Peek-to-Peek: Rocky Mountain aspens

Friday, September 28, 2012

Fire on the Mountain

When I was at the cabin last weekend I could see this one stand of aspens that was flame red, not the standard yellow, high up on the mountain that creates the south side of the valley in which Eldora, and the cabin, are located...

This is quite a distance west of the cabin, so I'm not sure this is still considered Spencer Mountain, the mountain that overlooks the cabin directly to the south.

I could have taken a photo of this from the cabin, but there are so many utility lines in the area that I decided to seek a better vantage point. I took The Loop Trail, walking from "downtown" Eldora, across the creek, along the south side of the creek and west.

The further I walked, the worse the view! I remembered that a little over a year ago, when Lola and I walked on Labor Day...

...we got high enough that we had a spectacular view of the entire canyon, so I took a slightly different route and got the view I was seeking...

Another hiker commented she had heard there were some fires in the area, and although I haven't been able to confirm that, the air certainly was hazy.

Everything I have found on line about aspens indicates this red color is unusual, even rare, but I haven't found anything telling me why some turn red rather than yellow.

After I captured the Fire on the Mountain shots, I walked on to what became my phone bench...

I sat here and talked to my brother in Tacoma with this as a view...

Here are a few additional photos taken last weekend....I love the way the aspens decorate the conifers...

..as if they were already getting ready for Christmas. I took this one last October...

This combination of colors and textures reminds me of a Japanese flower arrangement...

Even the boulders were getting into the act...

I love the patina on the metal roof of this shed...

And to end on...

...I was so focused trying to capture these aspen leaves going over this little waterfall on their way to Boulder that I didn't even notice the reflection in the viewfinder until I got these back to the apartment, transferred them to the computer and started editing.

A happy ending to a happy day...Teddee

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Color of Fall

I went to the cabin last Saturday afternoon just for an overnight. NOAA was predicting a week of rain for both Boulder and the high country. I thought if I wanted to get any photos of the aspens in full fall regalia I'd better make a quick trip up.

By Sunday afternoon I had taken two walks and 127 photos. Having read the latest Vanity Fair from cover to cover and finished this book (If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. Filming of a movie based on the book and starring Jeremy Irons, started this spring. I will go see this one),

I couldn't wait to get back to the computer to see what I'd actually captured on film. I spent almost three hours editing photos. Here are a few...

I snapped this just about two blocks west of the cabin. The "leaf peepers" were parked almost bumper-to-bumper along the south side of Eldorado, the street on which the cabin is located, when I returned from Sunday's walk. This was the eye-catcher...

The locals hate anything that brings more traffic to Eldora, so now I can't decide if I'm a local or a "leaf peeper"!

Someone had even driven as far in as they could on the access road along the south side of the creek, usually used only by residents, and parked just a few feet from one of my favorite photography subjects...