Fall Color Reports, 2007

[Jean Luc]

duno who they are

[Darren Kilgore]

CR7 as of 45 minutes ago



This is probably pretty close to as good as this place will get. There is still some green, but who knows how long the yellow leaves will stay on. My guess is no more than 2 or 3 days before they go fast. This spot, along with the drive up, looks really good right now. I'm headed up to Silver Jack now, and will either post an update later today or tomorrow depending on if I stay the night up there.

Regarding Jean's pics, yep, I'm in there as well as a number of others from our group. On the last one, Kalin is on the far left, I'm the one in the blue jacket facing to the right, Chris Ebright is in there along with Rich Long, Monte, Brent, Rick and Jimmy Gekas. Mike Renner may be in here, too. I probably missed a couple. There were a few that aren't on the forums, like the guy with the 600.

[Darren Kilgore]

Almost forgot, here are two from yesterday:


Ironton Park is really fading fast. Not too much left worthy of shooting.


Lime Creek Road is developing nicely. Still a bit of green, but should be as good as it's going to get in another couple days. Some nice areas to shoot right now.

The big aspen stretch between Molas and Coal Bank is about the same as Lime Creek Road--some green, not quite there.

[Darren Kilgore]

Josh, based on virtually the whole Telluride area on Sunday, everything had a ways to go. Wilson Mesa, though I didn't go on it, should've been in the same boat.

I got back from the Silver Jack and came away most disappointed. I went as far as Beaver Lake. There are a couple decent stands of traditional brilliant yellow, but for the most part, it is the same as I saw along Last Dollar. Most of the trees look pretty good when backlit, but front lighting is a different story as the yellow is the dirty/dry, mustard type color. Many were shriveled up green leaves, and a small percentage was brown. Not sure what is going on, but this is the first time in my 11 fall seasons that I've witnessed anything but the brilliant yellow. Needless to say, I won't be heading back here again this trip. I won't go so far as to say to not recommend it if you were planning to go, just don't get your hopes up.

I'm not sure if the hue is displaying close to real life, but if things look pretty good below, I can assure you otherwise.


Cimarron Ridge



High Mesa at start of the East Fork road



Katie's Meadow--while still green, all the trees in the immediate area have really bad color, so I would guess these will turn the same



Looking west across Silver Jack's inlet



Jackson Station



The traditional red and orange trees are on the right. Not this year, which is the first time I've ever seen leaves on trees go to a different color than what they usually are. I know two others I have spoken to have agreed.



This was the only grove in the area that looked decent



Here's a closeup of what the vast majority of the trees looked like. This is as yellow as this set is going to get.

[joshcouts]

I saw mainly that same type of yellow that you described Darren all throughout Aspen over the weekend. The trees just didn't have that healthy/vibrant look to them that we're used to seeing in the fall here. With the exception of maybe 1 or 2 stands, everything just seemed to be taking on that "less-than-healthy" look that we've seen on the eastern side of Independence Pass for the past few years.

The one healthy stand I saw that represented true Colorado color that we're used to was that area right around Weller campground on Independence Pass. The large stand that the road goes through west of that (closer to Aspen) was still probably 95% green.

[Laurie Wendt]

I just returned from my first fall trip to Colorado from September 23-30. What a trip it was. I thought I'd share a few photos that I captured while there. Even though all the reports of not so great color I thought Colorado was just beautiful and I hope to return.
1. 9/24 Paradise Pass
2. 9/24 Along Gothic Road
3. 9/25 Crystal Lake
4. 9/26 Along Hwy 550
5. 9/27 Along Hwy 550
6. 9/27 Sunset Co Road 7
7. 9/28 Gray Copper Gulch Thanks for taking me up there Darren!
8. 9/28 Sunset Near Dallas Divide

[Morris McClung]

Laurie,
You really found a way to extract some really nice shots. I'm just sorry you had to see a Colorado autumn, that in my opinion was one of the 3 worst ones I have seen in 30 years of shooting fall in Colorado. I went to Maroon Bells, McClure Pass, Owl Creek, Silver Jack, Dallas Divide, Lizard Head Pass, and all points in between and struggled to find anything to pull my camera out for. I did manage to shoot 6 rolls(no digital yet , but most of those were on the Sneffels range this morning, after snow had fallen on them. Hopefully on your next trip out, you will experience what a normal fall looks like.

[Morris McClung]

Darren, and Josh,
You guys are dead on with your reports. Especially your posted pics, Darren That is exactly what the area looks like as I saw it this morning. I was out of trip time for this year, but I don't know if I would have stayed if I had more time. One really has to try to get intimate with their shots, or use backlighting to have any hope of getting any serious color.

[Joshua Hardin]

Photo of Kenosha Pass aspen.

Laurie, great shots. That Dallas Divide sunset is a killer.

I concur with Morris/Darren/Josh's evaluation of the leaves this year. I came home last week from the Elks extremely disapointed with the way the aspen at Capitol Peak Trailhead, McClure Pass, Castle Creek Road looked. All those areas had some weird, mustard-like color going on. It does seem like stands that would change together in past years were very "spotty" this year (some changed while some are STILL green). The Flat Tops and the Maroon Bells yielded some of the only shots I felt good about. Late last week I got some decent shots at the top of Kenosha Pass as well, but with the wind we've been having lately I'm not sure if any of that has survived. I didn't bother going to the San Juans. After last winter's blizzards I'm hesitant to say the snow can't come too soon, but after this fall I'm tempted to.

[Laurie Wendt]

Here's a few more photos from my fall trip.
1. Black Canyon of the Gunnison 9/23
2. Along Ohio Pass 9/24
3. Silver Pick Road 9/26
4. Also Silver Pick Road 9/26
5. Co. Road 7 I think 9/26
6. Kebler Pass 9/29
7. Owl Creek 9/26