Peak to Peak Highway 2012

Timing things just right to see beautiful fall foliage here in Colorado may be an inexact science, but the Peak to Peak Highway has never let me down.  And this past Wednesday was no exception.

I was a little concerned that going in the middle of the day when the sun was at its highest would wash everything out.  Thank goodness for polarizing filters.

And backlighting. Backlighting helps, too.

I remembered where we went on last year's Mike's Camera fall colors photography workshop.  There's a stretch just south of Ward where a lot of people like to stop and take pictures from the side of the road.  If you walk just 50 yards away there's a metal gate you can go through to reach a dirt trail with even prettier views.

Here's where the inexact science part comes in.  Last year, it took until the first week of October to get this view.  There's speculation that our dry spring contributed to the aspens turning a couple of weeks earlier this year, but nobody seems to really know for sure.  I'll bet by the time October rolls around this year the leaves will have all dropped.

It took me a while after moving from the Northeast to accept that you could enjoy fall foliage with just green and gold as your colors.  But I'm completely sold now.

Nice of my old nemesis Longs Peak to make an appearance.  This was the fifth straight summer that I was unable to put together a trip to climb it, which is especially unfortunate given the time I've had available and the shape I'm in.  I suppose it's not going anywhere, and I'll just have to make a more serious effort in 2013!