This past weekend as I was working in some of our local parks near Nederland, I noticed the Aspens are turning yellow. Now that may not seem like a revolutionary idea, until you look at the calendar, and realize we are only in the first week of September. Today we were driving down to Leadville, Colorado and notice whole groves of Aspens on the hillsides that had already turned. What gives?
Though Colorado is not quite New England with its colorful foliage, the Aspens do put on quite a show during late September and early October, with colors ranging from yellow to orange to even a few red. There are a lot of out of town visitors who plan their fall vacations around the color change as well as seeing the elk rut in the Rocky Mountains. But given what I am seeing outside our window, I fear many will be disappointed. In the eight years we have lived in Colorado, I have never seen color change this early at our elevation of 8200 feet. In past years, colors usually turned later in the month, sometimes not reaching peak until early October. But I suspect this year, the Aspen colors will start to peak within two weeks or so and by October, there may not be much to see.
So what triggers all this and what’s different this year? Aspen color change is triggered by a series of cool nights and warm, dry days. We did get some very cool weather late in August where the temps dipped down into the 30s, which may have set off this early change. I’m also wondering if our late spring, cool weather that went into mid-June followed by a drier summer with less rain may have set up this early show of colors.
Though I love Fall and welcome the cooler temperatures, I wasn’t quite ready for the trees to turn, because I so look forward to it every year. There is a magnificent grove of Aspens just north of Nederland that spans almost 50 acres or more. When it reaches peak, it is so gorgeous it literally stops motorists right in the middle of the road to gaze at it. Every year, I can’t wait to catch this riotous display of color, but it always seems to go too fast before the leaves drop and I fear that time will be even sooner this year.
So, if you’re reading this and you live in Colorado, go to the mountains and do it soon, because this grand finale will be over before you know it.
