Foliage Season: Drive a Car, Ride a Bike or Take a Hike

The aspens are at or near peak -- but won't be for much longer

Wherever I've lived in fall foliage country, people have always tried to time their travels to catch peak color, whether in New England with maples that show red, orange and yellow, or the Rockies where aspen leaves take on the color of freshly painted highway lines that contrast again the dark conifers. In the last two weeks, I have driven to or through the high country three times, enjoying the through-the-windshield views of Colorado's autumn glory.

My trips along Interstate 70 were to research Western Slope subjects for various assignments, and I didn't have a chance to stop. Therefore, I was really eager to go for a high-country hike. Yesterday, despite gray skies and a forecast for afternoon rain, four of us headed west to hike the Ptarmigan Trail out of Silverthorne. Even when "civilization" was in sight (below), the aspen display was splendid.

The view across the Blue River Valley toward the Gore Range (below) reminded us, again, why we live here:


Some of the aspen were thick-trunked, while others, like those below, were straight and tall as lodgepoles. Seen from right below, their high branches silhouetted against a gray sky resembled lace:

Below is a short video of those leaves coming down when a breeze stirred the treetops.

Much of the trail (below) was "paved" with the gold of new-fallen leaves, and a canopy of gold was overhead. It felt magical.

Even in October, we spotted occasional end-of-season wildflowers (below).

Most of the leaves will drop soon, if not by next weekend, most likely by the weekend after that. We met a pleasant young couple and their dog (below) who were heading deeper into the backcountry to hunt grouse.

We also encountered a team from the Colorado Mountain Club inventorying the condition and usage of the Ptarmigan Trail as one of more than 50 areas for possible addition to existing wilderness areas. The area we hiked through would be annexed into the Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness.

The trail ends on the summit of 12,948-foot Ptarmigan Peak, but we didn't go that far. After about 2 1/2 miles and nearly a 1,200-foot elevation gain, the clouds thickened and a downright cold wind picked up. So we turned around and retraced our steps, reaching the car just as it started to drizzle. Truncated or not, a good hike was had by all.