayyy off in the far distance.

We're probably a few days early for this grove's peak colors.

We didn't drive the entire Last Dollar Road to its end at the community of Noel on Hwy 62.  The Road was so beautiful, we just turned around where it branched off at 58P Rd and traveled back to get those gorgeous views again but from the opposite direction.

We passed some sprawling ranch land with incredible mountain backdrops.  I'm not sure, this might be Whipple Mountain.

As usual, you get a whole different perspective when you travel back from where you just came.

To learn more about how aspen forests grow and how their leaves change colors, click HERE.

Aspen trees do not usually live longer than 150 years yet it was apparent to us, some of these trees were very old.  Also, aspen can be nick-named 'Quaking Aspen' because of the subtle shaking or trembling of the leaves as the wind blows.
The trees reproduce by seedlings and also by shoots or suckers that pop up from their lateral root systems.
The 'Pando Clone', located in the Fishlake National Forest in southern Utah is the largest and oldest known aspen grove growing from a single root system.  Its 107 acres of aspen trees growing from a single root system.

Yes, I made a lot of photographs..and I could not decide which ones were blog-worthy to include here..or leave out.  I liked this photograph, so it's here.

It's really dry in this area of southwestern Colorado, the hillside grass seen through the aspen is dead brown.  The Last Dollar Road was awfully dusty too.

Returning back down the Last Dollar Road, we made several stops to just get out of the Jeep and enjoy the moment.  The weather was clear and warm this day(even though a bit windy), what a perfect day to be on a Colorado country road.

Our last view as we made our way off the Last Dollar Road, Telluride's box canyon and Hwy 145 off in the distance.

More
Aspen Autumn Photos to come
 Later..