The Road to Color

We have sometimes heard folks from back east complain that our Colorado fall colors don’t compare to the variety of colors to be found in the eastern and northeastern states.

While that may be the case, we still find a mountainside of aspens changing into their fall colors to offer a breathtaking display. Couple that with a richly blue Colorado sky, the fall tundra and a dusting of early season snow on the high peaks and you have the recipe for an amazing presentation of color.

This scene depicted here was taken in the vicinity of Ironton, which is located along US 550 south of Ouray, CO. While this area was once known for its treasure of the metal gold, the abundant display of changing aspen now offer another type of gold to be enjoyed. We had returned from a week-long vacation mostly spent in Zion National Park, participating in a variety of activities like canyoneering, mountain biking and hiking with some photography as well. Returning to Grand Junction, we quickly switched gear and headed back out for some colorful, Colorado fall photography.  After a week of desert scenes, it was refreshing to not only return to our beloved Colorado mountains, but to also see the aspen in such dazzling array. It was right at the end of a severe year of drought, so we had not expected much color, but as you can see, we were wrong!  US 550 is most certainly “The Road to Color.”  

Photo taken September 2018