Golden Leaves . . . Take Two

Saturday took us on another leaf-watching drive.  We looped down to Aspen via Glenwood Springs and came home via Independence Pass and Leadville.  What a drive!  We initially thought we'd spend more time exploring Aspen itself, but there were huge crowds and not a lot of parking, so we ended up mostly bypassing it.  But Snowmass was fun.  And then we headed over the pass - it was probably the most beautiful drive we'd been on in our lives.  Ever.  Colorado sure knows how to do fall right.   It's been spectacular!

We took a little walk under the lifts at Snowmass.

This is a sculpture made from an old haul rope (over 1/2 mile of it!)
to form a "Blissful Helix".  That sign also says it's for sale by owner
if you're interested in some lawn art.

In Aspen we were able to see their old single
chair, "Lift 1", which was the longest lift
in the world back in the day.

Here we are, starting up the drive on the Top of the Rockies
Scenic Byway over Independence Pass.

Just a lovely little lake off the side of the road.

This was a pit stop at a little trail called
The Grottos - the next picture will explain
why it's called that.  I just loved how this little
tree was glowing in the sunshine.

These cascades were so pretty!

And there were some pretty crazy rock formations happening here, too.

Back on the road, nearing the top of the pass above treeline.

At the overlook on top of Independence Pass -
which is above 12,000 feet.

And down we go!

These trees were pretty close to Twin Lakes - and oh my goodness
were they bright.  It was breathtaking!

Even Camp Hale had some nice color.

The leaves turn gold and down they swirl . . .

So we're kind of big fans of fall in this fair state.  This weekend we got to see and enjoy a good deal of it, too.  First off, we spent a few hours on Saturday afternoon watching some very eager snowboarders and skiers throwin' down some tricks at Keystone's rail jam.  They imported 15 tons of shaved ice to create the "snow" on the hill and the crowds turned out for a chance to slide.  Because Gregg had some connections with the marketing folks there, we scored a couple of press passes so we could get close to all the action.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, as we traveled back from Denver where we had a special stake conference meeting with Elder Bednar, we decided to take a little kinda long detour over Guanella Pass near Georgetown.  We ended up in Fairplay, then headed back to I-70 through Breckenridge.  It was a glorious loop and a fun way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon - exploring some new territory and squinting at millions of golden leaves.  That's one thing about fall around here - there's not a lot of variety in the colors, but there is some serious intensity in those gold aspen leaves.  We loved it!

At the top of the first bend and overlook of Guanella pass - little did
we know at this point that there was a LOT more to come.  The water
you can see here is Georgetown Reservoir.

Most of these were taken from the car window (it was rolled down) -
we were just in awe at the solid gold.

It was SO bright!

At the summit of Guanella Pass we could see
a fresh dusting of snow.  Gregg didn't really
care about that white stuff up there. (Not.)

Apparently we weren't the only ones with this idea - there was
a surprising amount of traffic on this windy, steep road.

Coming down the other side of the pass we
discovered our dream home.

And back on I-70 across from Copper Mountain we found another
field of solid gold.  We're rich, that's for sure.

Piney River Falls Hike

Oh man, is fall here in Colorado!  And it's gorgeous!  Last year I just enjoyed the golden hues from my car or my door, but yesterday I got to get out in the middle of the changing leaves.  It was marvelous.  My hiking friends and I ventured to Piney River Falls.  The falls themselves were somewhat of a disappointment - more of a picturesque little stream with some big rocks around it.  But the views along the way were simply stunning.  Gregg is hoping for snow as soon as possible - but I'm praying for a lovely, long fall so I can enjoy a few more hikes like this.

Date hiked: 10 September 2012

Start time: 11:00 am (10:56 if you want to be exact)

Arrival at the "falls": ~12:30 pm

Back to the car: 2:20 pm

Total mileage: 5.6 miles (or so says the book)

High point: 9,920 feet

Photo time!

Pretty much the entire hike to the falls had this grand backdrop.

Heather and I were in this general area last week and the leaves
were just barely starting to turn.  Crazy what can change
in just a few days.

The clouds were quite lovely, too.

Piney Lake.

Always aspens.

Meandering Piney River

The "falls"

"Girl Pose"

There's a campground / ranch / something-or-other on the far
end of Piney Lake.

I just had to turn around for one last view from the end of the trail.

Indeed.

Not just yellow aspens around here - we've got orange and red, too!