Hints of autumn came early to the mountains surrounding Aspen this year. Then, suddenly, the show was on.
Pockets of aspens in the high country were flashing gold by late August, and the trees on the slopes of Buttermilk were bathed in autumn’s glow by the first week of September, leading to predictions of an early display and dispelling worries that drought would cancel the spectacle altogether.
This year’s colors are easily about a week ahead of last year’s pace, when local mountains put on one of the best shows in recent memory.
The peak weekend could be this one, but it appears that the weekend of Sept. 22 and 23 could be spectacular, as well. Certainly, it seems likely the autumn display is likely to hit its zenith sometime within the coming week.
At the Maroon Bells, where photographers line the shore come fall, the grove of aspens in the bowl at the base of the peaks is hitting its prime, but there are plenty of stands of still-green aspens intermixed with pockets of solid gold elsewhere around Maroon Lake.
Stewart Seeligson’s business education and diverse real estate experience set him apart from other real estate brokers in the Telluride region.