An Early Autumn Surprise

Wll I have to admit, I was quite surprised to find fall color this far along in Rocky Mountain National Park. You can usually find patches of color here and there by Labor Day, but August 25th is the earliest I can remember being able to photograph a large landscape scene with fall colors in RMNP. These aspens looked great with Glacier Gorge and Longs Peak in the background as a little bit of sun breaks through the clouds and sets them ablaze this morning. Technical Details: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 24-120mm F4 S lens
Sometimes the morning works out nothing like you thought it would, in fact this is probably most times. This morning was one of those mornings. After what has felt like weeks of smokey, clear sunrises and hot dry days in Rocky Mountain National Park, the forecast called for showers, most cloudy skies and a cool down. Almost autumn like weather you might say.

I debated on where to head for sunrise this morning and ended up at Lake Haiyaha as I figured I’d had not photographed there this year and I could keep my options open depending on the light at sunrise. It was a beautiful morning and great little hike over to Lake Haiyaha but sunrise ended up being a bust.

On my hike back down from Lake Haiyaha, I spied what looked like some really nice fall color below. I stopped along the exposed part of the trail and in fact there were quite a few aspen trees turning between Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. Down I scampered and to my surprise, there was a set of aspen trees in their autumn glory.

While this particular set of aspens are often some of the first to peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, August 25th is certainly the earliest I can remember photographing an entire grove of aspen trees in their fall splendor. You can always find a few leaves or branches here or there by Labor Day, but this is early. The heat and dry weather appears to be stressing the trees and causing them to turn earlier than most.

I setup as there is a great view across Glacier Gorge and Longs Peak from this location. The sun broke through the clouds for a few brief moments and cast light on the aspens while rain showers floated over Longs Peak. Not bad for August 25th in RMNP!. Before everybody panics, my guess is this will just be a few trees and when its all said and done it will be more on schedule then this early. Regardless, nobody knows as of yet but I can say it was certainly and early fall surprise.