Late Autumn in the Colorado Mountains

The hunters are in the woods now, looking for deer and elk.  I meant to bring my blaze orange vest, but forgot.  So I hoped that staying on the trail, especially one where I see few deer and fewer hunters, would keep me safe.

There were some boot tracks from the trailhead to the split between Yule Creek and Anthracite Pass.  I took the former, and the other person or persons must have taken the latter, as the snow was untracked after that point. 

About half way up I started seeing paw prints, probably from a mountain lion (though I'm no tracker).  They continued the rest of the way, but I saw no wildlife.

the Yule Creek valley

This is one of my favorite places to go, because it's close to home and the view from this point is hard to match.  I call those mountains (two unnamed, and Mt. Justice) the "baby bells" for their similarity to the Maroon Bells, about fifteen or so miles to the east.

Autumn in the Colorado Mountains

The summer's drought is leaving the colors a little muted this year, but they're still spectacular.  It had been cloudy and rainy much of this week, when the colors were peaking.  I tried shooting with mixed results.  Then this morning the sun came out and lit up the scenery in a magnificent way.  A little fresh snow on the high peaks makes the scene perfect.

Chair Mountain from Placita, between Redstone and Marble, Colorado

Huntsman's Ridge

Treasure Mountain(left), Chair Mountain (right), and the Raggeds form the backdrop of this scenic view above the Crystal River Valley.

People familiar with the Colorado mountains will find it odd that this shot was taken in early July.  Why?  Because there's hardly any snow to be found!  A below-average winter (with respect to snowfall), coupled with a very warm spring and summer has left the mountains very dry and relatively snow-free.

The Crystal River, which flows in the valley above, is running about 80% below average for this time of year.  Until the rainfall of last week, it was flirting with the record lows of 1977.

All of us out here are hoping that the wildfires making the news are brought under control quickly, and that few new ones take their place.  We remember the summer of 2002 well, when everyone was on edge all summer long. 

This morning, I hiked up Hunstman's ridge again.  I've done this about a dozen times this spring and summer, as it's close to home and makes for a great training hike.  I would like to get up into the other high country some more, but have been busy with a variety of things, and just haven't gotten around to it yet.  Soon, I hope.