In 1976,
Mike lived in Colorado for a year. In the Fall he drove through the
mountains admiring the Rocky Mountain foliage. Returning home to
Denver he called his father in Massachusetts to tell him about the
beautiful stands of golden Aspen quaking on the hillsides. His dad,
who had seen decades of spectacular New England Autumn colors, simply
replied, “Only yellow?”
The
wonder of nature is often difficult to convey over the phone, so
let's see if these photos do a better job of portraying the beauty of
the Colorado Fall colors.
Of course we had to drive out of Texas to get to Colorado.
This is the official state herd of Long Horns, at the Ft. Griffith Historic Site in Albany, TX
"If I don't move, they can't see me."
Part of the Palo Duro Canyon (outside of the State Park, and still private ranch land) in the Texas Panhandle.
Scaled Quail at Lake Meredith, near Amarillo, TX.
The new look of the Panhandle.
And then we passed through New Mexico as well. These are from Sugarite Canyon State Park outside of Raton, NM.
A Spotted Towhee.
Rose hips.
This is a very early stage in the White Tail Rut.
A doe in the meadow.
And when we finally got into Colorado, we wanted to stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Where we found a BIG camouflaged Grasshopper on the trail.
And we found miles of towering sand dunes.
And then we got to the Rockies, where we spent several days each on the western and then eastern slopes.
This is Crystal Lake, on the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton, CO
Aspen Grove in the mountains near Crystal Lake.
Red Mountain Creek. (Yes it is yellow, but it's named Red Mountain Creek because it flows out of the Red Mountains.)
The Red Mountains.
We stopped for lunch in the mountains.
The next day we drove along Last Dollar Road towards Telluride, CO.
There were many spectacular Aspen stands.
To give some sense of the drive, this was taken at about 10,000 ft. It was a one lane gravel road with cars going in both directions. Here we are looking up hill at the moon, the treeline, and a car we have just passed.
Looking down into the valley into Telluride.
Mountains just North of Telluride.
Another Aspen grove outside of Telluride.
And then we drove over to Mueller State Park, west of Colorado Springs behind Pikes Peak.
This is the view from Grouse Mountain Overlook - again, about 10,000 ft.
Us at Grouse Mountain Overlook.
More Aspen.
The Grange building in Florissant, Co. Believe it or not, The Grange is still an active ranchers union in these mountains.
The view from our campsite towards Pikes Peak.
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