Where Have All The Aspen Leaves Gone?

The post title is a take off on the 1962 Kingston Trio hit "Where Have All The Flowers Gone". Actually the song was written by Pete Seeger and recorded by just about every folk singer of the 1960's but in my mind I will always associate it with the Kingston Trio.

But I digress...I was at Tarryall Reservoir about three weeks ago and the aspen leaves in the high country were just starting to show the slightest bit of color. Last week Guitar and I were in far southeast Colorado, far away from any aspen so yesterday I decided to take a ride up to Kenosha Pass (10,000' altitude) to see if there was any color left in the high country.

Looks like I missed it by about a week and a half. The trees at 10,000' and above were pretty bare. At lower altitudes it was a mix of bare trees, full color trees and even some that haven't started to turn yet. This year is just not a classic Colorado autumn.

In spite of that, I came prepared to enjoy a brisk fall day in the mountains. The Colorado Trail crosses Highway 285 at Kenosha Pass so I thought I'd walk that a ways and maybe do a little geocaching. It was a perfect day for a hike. Temps in the 60's, bright sunshine and the classic cobalt blue Colorado sky.

I arrived at the pass at about 10:30 and started back home at about 2:30. My idea about finding a couple of geocaches didn't pan out too well. I was able to get to the general vicinity of the caches without any problem with the aide of my GPS but all the aspen leaves on the ground made it next to impossible to find the cache itself. So...I had to make do with just enjoying a gorgeous fall day....Pretty good consolation prize, huh?

While hiking, I did manage to find a couple more aspen graffiti trees to add to my collection.

Next on my adventure list is a trip to Moab for some 4 wheeling a week from this Thursday. This is the annual Fall on the Rocks that I have missed the last couple of years and I'm looking forward to it. There is one potential hitch. Too Tall-Two Timing and K. are expecting the arrival of a grand baby any day now. I was planning on riding with and sharing a room with Too Tall-Two Timing, so if he needs to stay in the Denver area I will probably cancel the trip.

If everything goes on schedule. Too Tall and I will go to Moab and the ladies of The Circle, The Bride, Pic-E, and K are going to do a ladies weekend at a cabin in the Cascade, CO area.
Thanks for visiting.