OpalOpal.com Presents
FALL IN COLORADO
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH This photo was taken at the base of Silverheels on September 5, 2000. This page is about photographs that load slowly, so start it loading and go get a cup of tea while it finishes. Then come back and enjoy the photographs. Click here to see some of our jewelry that was inspired by the Colorado scenery.
We have decided to share the beautiful coloration of our fall with our web site visitors this year on a progressive basis. We are starting with photos taken September 1, 2000 and will add additional ones as the month progresses. Our beautiful show of fall color is due to the aspen trees. Their leaves change to mostly yellows, but there are bright oranges and reds as well. In mass on the mountains they are a breathtaking sight. We invite you to join us this year and enjoy one of nature's greatest shows. The actual color change in the leaves is caused by a chemical process within the leaves according to Forest Service literature. The yellow coloration is in the leaves the whole time, but masked by the more powerful greens of the trees chlorophyll. As the days shorten, the trees stop their food making process and the resulting green coloration disappears from the leaves. The yellows and oranges which were masked there all along become visible. That is what we are told. If you are a botanist and would like to contribute here, please contact us. The view from our front deck will serve as one point of reference for the advancing coloration of the leaves. As the season progresses we will add vistas from other locations. As of September 1, 2000, I can already see a difference in the color of the trees within our view. They are a somewhat lighter shade of green than normal. A visit to the trees outside of the house tells me why.
The borders of the leaves have already started to lose their color. The overall effect is a lightening of general color of the trees. As a point of reference this leaf measures 42.91 mm wide and 34.85 mm tall without the stem. We represent a lot of aspen leaves in our jewelry as you can imagine they are very popular in our area. You can see some of our Aspen Leaf Jewelry on our More Art Jewelry page. September 1, 2000 View from the Deck This is the view from our deck. The big mountain in the center is Silverheels. To the extreme left in the center is Mount Sherman. The mountains to the left are part of the Continental Divide of the United States.
Quakies I went outside into our "yard" and photographed the yellowest leaves that I could see. They happen to be in a group of "quakies" as they are called. The quakies are young aspen trees like the group that you see below. They are named so because when the wind blows they seem to shake or quake. This visual effect is caused by the construction on their leaves. See the next photo for reference.
Leaf Growth The photo below shows a leaf section removed from one of the quakies. Because of the way the leaves are attached on their stems and the construction of the stem itself, they flip back and forth, front to back, light to dark, in the slightest breeze. The overall visual effect is that of quaking or shaking. It is a fascinating display much like the shimmering of light on moving water.
September 4, 2000 Our vista has changed only slightly from the view above.
A close of view of the leaves representing the majority show that the change is slight, but perceivable.
A short walk into the woods around our home yields some visions of things to come.
Walking in the forest is a pleasant experience for me. The forest floor here is relatively dry and makes crunching sounds as you walk, very pleasant to my ears. Various others sights and smells add their contributions to the experience as well.
The wild geraniums lend a bright splash of reds and golds as they lose their green.
The wild mountain sage contributes to the smell of fall and adds pleasant memories of Thanksgivings.
These bushes are starting to lose their abundant summer yellow flowers and will soon lose their leaves as well.
There are still bright wildflowers stubbornly hanging on to bring delight to the eye. It is interesting to me that most of the last flowers that we have are either purple or yellow, two complimentary colors that look smashing with the aspen. September 5, 2000 We drove over to the base of Silverheels and took some photos of the aspen there. Some of them are a little more advanced than the ones in our immediate view.
The willows, plants and scrubs around the rivers turn beautiful colors. The mountain in the background is the same Silverheels that you see from our deck view, just about ten miles closer. The river itself is hardly visible in this photo but is surrounded by the willows and other scrubs that you see in the photo.
Another view of the river basin.
A view of the river where it crosses the road. This area was part of the big gold rush area and further down the road are numerous piles of rocks that were dredged out of the river in search of gold.
Another view of the river.
Silverheels is still visible in the background with changing aspen lining the road. This road splits a short way beyond this point. The left branch eventually dead ends into a National Forest area and some private property and the right branch goes over Boreas Pass during the summer months. During the winter Boreas Pass is closed.
Changing aspen along the road
Some of these leaves are more orange and red than yellow.
More of the colorful groundcover along the river.
September 9/7/00 This is the deck vista as it appeared on the date above. I have just zoomed in a little bit to give you a better look at the trees.
This is a view of some quakies in the foreground with larger aspen and evergreens in the background. The evergreens are growing straight up and down more or less and the aspen are bending to the wind which can be ferocious up here. September 9, 2000 On September 9th. I took a camera and went for a short walk in the area around our house. These are a few of the photos that I took.
This is our view of Silverheels at a slightly different angle.
To the right of Silver heels is Boreas Mountain which is the large mountain in this view. I had to walk through the weeds next to the house to take this photo. In the winter Boreas is clearly visible from our house, but when the aspen are leafed out our view of this mountain is obscured.
Another unique quality about the quakies is that their trunks frequently appear to be a grayish green color. Compare the color the color of these trunks to the mature aspen trees below.
The woods beside our house.
This shot was taken along the little road that comes to our house.
This photo of the aspen leaves and the one below were taken to attempt to show the intensity and variety of colors in the aspen leaves.
September 12, 2000 On September 12th. we went for a short drive in the area around the house in the very late afternoon. The aspen trees do not all change color at the same time and some areas very close to the house are much more advanced than our personal view. The photos below were all taken within a very short distance of our house.
The photo below was taken from our deck on September 13th. The color is just starting to show in our view.
I had to go down off of the deck to get this shot of Boreas which is to the right of Silverheels the central mountain in most of the deck photos.
This is the view to the left from our deck on September 14th.
And from the deck to the right on September 14th.
The deck vista from September 14, 2000. You are starting to be able to see the changing colors.
This is a photo of the road leading away from our house on September 14th.
To the left of our house we have the contrast of the tall spruce and pines with their dark colors and the colorful aspen.
September 18 Offered the spectacular views below.
The little quakies near the house have all turned a golden yellow.
September 20 The beauty is peaking at this time.
September 21. The beauty is unsurpassed at this point.
September 23 The inevitable first snow blankets all with its soft flakes. These were not the first flakes that we had seen this year, but these were the first that blanketed the earth.
The snow melts quickly in the hot rays of the Colorado sun and soon things are almost back to where they were. By September 30 it is evident that we have passed the prime viewing season. As the wind blows, and it does with great force in our parts, the leaves lose their tenuous holds on the branches and fall to earth to make additional crunch for my shoes as I walk in the woods.
You can see some of the bare, or more bare branches in the near trees on this view. I will leave the demise of our brilliant foliage for another time and close our Fall in Colorado for this year. In years to come I hope to add more photos from around our area. Please come back and visit us again. We are glad that you were here. And thank you, by the way, for all of the positive compliments that we have received about this section. We are happy to share this beauty with you all.
We will be adding more photos as the fall progresses. Please come back and visit us again.
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