Visiting Colorado--Fall Mountain Scenes

It is fall in the Rockies. The aspen leaves are turning colors. As I write this in early October, Trail Ridge Road at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park is closed due to snow. It should reopen, but, clearly, it is winter now at 11,000 feet. Where I live, at 5,000 feet, we have not yet had a frost. As cold temperatures move down the mountains, aspen and other deciduous trees will change color and then lose their leaves at successively lower elevations. Lots of opportunity to enjoy the spectacle.




Look!

If you look down, some wildflowers are still blooming

coreopsis (Coreopsis)

goldenrod (Solidago)

yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Seeds are neat too:

seed pods of fireweed (Chamaenerion)

The plants on the ground turned color, not just the trees:

And soon, snow will add white to the pictures

Snow was falling, muting the colors

Snow on the conifers, not much higher up the mountain

It will still be beautiful in snow, just different. Enjoy the ever-changing face of nature.

Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist

More at awanderingbotanist.com

Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWanderingBotanist