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Fall Colors, 2021

Two weekends ago, I headed out to the Gunnison area to view the fall colors. The route to Gunnison passes by the Taylor Reservoir. I often stop here to take in the scenery before driving along the Taylor River. This year, the aspen on the far hillside had just peaked.

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Aspen Above Taylor Reservoir.

After setting up the tent side, I headed towards one of my favorite locations — Ohio Pass and Ohio Creek. A storm had just started to build along the West Elk Mountains.

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Storm Over West Elk Mountains.

The journey up Ohio Pass winds through the Aspen Forests. Rounding a bend, I was struck by the colors of the aspen tree straight ahead. Most aspen turn from green to yellow before the leaves fall. However, there are some trees that turn from yellow to orange or even red. This tree had all the colors.

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Roadside Aspen, Ohio Pass.

Near the top of the pass, the forest opened up to reveal the valley walls. There were fiery patches of color from aspen and gambel oaks.

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Fiery Mountain Side Colors, Ohio Pass.

During this trip, the forests had a range of colors that included green and small patches of yellow. As autumn progresses, the green turns yellow before the leaves finally drop. Often high winds can strip leaves as soon as they yellow. Fortunately, this had not happened in this location.

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Yellow And Green Aspen, Ohio Pass.

Last weekend, I made a second trip to the mountains. This time I decided to explore a route along the West Elk Mountains. Driving along dirt roads through sage brush, the road passed by an aspen forest. At this location, the sage brush was adorned in fall colors.

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Sage Brush And Aspen, West Elk Mountains.

After making several images, I found a gap in the forest, where there were deep shadows below the tree canopy. This created a sharp contrast of the pale sage brush against the background shadows.

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Sage Brush At The Edge Of Aspen Forest.

Further along the dirt road, the aspen had fallen to create a yellow carpet on the road.

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Carpet Of Aspen Leaves, West Elk Mountains.

More to come. Stay tuned!

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