Ben Tyler Trail

As many times as I've driven up and down U.S. Route 285, I've often thought about hiking the Ben Tyler Trail. The trailhead beckons right from the side of the road, which is about as convenient of access as you can get. So I did some reading about it a couple of months ago and saw the recommendation that it's best when the aspens are turning.

Patiently I waited until I could wait no longer. And yesterday, I made my move.

The trail is fairly standard front range fare at first -- steep switchbacks up from the trailhead opening up into a dry, sparsely vegetated section where dead trees like this one provide the best photo opportunities.

As the trail leveled out, straightened out and bent to the southwest into Ben Tyler Gulch, I started to see glimpses of what I'd come for.  I passed a local lady at about this point coming back down the trail who said that the foliage probably wouldn't be peaking until the following weekend.  But I decided to forge ahead rather then leave and come back.

The trail runs along Ben Tyler Creek for a while -- Ben must have been a heckuva guy to get everything in the area named after himself!

The farther along I went and the higher up I got, the more reds and yellows I began to see along the trail.

Still being fairly early in the season, the leaves that had fallen on the trail tended to be more yellow than brown.

I don't typically take so many shots of the actual trail when I hike.  But the changing aspens along the way were just too picturesque not to.  And given that the trail is pretty well treed in for quite a ways, I didn't really have too many other options.

The creek and trail shared a course for a small stretch.  This must be an interesting section to deal with during the spring runoff.

Eventually I came to a brief stretch that was just solid gold.  The trees had all turned, but hadn't dropped many leaves yet.

The timing seemed ideal.  A day earlier or a day later, and this scene could have been completely different.

As much as I was enjoying the intimate landscapes, I really wanted to get to a nice vista looking back down the valley.  But the trees were so thick I couldn't get any sense of when that might happen.  And I was on a bit of a schedule and was getting to the point where I needed to turn around and head back.

Then suddenly, things opened up as the trail began to climb more steeply again.  And I was presented with this wonderful view.

I had a few more minutes after getting that last shot, so I headed up a little bit higher.  And the view got even better.

I love the mix of colors here with the aspen leaves ranging from light green to bright yellow and the dark green conifers sprinkled throughout.

One last look back down the valley, then I really needed to start heading back.  I'd hoped to reach a trail split 4.75 miles from the trailhead, but didn't quite make it.  I estimate I made it about four miles out and 2,400 feet up from where I'd began.

I found my eye drawn to breaks in the aspen canopy, like these dead trunks poking out above the leaves.

This area was a mystery to me.  I'm not sure what caused the break that made the aspen trunks themselves visible.  But I found it striking.  Avalanche scar, maybe?

Even though I was in a bit of a hurry to get back, there were a couple of spots along the trail that I'd made mental note of on my way up to check the lighting on the way back down.  Fortunately the sun had re-emerged from some cloud cover, and I got some nice contrast on these leaning aspens.

This particular stretch of trail practically glowed golden from the sun filtering through all the vivid leaves.

A final shot, a satisfied smile, a contented sigh and I put my gear away for the remainder of the return hike.  This was easily one of my favorite foliage hikes, if not my very favorite.  I love that God put me here at just this time to see the staggering beauty!